MLS Next Pro

Last updated

MLS Next Pro
MLS Next Pro logo.svg
FoundedJune 21, 2021;3 years ago (2021-06-21)
First season2022
CountryUnited States
Other club(s) fromCanada
Confederation CONCACAF
Number of clubs29
Level on pyramid 3
Domestic cup(s) U.S. Open Cup
Current champions North Texas SC
(2024)
Current regular
season title
North Texas SC
(2024)
TV partners MLS Season Pass
YouTube
Website mlsnextpro.com
Current: 2024 MLS Next Pro season

MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clubs and 2 independent clubs. MLS Next Pro is classified as part of the third tier of the United States soccer league system. [1]

Contents

History

On June 21, 2021, Major League Soccer announced the creation of a new professional league which would begin play in 2022. MLS has applied to the United States Soccer Federation for the league to be sanctioned as a Division III professional league, the same level currently occupied by USL League One and the National Independent Soccer Association and one level below the USL Championship. [2] MLS announced that Next Pro would start with at least 20 teams, many of them owned by Major League Soccer and development teams between their first-teams and their youth academies. [2] All MLS clubs with reserve teams in the USL Championship or USL League One initially planned to move those sides to MLS Next Pro by 2023. D.C. United's formerly owned-and-operated reserve team was sold to independent buyers. [2]

The inaugural match of MLS Next Pro was played on March 25, 2022, at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. St. Louis City 2 defeated Rochester New York FC 2–0. Wan Kuzain scored the first ever goal in the 20th minute. [3] [4] [5]

The league makes use of unique rules such as all regular season draws being decided by penalty shootouts and the addition of concussion substitutions. On July 6, 2022, new rules for the league were introduced in the middle of the season. This included an off-field treatment rule meant to curb gamesmanship and timewasting and a new rule for red card suspensions: The suspension a player gets for getting a red card or two yellow cards in the same game will be served by the player when next playing against the same opponent. [6]

Competition format

The league runs from spring to fall with the season kicking off in March. Each team plays 28 regular-season games, followed by an 14-team playoff tournament. The league is divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. [7]

Unlike Major League Soccer, MLS Next Pro does not feature a salary cap and player contracts are held by the teams, not the league. Team rosters can have up to 24 professional players (not including amateur academy players) with a maximum of seven international players. [8] An MLS Next Pro club's active roster contains up to 35 players, all of whom are eligible for selection to each official match roster during the MLS Next Pro season. [9]

Teams

    Usa edcp location map.svg
    Locations of announced teams in MLS Next Pro:
    • Dark-blue pog.svg Eastern Conference - Northeast Division Blue pog.svg Eastern Conference - Southeast Division
    • Red pog.svg Western Conference - Frontier Division Dark Red 800000 pog.svg Western Conference - Pacific Division
    • Yellow pog.svg future teams
    TeamLocationStadiumCapacityFoundedJoinedHead coachAffiliate
    Eastern Conference
    Northeast Division
    Chicago Fire FC II Bridgeview, Illinois SeatGeek Stadium 20,000 [10] 20212022Mike Matkovich Chicago Fire FC
    Columbus Crew 2 Columbus, Ohio Historic Crew Stadium 19,968 [11] 20212022 Kelvin Jones Columbus Crew
    FC Cincinnati 2 Highland Heights, Kentucky NKU Soccer Stadium 1,000 [12] 20212022 Tyrone Marshall FC Cincinnati
    New England Revolution II Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
    Mark A. Ouellette Stadium (Hooksett, NH)
    20,000 [13]
    1,500
    20192022 Richie Williams New England Revolution
    New York City FC II New York City, New York Belson Stadium 2,168 [14] 20212022 Matt Pilkington New York City FC
    New York Red Bulls II Montclair, New Jersey MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field 5,000 [15] 20152023 Ibrahim Sekagya New York Red Bulls
    Philadelphia Union II Chester, Pennsylvania Subaru Park 18,500 [16] 20152022 Marlon LeBlanc Philadelphia Union
    Toronto FC II Toronto, Ontario York Lions Stadium 4,000 [17] 20142022 Gianni Cimini Toronto FC
    Southeast Division
    Atlanta United 2 Kennesaw, Georgia Fifth Third Bank Stadium 8,31820172023 Steve Cooke Atlanta United FC
    Carolina Core FC High Point, North Carolina Truist Point 4,500 [18] 20222024 Donovan Ricketts Independent
    Chattanooga FC Chattanooga, Tennessee Finley Stadium 20,41220092024Chris NugentIndependent
    Crown Legacy FC Matthews, North Carolina Sportsplex at Matthews 5,000 [19] 20222023José Tavares Charlotte FC
    Huntsville City FC Huntsville, Alabama Joe W. Davis Stadium 6,000 [20] 20222023Chris O'Neal Nashville SC
    Inter Miami CF II Fort Lauderdale, Florida Chase Stadium 18,000 [21] 20192022 Federico Higuaín Inter Miami CF
    Orlando City B Kissimmee, Florida Osceola County Stadium 5,300 [22] 20152022Manuel Goldberg Orlando City SC
    Western Conference
    Frontier Division
    Austin FC II Austin, Texas Parmer Field1,00020222023Brett Uttley Austin FC
    Colorado Rapids 2 Denver, Colorado Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City)
    Denver Soccer Stadium
    18,061
    2,000
    20212022Erik Bushey Colorado Rapids
    Houston Dynamo 2 Houston, Texas SaberCats Stadium 3,200 [23] 20212022 Kenny Bundy Houston Dynamo FC
    Sporting Kansas City II Lawrence, Kansas Rock Chalk Park
    Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, MO)
    2,500 [24]
    1,500 [25]
    20152022 Benny Feilhaber Sporting Kansas City
    Minnesota United FC 2 Saint Paul, Minnesota Allianz Field
    National Sports Center (Blaine)
    19,400 [26]
    5,500 [27]
    20212022 Jeremy Hall Minnesota United FC
    North Texas SC Arlington, Texas Choctaw Stadium 48,114 [28] 20182022John Gall FC Dallas
    St. Louis City 2 St. Louis, Missouri CityPark 22,42320212022David Critchley St. Louis City SC
    Pacific Division
    Los Angeles FC 2 Fullerton, California Titan Stadium 10,000 [29] 20232023 Junior Gonzalez Los Angeles FC
    Portland Timbers 2 Portland, Oregon Providence Park [30] 25,218 [31] 20142022Serge Dinkota Portland Timbers
    Real Monarchs Herriman, Utah Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 [32] 20142022 Mark Lowry Real Salt Lake
    The Town FC Moraga, California Saint Mary's Stadium5,500 [33] 20212022Dan DeGeer San Jose Earthquakes
    Tacoma Defiance Tukwila, Washington Starfire Sports Complex 4,500 [34] 20142022Hervé Diese Seattle Sounders FC
    Ventura County FC Thousand Oaks, California William Rolland Stadium2,000 [35] 20142023 Matt Taylor LA Galaxy
    Whitecaps FC 2 Burnaby, British Columbia Swangard Stadium 5,228 [36] 20212022 Ricardo Clark Vancouver Whitecaps FC

