MLS Cup Winner To Get Silver Champions Patch, Star On Jersey

In celebration of Major League Soccer’s 25th season, the winner of Saturday’s MLS Cup match between Columbus Crew SC and the Seattle Sounders will get to wear a silver champions patch on their sleeve next year.

Which club will be wearing an #MLSCup champion sleeve patch in 2021?

Introducing a new championship designation 👇
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 11, 2020

The defending league champion used to have the honor of wearing a specially-made “scudetto” that included the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, but that tradition was scrapped in favor of a gold star following the 2012 season.

Thus the Sounders, who are looking for their second straight title, donned the gold star this season as a result of their 3-1 win over Toronto FC in the 2019 MLS Cup final.

Now, the new champion will simply receive an additional silver star above their logo on the left chest of the jersey instead of that oversized gold star.

The LA Galaxy are the only MLS franchise that has earned the right to wear a gold star moving forward as five-time league champions. Columbus (one) and Seattle (two) will take another step toward reaching that benchmark on Saturday, though.

Kickoff of the 2020 MLS Cup Final is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Photos courtesy of @MLS and @SoundersFC on Twitter.