The 2020 MLS Expansion Draft will be held at 6 pm ET on Tuesday streaming live on MLSsoccer.com and the free MLS app.
2020 MLS Expansion Draft Rules
Austin FC may select up to five players from the eligible MLS player pool below. Only a single player can be drafted from any one club. Once one player has been claimed from a club’s unprotected roster, Austin may not select any other players from that club's list.
- Five Rounds: Austin FC may select up to five players from the eligible pool of players, claiming only a single player from any one club.
- Selection clock: Austin FC will be permitted three minutes for each selection. There are no timeouts.
- Trades: No trades are permitted during the 2020 MLS Expansion Draft.
- General Allocation Money:
- Austin FC will receive an additional sum of General Allocation Money as compensation for 10 exempt teams, protected Homegrown players, and the twelve protected players per team in the MLS Expansion Draft.
- Any club that has a player claimed from their unprotected roster will receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money.
Players and teams exempt from the draft
- The ten teams that had players selected by Inter Miami and Nashville SC in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft are exempt from the 2020 Expansion Draft:
<ul style="font-size:0.94em;margin-top:2px;"><li>Atlanta United FC</li><li>FC Cincinnati</li><li>Columbus Crew SC</li><li>Los Angeles Football Club</li><li>Minnesota United FC</li><li>New England Revolution</li><li>New York City FC</li><li>Portland Timbers</li><li>Seattle Sounders FC</li><li>Sporting Kansas City</li></ul></li><li>Players automatically exempt from the 2020 Expansion Draft:
<ul style="font-size:0.94em;margin-top:2px;"><li>Generation adidas players (who did not graduate at the end of the 2020 season)</li><li>Homegrown Players ages 25 and under (born in or after 1995)</li></ul></li></ul>
Players that must be protected:
- No-trade clause: If a player has a no-trade clause in his contract, his MLS club must protect him, and he will count as one of the 12 players who may be protected.
- International Players: Clubs with four or more international players must protect at least three international players, excluding any automatically protected players. If a club has only three international players, it must protect two. If a club has only two international players, it must protect one. A club that has only one international player is not required to protect that player.
General protected/unprotected player-related rules:
- Designated Players: are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft).
- Free Agents: Option Decline Free Agents and Out of Contract Free Agents not automatically protected and are eligible for selection. If a Free Agent is selected in the Expansion Draft, the expansion club that selected the player will gain his previous club’s ability to negotiate a new contract consistent with the CBA. The player’s 2020 club would be treated as a new club for purposes of the Free Agency rules.
- Retired players: If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Expansion Draft, but his club will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to re-enter the league.
- If a player’s contract expires at the end of 2020, he will still be considered part of the club’s Roster.
- If Austin FC selects a Supplemental or Reserve Roster Player, he must be offered a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.
- If a club protects a player, the club is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. The club may renegotiate a new contract with the player as in previous years, subject to the CBA.
Players available for selection in 2020 Expansion Draft:
Clubs can protect 12 players from their Senior, Supplemental, and Reserve rosters based on the rules outlined above. If a club protects a player, the club is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. The club may renegotiate a new contract with the player as in previous years, subject to the CBA.
