standingschart.com

The closest MLS conference and Supporters' Shield races, 1996 to 2025

The top two have finished with nothing at all between them in two MLS races, most recently the 2024 Western race. Below, every conference and Supporters' Shield race charted since 1996, ranked three ways: by final margin, by lead changes, and by days spent within three points. How each list is computed is spelled out under the lists.

Companion pages: Biggest MLS comebacks and collapses and Days in first place.

Tightest finishes

  1. The 2015 Supporters' Shield race finished level, Red Bull New York and FC Dallas separated by nothing at all, with 22 lead changes.
  2. Portland Timbers won the 2017 Western race over Seattle Sounders FC on wins, with 18 lead changes, taking first place for good on October 22, 2017.
  3. Chicago Fire FC won the 2000 Supporters' Shield race over Kansas City Wizards on wins, with eleven lead changes, taking first place for good on September 9, 2000.
  4. The 2024 Western race finished level, Los Angeles Football Club and LA Galaxy separated by nothing at all, with ten lead changes.
  5. Houston Dynamo FC won the 2009 Western race over LA Galaxy on wins, with seven lead changes, taking first place for good on October 25, 2009.
  6. San Diego Football Club won the 2025 Western race over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on wins, with four lead changes, taking first place for good on October 18, 2025.
  7. Kansas City Wizards won the 2004 Supporters' Shield race over Columbus Crew on wins, with 13 lead changes, taking first place for good on October 16, 2004.
  8. New England Revolution won the 2002 Eastern race over Columbus Crew on wins, with eleven lead changes, taking first place for good on September 21, 2002.
  9. Miami Fusion FC won the 2001 Supporters' Shield race over Chicago Fire FC on points per game, with four lead changes, taking first place for good on September 8, 2001.
  10. Sporting Kansas City won the 2020 Western race over Seattle Sounders FC on points per game, with nine lead changes, taking first place for good on November 4, 2020.

Most lead changes

  1. The lead in the 2015 Supporters' Shield race changed hands 22 times, and Red Bull New York and FC Dallas finished level.
  2. The lead in the 2017 Western race changed hands 18 times, and Portland Timbers won it over Seattle Sounders FC on wins.
  3. The lead in the 2013 Eastern race changed hands 18 times, and Red Bull New York won it by 1 point over Sporting Kansas City.
  4. The lead in the 2011 Eastern race changed hands 18 times, and Sporting Kansas City won it by 2 points over Houston Dynamo FC.
  5. The lead in the 2019 Eastern race changed hands 17 times, and New York City Football Club won it by 6 points over Atlanta United.
  6. The lead in the 2025 Eastern race changed hands 16 times, and Philadelphia Union won it by 1 point over FC Cincinnati.
  7. The lead in the 2007 Western race changed hands 14 times, and Chivas USA won it by 1 point over Houston Dynamo FC.
  8. The lead in the 2021 Western race changed hands 14 times, and Colorado Rapids won it by 1 point over Seattle Sounders FC.
  9. The lead in the 2016 Eastern race changed hands 14 times, and Red Bull New York won it by 3 points over New York City Football Club.
  10. The lead in the 2009 Eastern race changed hands 14 times, and Columbus Crew won it by 4 points over Chicago Fire FC.

Most days within three points

  1. The top two in the 2015 Supporters' Shield race ended 112 of its 114 playing days within three points of each other, and Red Bull New York and FC Dallas finished level.
  2. The top two in the 2015 Western race ended 97 of its 103 playing days within three points of each other, and FC Dallas won it by 7 points over Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  3. The top two in the 2011 Eastern race ended 87 of its 91 playing days within three points of each other, and Sporting Kansas City won it by 2 points over Houston Dynamo FC.
  4. The top two in the 2016 Eastern race ended 79 of its 87 playing days within three points of each other, and Red Bull New York won it by 3 points over New York City Football Club.
  5. The top two in the 2007 Supporters' Shield race ended 78 of its 94 playing days within three points of each other, and D.C. United won it by 2 points over Chivas USA.
  6. The top two in the 2012 Supporters' Shield race ended 75 of its 97 playing days within three points of each other, and San Jose Earthquakes won it by 3 points over Sporting Kansas City.
  7. The top two in the 2017 Western race ended 73 of its 81 playing days within three points of each other, and Portland Timbers won it over Seattle Sounders FC on wins.
  8. The top two in the 2013 Eastern race ended 73 of its 81 playing days within three points of each other, and Red Bull New York won it by 1 point over Sporting Kansas City.
  9. The top two in the 2022 Supporters' Shield race ended 71 of its 87 playing days within three points of each other, and Los Angeles Football Club won it over Philadelphia Union on wins.
  10. The top two in the 2007 Western race ended 70 of its 84 playing days within three points of each other, and Chivas USA won it by 1 point over Houston Dynamo FC.

How these lists are ranked

Everything on this page comes from the same season files the charts draw, with standings read as each day ended. All 92 charted MLS races from 30 finished seasons enter: every conference and Supporters' Shield race from 1996 to 2025. Wild card races are not ranked; their story is the playoff cutoff, not first place. The 2026 season joins these lists when it ends. When the same two teams finished first and second in more than one charted race in the same season (a division and its conference, or a conference and a league-wide race), the narrower race keeps the row; that folds away 12 repeats here.

Tightest finishes ranks races by the final gap between first and second place, in points. Ties are broken by how late the winner took first place for good, then by lead changes, then oldest first. Two teams the standings cannot separate are shown as level, with no winner named; where the league settled such a race another way, the linked race page tells that story. A margin of zero with a winner named means the race was decided on points per game, the league's rule for uneven schedules, or on wins.

Most lead changes counts a change only when a new team passes the leader outright. A day spent tied on top stays with the team already leading, so a tie can never inflate the count.

Most days within three points counts the days on which this race's teams played and the top two ended the day within three points of each other, the most a single result can make up. Days a league stood idle (a strike, a pause) are not counted: a frozen gap says nothing about a race.

Only finished seasons are ranked. Seasons shortened by strikes or other stoppages count as played; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.