Teams will continue to play 34-game schedule, but will only play ten teams from the other conference.
Inter Miami has officially been placed into the Eastern Conference ahead of its inaugural season in Major League Soccer.
The South Florida club are one of two expansion sides, along with Nashville SC, and the two new franchises have been split. Inter have been placed in the Eastern Conference, while Nashville has been placed in the West.
Miami being placed in the East means its conference opponents will be as follows;
Atlanta United, Chicago Fire, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City, Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC.
Due to the expansion – and more franchises will be added in coming years – the MLS schedule will be tweaked ahead of the new season. Teams will still play each inter-conference opponent both home and away, but only 10 teams from the other conference will be on the schedule, a reduction from previous years.
Miami’s home opener has already been confirmed to be against a Western Conference foe in LA Galaxy on March 14th next year. Nashville SC will debut against Atlanta United on February 29th.
Further expansion teams will likely cause another reduction in cross-conference games in seasons to come.
The locations of future expansion teams seem to suggest Inter’s fellow 2020 expansion team Nashville SC could yet have a future in the East, but for 2020, the two newcomers will be split.
