MLS adding 10-second substitute 'shot clock' in '24 rule changes - ESPN

Major League Soccer announced it will implement a pair of rule changes designed to limit stoppages in play during the 2024 season.

The changes — an off-field treatment rule and a timed substitution rule — were approved during a board of governors meeting Thursday, along with some other on-field rule tweaks and minor updates to the roster guidelines.

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As league commissioner Don Garber alluded to last week during his state of the league address, the league didn't make any wholesale changes to how roster building can be conducted, such as a meaningful increase to the salary cap or an additional designated player slot.

The off-field treatment rule requires any player who remains down with a suspected injury for at least 15 seconds to be removed from the field by a medical crew and receive treatment on the sideline for a minimum of two minutes. Exceptions to the two-minute requirement will be made when the injuries come from fouls that earn yellow or red cards.

Over a season and a half of trials in MLS Next Pro — the two-year-old developmental league — the league reported that stoppages dropped from an average of six per match to 1.22.

The timed substitution rule will require players to exit the playing field within 10 seconds when being removed from the game. If they fail to leave the field in the allotted time, their replacement will have to wait an additional minute and enter at the next stoppage. (The rule does not apply for goalkeepers or injury subs.)

During the 2023 MLS Next Pro season, only 10 substitutions received the one-minute penalty out of more than 3,200 substitutions, according to the league.

None of the three announced changes on the roster side of things