Which MLS teams are most entertaining to watch?

With 29 teams and a new media rights deal that standardizes kickoff times across the league, there are a lot of MLS games on at the same time this year. Every Saturday night from 7:30 p.m. through 12:30 am ET, there are most likely several games to choose from on MLS Season Pass.

Outside of club loyalties, who do you pick?

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I truly believe there’s ample reason to watch any of the 29 teams. Not every week for every team and certainly not always appointment viewing for every team, but I truly believe you can talk yourself into all these teams in different doses. All the same, I hope this ranking helps.

Before we get there though, here’s a breakdown of the point system I used to rank the teams. Everyone has their own preferences and this committee (of one) is no different, particularly with these subjective categories.

Quality (10 points): A team doesn’t have to be great at soccer to be watchable, but it certainly helps.

Identity (10 points): Wilfried Nancy’s free-flowing, build-out-at-all-costs style draws me to their games more than, say, Gerhard Struber’s all-out car-crash soccer did.

Off field (10 points): Stadium, atmosphere, kits and whatever else that comes in the non-soccer aesthetics to a team. BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, for example, provides a more pleasant viewing experience than Yankee Stadium. Seattle not wearing green at home too often still doesn’t sit right.

Potential for spectacular moments (5 points): Lucas Zelarayan is lining up a free kick. You will not avert your eyes.

Fatal flaws (5 points): Chicago is winning in stoppage time but just conceded a corner kick. You will not avert your eyes.

Involuntary humor (5 points): Nouhou’s flying clearances, Maxi Urruti shooting from 35 yards in a transition moment with an open runner to his left, Peter Vermes/Bruce Arena death stares to refs, Gio Savarese’s celebrations…anything and everything that makes MLS the profoundly wacky league we know and love.

Now, before we get to the rankings in earnest…

A category of their own: Inter Miami

With Lionel Messi announcing he intends to join Inter Miami this summer, it’s not quite fair to put the club in the hard-and-fast rankings as the rest. As his debut nears, nothing else matters. Not the roster’s quality, off-field aesthetics, involuntary humor or whatever: With Messi, Miami is the must-watch event in Major League Soccer. It’d be disingenuous to suggest otherwise or even put Miami through the voting rubric.

We have already done and will continue to do plenty of Miami/Messi coverage.

Okay, now onto The Athletic’s 2023 MLS Watchability Rankings.

Total: 15 points

Someone has to be last. Unfortunately, right now, it’s the Colorado Rapids.

The positives: Colorado have a bevy of young players — like Kevin Cabral, Cole Bassett, Darren Yapi, Ralph Priso and Danny Leyva — and try to play up-tempo. They are fun on set pieces, even without midfielder Jack Price, who was the league’s best set piece deliverer before he got injured again…

… but injuries are the story here. Price is out for the season and starting forward Diego Rubio has made only seven starts. Those are two irreplaceable players in this group, and without them the Rapids have slid down the Western Conference standings. Without results, star power or one of those young players pushing the conversation for elite potential, it’s tough. They scored low in the off-field category too.

When this group is on? They’re a lot of fun. That just hasn’t happened much this year.

27. Chicago Fire

Total: 15.5 points

It’s been a rough 2023 for the Chicago Fire. At least at this stage halfway through the season, the Fire isn’t out of the playoff race and do have interesting players to tune in for, like U.S. youth internationals Brian Gutierrez and Chris Brady, plus star Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri.

Kei Kamara’s chase to overtake Landon Donovan to be the second-leading scorer in MLS history is a good storyline for the club and, honestly, that might be the half-point that saved them from being bottom of this list.

Chicago scored low in quality, identity, off-field (hello, half-empty Soldier Field!) and potential for spectacular moments. Perhaps the biggest disappointment from Shaqiri is that he just hasn’t been a threat to score goals from distance as he’s been his entire career.

The good news for the club’s competitiveness is they’ve been more defensively stable since the decision to fire Ezra Hendrickson as head coach, but it’s not great for watchability. Neither is an interim manager (Frank Klopas) for identity. And results haven’t exactly followed, either.

Note: This is where Inter Miami was pre-Messi with 17.5 points.

John Tolkin and Troy Lesesne bring something different to the Red Bulls (Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images)

Total: 19 points

If not for the coaching change to Troy Lesesne, the New York Red Bulls could well have been bottom of the watchability rankings. After taking over for Gerhard Struber, Lesesne said that the club needed to evolve and games with the ball more than it had.

There’s a world in which this team springs into life as a high-energy attack, but RBNY have dealt with an essentially year-long injury to best player Lewis Morgan while DP forward and near-club-record signing Dante Vanzeir was out suspended for much of the year for using racist language.

