Report: MLS to expand playoffs in 2015

Major League Soccer will alter its playoff format once again as they intend to increase the number of participants from 10 to 12 teams in 2015.

The announcement regarding an increase is expected to be made next week, according to Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

The move coincides with the expansion of the league as two teams - New York City F.C. and Orlando City - will increase the size of the league to 20 teams next season, followed by an additional increase to 22 in 2017 when Los Angeles and Atlanta enter the league.

Strauss outlines how the playoff system will operate with the expansion:

Under the current system, the fourth- and fifth-place finishers in each conference meet in a one-game playoff that sends the winner to face the top seed. Starting next season, the third-place team in each conference will host the sixth seed in one single-elimination game while No. 4 hosts No. 5 in the other. The four conference semifinalists then will be reseeded to ensure the first-place finisher faces off against the lowest-ranked knockout round survivor. The bracket will look like the one used in the NFL since 1990.

Since the league's inaugural season in 1996, the number of participants have increased from eight to 10, despite a dramatic expansion of teams. There were 10 teams in the league during the 1996 season, compared to the 19 that took part this past season.

The total number of teams next season would have been 21 had Chivas USA not dissolved after the 2014 season.