MLS Next Pro

MLS Next Pro 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. MLS Next Pro is classified as part of the third tier of the United States soccer league system.[1]

MLS Next Pro
FoundedJune 21, 2021 (2021-06-21)
First season2022
CountryUnited States
Other club(s) fromCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams27
Level on pyramid3
Current championsColumbus Crew 2
(2022)
Current regular
season title		Columbus Crew 2
(2022)
TV partnersMLS Season Pass
YouTube
Websitemlsnextpro.com
Current: 2023 MLS Next Pro season

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 SC 2 defeated Rochester New York FC 2–0. Wan Kuzain scored the first ever goal in the 20th minute.[3][4][5]

On July 6, 2022, new rules for the league were introduced in the middle of its inaugural 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 2 yellow cards in the same game will be served by the player when next playing against the same opponent.[6] This is in addition to other rules that have been implemented, including all regular season draws being decided by penalty shootouts and the addition of concussion substitutions.

Competition format

The league runs from spring to fall with the first season kicking off in March. Each team plays 24 regular-season games, which will be followed by an 8-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 and not by 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
    Locations of announced teams in MLS Next Pro
    • Eastern Conference
    • Western Conference
    • future teams
    Team Location Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Head coach Affiliate
    Eastern Conference
    Northeast Division
    Crown Legacy FC Matthews, North Carolina Sportsplex at Matthews 5,000 2022 2023 José Tavares Charlotte FC
    New England Revolution II Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium 20,000 2019 2022 Clint Peay New England Revolution
    New York City FC II New York City, New York Belson Stadium 2,168 2021 2022 Matt Pilkington New York City FC
    New York Red Bulls II Montclair, New Jersey MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field 5,000 2015 2023 Ibrahim Sekagya New York Red Bulls
    Philadelphia Union II Chester, Pennsylvania Subaru Park 18,500 2015 2022 Marlon LeBlanc Philadelphia Union
    Toronto FC II Toronto, Ontario York Lions Stadium 4,000 2014 2022 Gianni Cimini Toronto FC
    Central Division
    Atlanta United 2 Kennesaw, Georgia Fifth Third Bank Stadium 8,318 2017 2023 Steve Cooke Atlanta United FC
    Chicago Fire FC II Bridgeview, Illinois SeatGeek Stadium 20,000 2021 2022 Ludovic Taillandier Chicago Fire FC
    Columbus Crew 2 Columbus, Ohio Historic Crew Stadium 19,968 2021 2022 Laurent Courtois Columbus Crew
    FC Cincinnati 2 Highland Heights, Kentucky NKU Soccer Stadium 1,000 2021 2022 Tyrone Marshall FC Cincinnati
    Huntsville City FC Huntsville, Alabama Joe W. Davis Stadium 6,000 2022 2023 Jack Collison Nashville SC
    Inter Miami CF II Fort Lauderdale, Florida DRV PNK Stadium 18,000 2019 2022 Federico Higuaín Inter Miami CF
    Orlando City B Kissimmee, Florida Osceola County Stadium 5,400 2015 2022 Martín Perelman Orlando City SC
    Western Conference
    Frontier Division
    Austin FC II Austin, Texas Parmer Field 1,000 2022 2023 Brett Uttley Austin FC
    Colorado Rapids 2 Denver, Colorado Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City)
    Denver Soccer Stadium    		 18,061
    2,000    		 2021 2022 Erik Bushey Colorado Rapids
    Houston Dynamo 2 Houston, Texas SaberCats Stadium 4,000 2021 2022 Kenny Bundy Houston Dynamo FC
    Sporting Kansas City II Lawrence, Kansas Rock Chalk Park
    Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, MO)    		 2,500
    3,500    		 2015 2022 Benny Feilhaber Sporting Kansas City
    Minnesota United FC 2 Saint Paul, Minnesota Allianz Field
    National Sports Center (Blaine)    		 19,400
    10,000    		 2021 2022 Cameron Knowles Minnesota United FC
    North Texas SC Arlington, Texas Choctaw Stadium 48,114 2018 2022 Javier Cano FC Dallas
    St. Louis City SC 2 St. Louis, Missouri CityPark 22,500 2021 2022 Bobby Murphy St. Louis City SC
    Pacific Division
    LA Galaxy II Carson, California Dignity Health Track Stadium 5,000 2014 2023 Marcelo Sarvas LA Galaxy
    Los Angeles FC 2 Fullerton, California Titan Stadium 10,000 2023 2023 Enrique Duran Los Angeles FC
    Portland Timbers 2 Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro Stadium 7,600 2014 2022 Shannon Murray Portland Timbers
    Real Monarchs Herriman, Utah Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 2014 2022 Jámison Olave Real Salt Lake
    San Jose Earthquakes II San Jose, California PayPal Park 18,000 2021 2022 Dan DeGeer San Jose Earthquakes
    Tacoma Defiance Tacoma, Washington Cheney Stadium
    Starfire Sports Complex (Tukwila)    		 6,500
    4,500    		 2014 2022 Wade Webber Seattle Sounders FC
    Whitecaps FC 2 Burnaby, British Columbia Swangard Stadium 5,228 2021 2022 Ricardo Clark Vancouver Whitecaps FC

    Future teams
    Team[10] Location Stadium Capacity Founded Joining Affiliate
    Carolina Core FC High Point, North Carolina Truist Point 5,000 2022 2024 Independent
    Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio TBD – 2022 2025

    Former teams
    Club City Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Final season Affiliate Fate
    Rochester New York FC Brighton, New York John L. DiMarco Field 1,500 1996 2022 2022 Independent Folded

    Timeline

    League member Former member Future member Other leagues

    Champions
    Season Playoff champions Regular season champions
    2022 Columbus Crew 2 Columbus Crew 2
    2023 TBD TBD

    Finals
    Year Winner Score Runner-Up Venue MVP Ref.
    2022 Columbus Crew 2 4–1 St. Louis City SC 2 Lower.com Field Marco Micaletto (CC2) [11]

    See also

    References
    1. Straus, Brian (December 6, 2021). "MLS Next Pro Adds Another Element to U.S. Soccer's Ever-Evolving Lower Club Tier". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
    2. Bonagura, Kyle (June 21, 2021). "Major League Soccer to launch development league in 2022". ESPN. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
    3. Schneider, Jacob (March 24, 2022). "St Louis CITY2 hosts RNY FC in Inaugural MLS NEXT Pro Match". mlsnextpro.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
    4. "Match Report: stlvsroc 03-25-2022". mlsnextpro.com. March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
    5. Schneider, Jacob (March 25, 2022). "Historic Day in St. Louis as CITY2 beats RNY FC to begin the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro campaign". mlsnextpro.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
    6. "MLS NEXT PRO IMPLEMENTING TWO NEW COMPETITION RULES FOR SECOND HALF OF INAUGURAL SEASON". MLS Next Pro. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
    7. "MLS NEXT Pro unveils 21 clubs for inaugural season starting March 2022". mlssoccer. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
    8. Rueter, Jeff (January 14, 2022). "MLS Next Pro to have no salary cap, other key differences from MLS structure, sources say". The Athletic. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
    9. "2022 MLS NEXT PRO Roster Guidelines". MLS Next Pro. January 31, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
    10. "Seven MLS Affiliated Clubs To Join MLS Next Pro In 2023". mlsnextpro. August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
    11. Tellitud, Jesus (October 8, 2022). "Columbus Crew 2 hoist MLS NEXT Pro Cup with 4-1 win over St Louis CITY2". MLS Next Pro. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
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