Red Bull Arena is a beautiful stadium, but routinely has too many open seats for MLS games. On the plus side: Bonus aesthetic points for John Tolkin’s hair and general vibe. Cory Burke brute-forcing defenders is fun too, as is Sean Nealis mean-mugging dudes with every fiber of his Long Island core.

Total: 21.5 points

Emanuel Reynoso is back, Allianz Field is beautiful and the tradition of the fans singing Wonderwall after home wins is fun!

That said, without Reynoso, the club featured a rudderless attack. Energetic and hopeful… but one that scored just 15 goals in their first 17 games. No one would blame Adrian Heath for being dogmatic without Reynoso, especially after Robin Lod went down injured. Being combative and defensive was the best avenue to points. Let’s hope for more when Reynoso finds fitness and form, and a promised new DP striker (Teemu Pukki?!) arrives next month.

Total: 22 points

At its best, NYCFC is a tremendously fun team. Unfortunately in 2023, NYCFC rarely hits top gear. The attack has too many redundancies (and not one natural, senior center forward on the roster), even if Talles Magno, Santi Rodriguez, Richy Ledezma and Gabi Pereira are all talented.

NYCFC garnered the fewest points in the off-field category. The small pitch at Yankee Stadium and the suspect playing surface take away from the product, as do the camera angles designed for a baseball game and not soccer. A new stadium opening in 2027 can’t come soon enough.

T-24. Sporting KC

Total: 22 points

Sporting KC has looked much better when their full roster is healthy. That’s an obvious point, but one worth pointing out nonetheless. The club has scored four goals in a game twice over their last five matches after a constipated start to 2023. SKC is now hovering around the playoff line (another example of how quickly your season can turn with a good few weeks in MLS), to help keep stakes attached to games as the season goes on.

Bonus points for Peter Vermes on the sidelines, like this iconic gif.

writing a feature about Peter Vermes so that’s enough of an excuse to tweet this gif
pic.twitter.com/hbJehtdwUf

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) April 22, 2021

T-21. CF Montréal

Total: 22.5 points

The first six weeks of the season were painful, but CF Montréal is figuring it out under Hernan Losada. The acquisition of Bryce Duke (and Ari Lassiter) has helped unlock the attack.

Still, the drop-off from Wilfried Nancy’s wonderful, free-flowing 2022 squad is stark when compared to Losada’s car-crash soccer. But it’s gotten results, and Losada hasn’t dialed it up to the same degree as he did in D.C., which is positive.

Montreal is short on star power — and that’s okay, last year’s team was too! — but making new stars hasn’t quite come yet since Djordje Mihailovic left this winter. Let’s check back in here in a few months.

Total: 22.5 points

With new club-record signing Chicho Arango soon to debut in a few weeks, Real Salt Lake has something cooking in attack. In theory, a quartet speared by Arango with Damir Kreilach floating underneath then Jefferson Savarino and Andres Gomes on the wings is quite complementary.

In terms of aesthetics, RSL has a great kit combo: Their traditional claret-and-cobalt primary plus their gold secondary “beehive” shirts. Stop what you’re doing and listen whenever Pablo Mastroeni starts saying things like “stats will lose to the human spirit” in a press conference or interview.

(Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

Total: 23 points

All offseason, the Houston Dynamo challenged Mexico star Hector Herrera to lift the group and be a leader. Halfway through the season, he answered that call and helped push the Dynamo up the table.

Herrera’s midfield partner Coco Carrasquilla is an MLS hipster’s delight. Franco Escobar, one of the first in MLS to any scuffle, makes up the club’s involuntary humor score.

Houston is in the best spot the club has been since the apex of the Mauro Manotas/Alberth Elis era in 2017-18. It’s been a long time.

Total: 25 points

Orlando City is a perplexing team.

Inconsistency has plagued the group for the better part of two years now. Orlando has some top attacking talent — Facundo Torres and Martin Ojeda in particular — plus a match-winning goalkeeper in Pedro Gallese, but they rarely have played up to their potential. Halfway through the season, we’re still waiting.

The purple home kits play very well on screen and Orlando’s home atmosphere is strong. Typical Floridian summer weather delays don’t help, unfortunately.

Total: 25.5 points

FC Dallas is too good (and has too many talented attackers) to fall much lower, but the club’s identity is too controlled to score much higher.

Jesus Ferreira leads the lines and has been among the league’s very best forwards for the last 18 months. The homegrown-turned-DP is integral to much of what Dallas does in attack. Argentine winger Alan Velasco has his moments, but is still working on turning his talent to consistent goal contributions like Ferreira has.

