| Season: | 2006 |
| Mlscup: | Houston Dynamo (1st title) |
| Shield: | D.C. United (3rd shield) |
| Continentalcup1: | 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Houston Dynamo D.C. United |
| League Topscorer: | Jeff Cunningham Real Salt Lake Goals: 16 |
| Biggest Away Win: | NY 1–4 DCU LA 0–3 RSL DCU 2–5 LA |
| Matches: | 192 |
| Total Goals: | 503 |
| Longest Wins: | D.C. United Wins: 6 (06/21 – 07/15) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | D.C. United Wins: 14 (05/13 – 07/22) |
| Longest Losses: | K.C. Wizards Loss: 7 (06/24 – 07/22) Los Angeles Galaxy Loss: 7 (05/06 -06/08) |
| Highest Attendance: | Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 333,016 Game avg.: 20,814 |
| Lowest Attendance: | K.C. Wizards Season: 177,322 Game avg.: 11,083 |
| Attendance: | 2,976,787 |
| Average Attendance: | 15,504 |
| Prevseason: | 2005 |
| Nextseason: | 2007 |
The 2006 Major League Soccer season was the 11th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 94th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 28th with a national first-division league.
The MetroStars were bought by Austrian company Red Bull and rebranded as the New York Red Bulls.
Due to owner AEG being unable to secure a soccer specific stadium in San Jose, the Earthquakes ceased operations and had their personnel transferred to the expansion Houston Dynamo.
In June, the Chicago Fire moved into their new soccer-specific stadium, Toyota Park, in Bridgeview, Illinois.
The regular season began on April 1, and concluded on October 15. The 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 21, and concluded with MLS Cup 2006 on November 12. Houston marked their inaugural season with a league championship by defeating the New England Revolution on penalties in MLS Cup.
The season began on April 1 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 12. The 12 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, and every team in the opposite conference twice.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions' Cup, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Qualification for the inaugural SuperLiga was also awarded to the MLS Cup Champion and Supporters' Shield winner, as well two invited teams, FC Dallas and LA Galaxy.
Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top three finishers in each conference. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.
See main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums.
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Galaxy |  Steve Sampson | Fired | June 6, 2006 |  Frank Yallop | June 7, 2006 |
| New York Red Bulls | Mo Johnston | Fired | June 27, 2006 | Richie Williams | June 28, 2006 |
| New York Red Bulls | Richie Williams | End of interim period | July 18, 2006 | Bruce Arena | July 18, 2006 |
| Kansas City Wizards | Bob Gansler | Resigned | July 19, 2006 | Brian Bliss | July 19, 2006 |
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D.C. United advance 2–1 on aggregate.
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New England Revolution advance 4–2 on penalties (2–2 aggregate after extra time).
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Colorado Rapids advance 5–4 on penalties (4–4 aggregate after extra time).
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Houston Dynamo advance 3–2 on aggregate.
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New England Revolution advances 1–0 in single elimination.
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Houston Dynamo advances 3–1 in single elimination.
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See main article: article and MLS Cup 2006.
| Club | Games | Total | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 16 | 333,016 | 20,814 | |
| 16 | 317,432 | 19,840 | ||
| Houston Dynamo | 16 | 302,957 | 18,935 | |
| 16 | 291,442 | 18,215 | ||
| Real Salt Lake | 16 | 261,855 | 16,366 | |
| 16 | 239,714 | 14,982 | ||
| 16 | 233,112 | 14,570 | ||
| Chicago Fire | 16 | 225,775 | 14,111 | |
| 16 | 212,699 | 13,294 | ||
| Colorado Rapids | 16 | 192,894 | 12,056 | |
| 16 | 188,569 | 11,786 | ||
| 16 | 177,322 | 11,083 | ||
| Totals | 192 | 2,976,787 | 15,504 |