Chicago Fire FC:
- Azira, Micheal
- Bronico, Brandt
- Collier, Elliot
- Kappelhof, Johan
- Kronholm, Kenneth
- Omsberg, Wyatt
- Sapong, CJ
- Sekulic, Boris
- Sparrow, Connor
Colorado Rapids:
- Beitashour, Steven
- Benezet, Nicolas
- Jackson, Niki
- Mezquida, Nicolas
- Moor, Drew
- Rawls, Andre
- Warner, Collen
FC Dallas:
- Atuahene, Francis
- Burgess, Nkosi
- Mosquera, Santiago
- Ziegler, Reto
- Zobeck, Kyle
D.C. United:
- Abu, Mohammed
- Brillant, Frederic
- Edwards Jr., Earl
- Fisher, Oniel
- Martins, Felipe
- Reyna, Yordy
- Rivas, Gelmin
- Seitz, Chris
- Sjoberg, Axel
Houston Dynamo FC:
- Adams, Kyle
- Bizama, Jose
- Cabrera, Victor
- Cropper, Cody
- Figueroa, Maynor
- Fuenmayor, Alejandro
- Garcia, Boniek
- Lemoine, Nico
- Manotas, Mauro
- Martinez, Tomas
- Pena, Ronaldo
- Salazar, Michael
- Struna, Kiki
- Zahibo, Wilfried
LA Galaxy:
- Bingham, David
- Corona, Joe
- Cuello, Emil
- Feltscher, Rolf
- Gonzalez, Yony
- Gonzalez, Giancarlo
- Insua, Emiliano
- Kitchen, Perry
- Skjelvik, Joergen
- Vom Steeg, Justin
- Wild, Gordon
Inter Miami CF:
- Acosta, George
- Agudelo, Juan
- Ambrose, Mikey
- Chapman, Jay
- DeLaGarza, A.J.
- Higuain, Federico
- Kiesewetter, Jerome
- Makoun, Christian
- Powell, Alvas
- Quinteros, Jairo
- Robles, Luis
- Shea, Brek
- Trapp, Wil
- Ulysse, Denso
Montreal Impact:
- Camacho, Rudy
- Corrales, Jorge
- Diop, Clement
- Fanni, Rod
- Jackson-Hamel, Anthony
- Krkic, Bojan
- Okwonkwo, Orji
- Raitala, Jukka
- Saba, Steeven
- Shome, Shamit
- Urruti, Maximiliano
Nashville SC:
- Accam, David
- Anibaba, Jalil
- Badji, Dominique
- Beckeles, Brayan
- Cochran, CJ
- Danladi, Abu
- Dieterich, Tanner
- Haakenson, Luke
- LaGrassa, Matt
- Lancaster, Cameron
- Miller, Eric
- Nazarit, Miguel
- Panicco, Elliot
- Scott, Brady
- Tribbett, Ken
- Washington, Taylor
- Winn, Alan
New York Red Bulls:
- Egbo, Mandela
- Jensen, David
- Lema, Chris
- McIntosh, Kendall
- Meara, Ryan
- Nealis, Sean
- Pendant, Jason
- Rzatkowski, Marc
- Seagrist, Patrick
- Stroud, Jared
- Tarek, Amro
- Tetteh, Samuel
Orlando City SC:
- Aias, Matheus
- Akindele, Tesho
- Alvarado, Alexander
- Colman, Josue
- De John, Alex
- DeZart, Joey
- Dwyer, Dom
- Miller, Kamal
- Patino, Santiago
- Robinho
- Rosell, Oriol
- Rowe, Brian
- Smith, Kyle
Philadelphia Union:
- Bendik, Joe
- Collin, Aurelien
- Creavalle, Warren
- Ilsinho
- Ngalina, Michee
- Oravec, Matej
- Wooten, Andrew
Real Salt Lake:
- Jones, Alvin
- MacMath, Zac
- Morgan, Ashtone
- Mulholland, Luke
- Onuoha, Nedum
- Portillo, Justin
- Putna, Andrew
- Rossi, Giuseppe
San Jose Earthquakes:
- Bersano, Matt
- Calvillo, Eric
- Felipe, Luis
- Hoesen, Danny
- Kashia, Guram
- Marie, Paul
- Qazaishvili, Vako
- Skahan, Jack
Toronto FC:
- Ciman, Laurent
- Endoh, Tsubasa
- Gallacher, Tony
- Gallardo, Erickson
- Morrow, Justin
- Mullins, Patrick
- Piatti, Pablo
- Silva, Kevin
- Zavaleta, Eriq
Vancouver Whitecaps FC:
- Cornelius, Derek
- Khmiri, Jasser
- Meredith, Bryan
- Milinkovic, David
- Montero, Fredy
- Rose, Andy