Dallas does have a DP spot open already, but if Ferreira departs this summer, FCD’s watchability takes a big hit.

Christian Benteke is the target for D.C. United (Angel Marchini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

T-17. D.C. United

Total: 25.5 points

As a matter of personal taste, D.C. United has subjective variability.

If you’re into a dominant, physical striker and direct soccer, D.C. United is the club for you. Christian Benteke is a one-man force unlike anyone else in the league. D.C.’s attack is built around maximizing his unique skills. It sounds a bit “hoof it forward, mate!” at first, but it’s more nuanced than that. Benteke has plenty of finesse to his game and skillful runners like Taxi Fountas and Mateusz Klich buzzing around him.

Not everyone is into that, though.

Goalkeeper Tyler Miller is instructed to play aggressively high, already resulting in a Goal of the Season candidate against him by Pablo Ruiz last week. I’m sure other teams will be attempting to chip him moving forward, so you’ll always have that to watch for as well.

Total: 26 points

Who would have thought a team with Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi would be in the middle of the pack here? The project just hasn’t gone to plan yet.

Insigne has been much more productive (and available!) over the last month. Bernardesechi has transitioned back into the team after being suspended for a match. They still have a gravitational pull and, even when it’s bad, the starpower draws.

Toronto hit a malaise for a few months, with an insipid attack leading to lackluster draws. The last few weeks have been better and — obviously — TFC has the talent to rise.

Total: 26.5 points

A possession-based, front-footed team with a star attacker, defensive frailties and a phenomenal home matchday would normally score higher than 15th, but Austin FC has become too predictable this season.

Sometimes the possession is too methodical, the crosses too aimless. Still, an attack built around Sebastian Driussi secures a baseline of intrigue.

Austin home matches are among the best atmospheres in the league. The “verde” kits play very well and I’ve even come around on the green lights that take over the Q2 Stadium when Austin scores at home.

Riqui Puig needs a hug (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Total: 27 points

With Chicharito’s season-ending injury and the Galaxy stuck in a rut now lasting half the season, the club’s watchability will keep dropping as it drifts away from the playoff line.

All that said…Riqui Puig is still appointment viewing. It’d be more captivating if the attack around him was better, but Puig arriving at the painful realization he might just have to do it all himself ain’t a bad alternative. The Galaxy is one of the worst defensive teams in the league, there won’t be many 0-0 draws here.

Much of the involuntary humor here is made up of rival fans schadenfreude as the historically great Galaxy continue to struggle. Puig being unable to hide frustration at teammates as things get worse is always a good chuckle. As is the Douglas Costa experience whenever he makes it to the pitch.

Total: 27 points

New England’s tally is buoyed by elite individual talent.

Former MLS MVP Carles Gil is on the shortlist for most watchable players in the league. He’s a one-man attack, always among the league leaders in chances created. Djordje Petrovic is the best goalkeeper in the league.

New England also has the #PlayYourKids angle with homegrown midfielder Noel Buck firmly in the starting XI, but Colombian winger Dylan Borrero’s season-ending injury hurts. He was awesome before he went down.

The Revs scored extremely low in the off-field category. Gillette Stadium does not feature a great surface, and the atmosphere in the NFL-sized stadium is often lacking. There’s only so much the End Zone Militia can do.

Total: 28 points

The Portland Timbers don’t really have an identity, and injuries continue to ravage the starting XI at any given time, but they often find themselves in wide-open games.

Club-record signing Evander has had moments, but there’s still plenty of room to improve. If Yimmi Chara can stay healthy, an attack built around Evander, Chara and Santi Moreno can be a lot of fun to watch. The summer window will provide further additions as well.

Defensive midfielder Diego Chara may be eternal. Whenever it seems like Father Time might have an advantage, Chara is there to clip him in transition and somehow not get a yellow card.

Gio Savarese’s touchline gif-ability is top two for coaches in MLS and the atmosphere at Providence Park is electric. Where else can you get a lumberjack sawing logs after goals? Nowhere.

Total: 28.5 points

Charlotte FC is unpredictable, and that’s the best interpretation for a neutral.

Their games are open, with a group that wants to attack and play with urgency. The defense is not good enough, an area they hope to address this summer, but head coach Christian Lattanzio has stuck to his attack-minded ideals. It leads to a lot of goals both ways.

An attack built around Karol Swiderski and Enzo Copetti is a strong starting point. Copetti has dialed back some of his most demonstrative reactions from his first few games, but still wears his heart on his sleeve. Bonus point for Brandt Bronico’s mullet.

