The MLS SuperDraft occupies an increasingly nebulous place in the league infrastructure, but it’s still there and this year’s happens Friday.
With the growth of academy systems, teams are looking at that as its main pipeline for young talent, as evidenced by Philadelphia trading away all of its draft picks for the next three seasons a few weeks ago. The NWSL eliminated the draft entirely to make it easier for its teams to keep top players from heading straight to Europe. MLS Commissioner Don Garber talked at his annual State of the League address about downplaying the draft.
This year’s begins at 1 p.m., with City SC drafting seventh based on last season’s results. Lutz Pfannenstiel has made trades on each of his first two draft days, so the best bet may be that City SC picks anywhere but seventh. In its first season, City SC traded down from No. 1 to No. 9 to take Owen O’Malley, who never got in a game with the team and was let go after one season. City SC got more use out of its second-round pick, midfielder John Klein.
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Last season, City SC had traded away its first-round pick, the 21st overall, on draft day to acquire the No. 17 spot. The team drafted midfielder Hosei Kijima and he played 18 games, but the team lost him to San Diego in the expansion draft. San Diego has the first pick in the SuperDraft, followed by San Jose, Chicago, Kansas City, New England and Nashville. City SC also has the 37th and 67th picks.
One local player is expected to go high in the draft: SLU defender Max Floriani. Floriani from Gurnee, Illinois, signed a pre-draft contract with the league on Wednesday, an indication that at least one team has expressed strong interest in him.
The players to go first in the draft are usually players who sign Generation Adidas contracts with the league, which allows them to be paid a higher salary but not count against the salary cap. This year’s GA class: Wisconsin freshman forward Dean Boltz, UC Santa Barbara freshman midfielder Manu Duah, Cornell sophomore forward Alex Harris and North Carolina freshman defender Tate Johnson.
City SC schedule set for 2025
City SC will open its third season Feb. 22 at home against Colorado, the start of a season that runs through Oct. 18.
City SC will then play in expansion team San Diego FC’s home opener on March 1. With the addition of San Diego to the league, giving the Western Conference 15 teams, City SC will face Sporting Kansas City only twice, instead of the three times the teams met in its first two seasons. Both matches are early in the season: City SC goes to Kansas City on April 5 and Kansas City comes here on May 14, a Wednesday.
City SC will face one fewer Eastern Conference team, down to six from seven. It will continue its annual series with the Chicago Fire, this season in Chicago on Aug. 16, and also face Nashville, Orlando, Columbus, Montreal and Philadelphia, where former City SC coach Bradley Carnell is rumored to be a contender for its head coaching job. This will be the first time City SC has played Philadelphia, Montreal and Columbus (which it has played in Leagues Cup). It leaves one team that City SC will have not yet faced in three seasons: New York Red Bulls.
The league will take a break from June 15 to 24 for the opening of the FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United States, and the concurrent CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will have St. Louis as one of its venues. MLS will not take a break for Leagues Cup, which will go from July 29 to Aug. 31 and in which City SC is not expected to take part. Those matches will be played midweek.
City SC will play 26 of its 34 regular-season games on Saturdays, six on Sundays and only two on Wednesdays, and start times will vary from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. (for the final game of the season).
St. Louis City SC 2025 schedule
| Date | Opponent | Time (Central) |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 22 | vs. Colorado | 7:30 p.m. |
| March 1 | at San Diego | 9:30 p.m. |
| March 9 | at LA Galaxy | 6 p.m. |
| March 15 | vs. Seattle | 7:30 p.m. |
| March 22 | at Philadelphia | 6:30 p.m. |
| March 30 | vs. Austin | 1 p.m. |
| April 5 | at Sporting Kansas City | 7:30 p.m. |
| April 13 | vs. Columbus | 6 p.m. |
| April 19 | vs. Vancouver | 7:30 p.m. |
| April 27 | at Los Angeles FC | 6 p.m. |
| May 3 | at Seattle | 9:30 p.m. |
| May 10 | vs. San Diego | 7:30 p.m. |
| May 14 | vs. Sporting Kansas City | 7:30 p.m. |
| May 17 | at Minnesota | 7:30 p.m. |
| May 24 | at Colorado | 8:30 p.m. |
| May 31 | vs. San Jose | 1:30 p.m. |
| June 8 | at Portland | 6 p.m. |
| June 14 | vs. LA Galaxy | 3:30 p.m. |
| June 25 | vs. Orlando | 7:30 p.m. |
| June 28 | at Houston | 7:30 p.m. |
| July 5 | at Real Salt Lake | 8:30 p.m. |
| July 13 | vs. Portland | 6 p.m. |
| July 19 | at Dallas | 7:30 p.m. |
| July 26 | vs. Minnesota | 7:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 9 | vs. Nashville | 7:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 16 | at Chicago | 7:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 23 | at Vancouver | 8:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 30 | vs. Houston | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 6 | vs. Dallas | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 13 | at Montreal | 6:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 20 | at San Jose | 9:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 27 | vs. Los Angeles FC | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 4 | at Austin | 7:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 18 | vs. Real Salt Lake | 8 p.m |
Allocation money revealed
MLS released for the first time on the amount of general allocation money, the GAM you hear about it in so many MLS transactions, and City SC has some of the most in the league at its disposal.
City SC has $5,306,579 of GAM it can use, the third-most in the league behind Atlanta and New England. At the bottom end of the list is Houston at $2.063 million,
GAM allows teams more room under the salary cap. City SC could use it to buy down a player’s salary so he doesn’t have to be a designated player, or it could use it to buy down a loan or transfer fee. It can use it to sign a Homegrown player, a player from its own academy system. It can also, as City SC has done, be used in player acquisition within the league.
On Thursday, for instance, New England used $2.5 million of its GAM to acquire Leo Campana from Miami.
Every team received $2.93 million of GAM for 2025, but teams can get more based on various criteria. In addition to trades, teams can turn up to $3 million of a transfer fee it receives into GAM. Teams get GAM for failing to make the MLS playoffs or for losing a player in the expansion draft, both of which apply to City SC. Teams also get money for making the CONCACAF Champions Cup or for not having a third designated player.
What does this mean for City SC? That it has a lot of tools at its disposal in roster building, though at this point there’s not a whole lot left to do to put the 2025 roster together.
