It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled will dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. This week, we’re casting some side-eye towards the New York Red Bulls, crediting a team that’s pushing for MLS Cup, yelling right along with St. Louis City fans, and more.
Loser: New York Red Bulls
No club has benefited more from MLS’s shift to sending nine teams from each conference to the postseason than the New York Red Bulls.
Back in 2023, the first year of that playoff format, the Red Bulls finished ninth in the East. This year, they sit ninth in the East yet again with six games left on their regular season schedule. Thanks to MLS allowing 60% of its teams to enter the postseason, the New York Red Bulls can lay claim to a very specific — and almost entirely meaningless — boast: their streak of 15-straight playoff appearances is the longest active one in North American men’s professional sports.
That streak may well be extended to 16 come the end of the season. But you know what streak also looks like a sure thing to be extended? The New York Red Bulls’ MLS Cup drought, which goes back, well, forever.