The turf at Bank of America Stadium isn’t great, but the crowd and light blue kits are. If you’re a mid-2010s Burnley fan, with Ashley Westwood already here and Scott Arfield on his way, this team is for you.

Cade Cowell is one of the most exciting young American players in MLS (Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)

Total: 29 points

It didn’t take long for Luchi Gonzalez to impart his vision on this San Jose Earthquakes team. Cristian Espinoza has benefitted more than any other attacker.

Espinoza has low-key been a top winger in the league for a couple of seasons, but with the team playing Matias Almeyda’s funky tactics and rarely near the playoff line, it went overlooked. This year he’s added goals, too.

With Espinoza as top dog and Jeremy Ebobisse cooking at center forward, the attack is complementary and strong.

Shoutout Cade Cowell’s mustache, hair and general vibe.

Total: 30 points

The Vancouver Whitecaps might be the neutral hipsters’ choice here.

Vancouver doesn’t have star players, per se, and it’s not atop the Western Conference. The club’s playing or recruitment identity isn’t dialed to any extreme, but they have a group of talented players who fit well and are, after probably a bit too much tinkering, meshing together.

Andres Cubas is among the best defensive midfielders in the league, giving freedom to Julian Gressel to take space and maximize his value in possession with elite passing, crossing and box-crashing runs. Ryan Gauld — once known as the “Scottish Messi” — never stops running and makes the attack tick.

Head coach Vanni Sartini is extremely charismatic and always gives a good quote… and reacts demonstratively during the game. Good vibes on the sidelines.

Total: 32.5 points

Expansion teams always get a boost with intrigue, but man, St. Louis has been the real deal on and off the field.

Questions were asked about the initial roster build, but the top-end signings (Joao Klauss, Eduard Löwen, Roman Burki) have all been huge hits so far. St. Louis is currently without both Klauss and Löwen for the next few weeks brings them down in the short term, though.

Head coach Bradley Carnell comes with high-pressing ethos but has added layers to make the team a bit less predictable and more flexible. The games are still entertaining and energetic.

All the soccer history in St. Louis can be felt at CityPark Stadium, already one of the must-see atmospheres in MLS.

Total: 33 points

At full strength? The Seattle Sounders have a great mix of quality and entertainment.

Cristian Roldan is a Swiss army knife that solves so many problems and creates so much value around him. Raul Ruidiaz is an assassin, João Paulo one of the best midfielders in MLS dictating play and popping up with great goals. Seattle has talent at every spot in their best XI.

However, The Sounders haven’t had their strongest XI for long stretches of time and will be without three key starters (including Roldan) over the Gold Cup.

Lumen Field is still a great atmosphere and Nouhou earns them all five points in the involuntary humor category.

Hany Mukhtar is having another MVP-caliber season (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Total: 33.5 points

Is there anything more exciting in MLS today than Hany Mukhtar in transition? The Nashville superstar has 13 goals and seven assists already in 2023, and is on an absurd 2.5 season run. He won MLS MVP last year and is the current favorite halfway through the season to repeat.

GO DEEPER

Reflecting on 20 years of CBAs and change: MLS Weekly

Nashville also has a DP spot open and will take another swing at adding a center forward with it. Nashville isn’t quite as lock-down defensively as it has been and Gary Smith has gotten at least a little more adventurous with lineup choices, a welcome evolution in 2023. Fafa Picault adds to the on-field dynamism plus involuntary humor with his take-no-shit demeanor. Nashville has more than a few guys like that.

Nashville also has one of the best home atmospheres in the league plus a corky, fun tradition of a guest guitar riff to kick off home matches. Both their supposed “home” yellow kits and new Johnny Cash black shirts play great on TV.

This committee of one would never admit to nefarious factors influencing the sanctity of the vote, but goalkeeper Joe Willis’ mustache is valued here more than perhaps anywhere else.

Total: 34 points

A talented team with a long-proven, attractive playing identity. There isn’t anything new about the Philadelphia Union or their leading stars, but that doesn’t make them any less watchable.

The pyrotechnic attack revolves around Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza and Mikael Uhre, a group that fired the Union to 72 (!!) goals last year and are picking up steam again this season. They play fast and direct, but have more variety than a normal high-pressing team.

Jose Martinez is box office. A one-man wrecking crew in defensive transition with a flair for making routine, mundane plays dramatic. He signed a new contract and is here to stay for the long term.

Philly has developed their own stars, both via their academy and by introducing new talent to the league through unheralded transfers. The kits are lovely and the stadium is picturesque in front of the Commodore Barry Bridge.