    Future teams

    Team [37] LocationStadiumCapacityFoundedJoiningAffiliate
    Jacksonville Armada FC Jacksonville, Florida New Eastside Stadium2,50020132026Independent
    Connecticut United FC Bridgeport, Connecticut New Waterfront Stadium10,00020242026 [38]
    Cleveland Pro Soccer Cleveland, Ohio TBD20222026 [39]
    West Michigan Soccer Grand Rapids, Michigan Amway Stadium8,50020242027

    Former teams

    ClubCityStadiumCapacityFoundedJoinedLast seasonAffiliate
    Rochester New York FC Brighton, New York John L. DiMarco Field 1,500 [40] 199620222022Independent

    Timeline

    League memberFormer memberFuture memberOther leagues

    MLS Next Pro

    Champions

    SeasonPlayoff championsRegular season champions
    2022 Columbus Crew 2 Columbus Crew 2
    2023 Austin FC II Colorado Rapids 2
    2024 North Texas SC North Texas SC

    Finals

    YearWinnerScoreRunner-UpVenueMVPAttendanceRef.
    2022 Columbus Crew 2 4–1 St. Louis City 2 Lower.com Field Marco Micaletto (CC2)7,446 [41]
    2023 Austin FC II 3–1 Columbus Crew 2 Lower.com Field Valentin Noël (AU2)7,500 [42]
    2024 North Texas SC 3–2 Philadelphia Union II Toyota Stadium Herbert Endeley (NTX)7,692 [43]

    Individual game highest attendance

    Regular season

    Home teamScoreAway teamAttendanceStadiumDateRef
    1 St. Louis City 2 5–0 Tacoma Defiance 12,022 CityPark Oct 6, 2024 [44]
    2St. Louis City 22–0 Sporting Kansas City II 10,671CityParkJun 23, 2024 [45]
    3St. Louis City 24–1 LA Galaxy II 9,626CityParkSep 17, 2023 [46]
    4St. Louis City 24–0 Real Monarchs 9,489CityParkAug 6, 2023 [47]
    5 The Town FC 0–0
    Pen: 4-2
    Austin FC II 5,500 PayPal Park Apr 20, 2024 [48]

    MLS Next Pro Cup Playoffs

    Home teamScoreAway teamAttendanceStadiumDateRef
    1 North Texas SC 3–2 Philadelphia Union II 7,700 Toyota Stadium Nov 9, 2024 [49]
    2 Columbus Crew 2 1–3 Austin FC II 7,500 Lower.com Field Oct 22, 2023
    3Columbus Crew 24–1 St. Louis City 2 7,446Lower.com FieldOct 8, 2022 [50]
    4St. Louis City 20–2 San Jose Earthquakes II 5,227 CityPark Oct 1, 2023 [51]
    5Philadelphia Union II4–0Columbus Crew 24,727 Subaru Park Nov 2, 2024 [52]
    Key
    MLS Next Pro Cup
    Conference Final
    Conference Semifinal
    Otherwise, it is a previous knockout round

    See also

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