Total: 35 points

Superstar attacking talent, Golden Boot-chasing forward, incredible home atmosphere, strong kits, young talent and defensively wide open? Atlanta United scored very well across all categories.

Thiago Almada is integral to everything Atlanta does, as he should be. He’s one of the best players in the league and will almost certainly break the MLS league record transfer one day. He’s a chef in transition, cooking defenders and setting up teammates. He’s a standout player not just because of his talent but his decision-making too.

Atlanta has a #PlayYourKids angle with Caleb Wiley and an open DP spot to use this summer. If Almada stays until the winter, it can challenge for the top spot.

Atlanta earns points here for defensive fragilities leading to more open games. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium features a raucous crowd and a train horn after goals, but is dinged a couple of points for turf (and that pesky camera angle at the near corner flag that is always cut off).

Total: 35.5 points

FC Cincinnati is atop the Supporters’ Shield standings on a historic pace with one of the league’s most fun players (Lucho Acosta) leading the way and, honestly, they still have another stride they can hit in attack. A much stronger defense has buoyed Cincy’s year-over-year improvement and, while that stifles opponents, they do so in an aggressive way up the pitch rather than sitting deep.

Acosta has carried the club and is in the MVP race, with Alvaro Barreal taking a leap this year. USMNT forward Brandon Vazquez hasn’t hit the same form as last year, but there’s reason to trust it’s coming. In a few weeks, they’ll add DP forward Aaron Boupendza to the group, a dynamic Gabon international center forward.

Cincy’s top quality, play style and lovely home atmosphere at TQL Stadium puts the group in the elite bracket both in success and in watchability.

It’s easy to forget that just 18 months ago, the club was reeling from their third straight bottom-of-the-league finish, devoid of hope once again and heading into another rebuild. Truly incredible how quickly the club turned it around.

2. LAFC

Total: 36 points

Quality: 9 | Identity: 9 | Non-soccer: 10 | Moments: 5 | Flaws: 1 | Humor: 2

Since day one, LAFC has strived to ensure its identity was centered around attractive, front-footed soccer. Those amorphous terms have taken different forms, from Bob Bradley’s historic 2019 group led by Carlos Vela, to Steve Cherundolo’s 2022 team that won the Shield/Cup double.

LAFC evolved again in 2023 and it is now the Denis Bouanga show. Over the first half of the season he won the CONCACAF Champions League golden boot and was tied for the MLS Golden Boot lead before Mukhtar’s latest hat trick while Bouanga was on international duty.

The LAFC midfield is a fun balance of quality and energy that often lends to end-to-end games with plenty of transition moments.

An LAFC home match is a spectacle. From the quality and style on the pitch to the big names in the stands (Owen Wilson and Magic Johnson among them), anchored by a phenomenal supporters’ culture orchestrating the soundtrack to any game. Sprinkle in some big names on the field in Vela and Giorgio Chiellini, this club ticks a lot of boxes.

Total: 38 points

The Crew isn’t the best team in the league, but they’re good. They have an attractive playing styles under Wilfried Nancy and star attacking players to execute on that vision. They are able to play through mistakes — they went to Red Bull Arena and tried to play through the Red Bulls’ all-out press! — but also have flaws that lend to open games and the fear that no lead is safe.

It’s the perfect equation for watchability.

There’s a reason why Crew games average 3.4 combined goals a game. The fatal flaws (that lead to too many goals conceded) mean they’re not currently legitimate trophy contenders… but a summer transfer window is coming and needs are obvious. Like Cincinnati last year, a couple of defensive signings can change a lot. For now, neutrals can embrace the chaos.

Lucas Zelarayan and Cucho Hernandez are among the two most talented players in the league. They both can explode at any given moment to change a game, to capture attention. Alexandru Matan came back from obscurity under Caleb Porter and is now a fantastic complement to form an attacking trio with Zelarayan/Cucho. The other option for the attacking trio, Christian Ramirez as a traditional center forward with Zelarayan/Cucho buzzing around him, has delivered as well.

Columbus’ recent 4-2 win over Charlotte FC typified everything that makes this team so much fun for neutrals. The Crew raced out to a 3-0 lead while playing beautiful soccer… then, out of nowhere, conceded two soft goals in two minutes to suddenly make it 3-2. Before I could even send a tweet, Zelarayan and Cucho combined for a gorgeous goal.

The Columbus Crew are the No. 1 most watchable team in MLS pic.twitter.com/7jO00iOpYX

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 4, 2023

Lower.com Field is beautiful and I’m a sucker for the yellow monochrome kits. Plus, the club seemingly wants to wear their primary jersey at home as much as possible. What a concept!

(Photo: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

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