# MLS Next Pro

MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). 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.

## 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. 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. 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.
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.
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.

## 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.
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. 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.

## Teams

* Eastern Conference - Northeast Division Eastern Conference - Southeast Division
* Western Conference - Frontier Division Western Conference - Pacific Division
* future teams
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Head coach | Affiliate |
| Eastern Conference ||||||||
| Northeast Division ||||||||
| Chicago Fire FC II | Bridgeview, Illinois | SeatGeek Stadium | 20,000 | 2021 | 2022 | Mike Matkovich | Chicago Fire FC |
| Columbus Crew 2 | Columbus, Ohio | Historic Crew Stadium | 19,968 | 2021 | 2022 | Kelvin Jones | Columbus Crew |
| FC Cincinnati 2 | Highland Heights, Kentucky | NKU Soccer Stadium | 1,000 | 2021 | 2022 | Tyrone Marshall | FC Cincinnati |
| New England Revolution II | Foxborough, Massachusetts | Gillette Stadium | 20,000 | 2019 | 2022 | Richie Williams | 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 | Ryan Richter | Philadelphia Union |
| Toronto FC II | Toronto, Ontario | York Lions Stadium | 4,000 | 2014 | 2022 | Gianni Cimini | Toronto FC |
| Southeast Division ||||||||
| Atlanta United 2 | Kennesaw, Georgia | Fifth Third Stadium | 8,318 | 2017 | 2023 | Steve Cooke | Atlanta United FC |
| Carolina Core FC | High Point, North Carolina | Truist Point | 4,500 | 2022 | 2024 | Donovan Ricketts | Independent |
| Chattanooga FC | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Finley Stadium | 20,412 | 2009 | 2024 | Chris Nugent | Independent |
| Crown Legacy FC | Matthews, North Carolina | Sportsplex at Matthews | 5,000 | 2022 | 2023 | José Tavares | Charlotte FC |
| Huntsville City FC | Huntsville, Alabama | Joe W. Davis Stadium | 6,000 | 2022 | 2023 | Chris O'Neal | Nashville SC |
| Inter Miami CF II | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Chase Stadium | 21,550 | 2019 | 2022 | Cristian Ledesma | Inter Miami CF |
| Orlando City B | Kissimmee, Florida | Osceola County Stadium | 5,300 | 2015 | 2022 | Manuel Goldberg | 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 | 18,0612,000 | 2021 | 2022 | Erik Bushey | Colorado Rapids |
| Houston Dynamo 2 | Houston, Texas | SaberCats Stadium | 3,200 | 2021 | 2022 | Marcelo Santos | Houston Dynamo FC |
| Sporting Kansas City II | Kansas City, Missouri | Swope Soccer Village | 3,500 | 2015 | 2022 | István Urbányi | Sporting Kansas City |
| Minnesota United FC 2 | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Allianz FieldNational Sports Center (Blaine) | 19,4005,500 | 2021 | 2022 | Jeremy Hall | Minnesota United FC |
| North Texas SC | Arlington, Texas | Choctaw Stadium | 48,114 | 2018 | 2022 | John Gall | FC Dallas |
| St. Louis City 2 | St. Louis, Missouri | Energizer Park | 22,423 | 2021 | 2022 | David Critchley | St. Louis City SC |
| Pacific Division ||||||||
| Los Angeles FC 2 | Fullerton, California | Titan Stadium | 10,000 | 2023 | 2023 | Junior Gonzalez | Los Angeles FC |
| Portland Timbers 2 | Portland, Oregon | Providence Park | 25,218 | 2014 | 2022 | Serge Dinkota | Portland Timbers |
| Real Monarchs | Herriman, Utah | Zions Bank Stadium | 5,000 | 2014 | 2022 | Mark Lowry | Real Salt Lake |
| The Town FC | Moraga, California | Saint Mary's Stadium | 5,500 | 2021 | 2022 | Dan DeGeer | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Tacoma Defiance | Tukwila, Washington | Starfire Sports Complex | 4,500 | 2014 | 2022 | Hervé Diese | Seattle Sounders FC |
| Ventura County FC | Thousand Oaks, California | William Rolland Stadium | 2,000 | 2014 | 2023 | Matt Taylor | LA Galaxy |
| Whitecaps FC 2 | Burnaby, British Columbia | Swangard Stadium | 5,228 | 2021 | 2022 | Ricardo Clark | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |

### Future teams

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Founded | Joining | Affiliate |
| Jacksonville Armada FC | Jacksonville, Florida | New Eastside Stadium | 2,500 | 2013 | 2026 | Independent |
| Connecticut United FC | Bridgeport, Connecticut | New Waterfront Stadium | 10,000 | 2024 | 2026 | Independent |
| Cleveland Pro Soccer | Cleveland, Ohio | South Gateway Stadium | 10,000 | 2022 | 2026 | Independent |
| West Michigan Soccer | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Amway Stadium | 8,500 | 2024 | 2027 | Independent |

### Former teams

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Last season | Affiliate |
| Rochester New York FC | Brighton, New York | John L. DiMarco Field | 1,500 | 1996 | 2022 | 2022 | Independent |

### Timeline

League member Former member Future member Other leagues

## Champions

| Season | Playoff champions | Regular season champions |
| 2022 | Columbus Crew 2 | Columbus Crew 2 |
| 2023 | Austin FC II | Colorado Rapids 2 |
| 2024 | North Texas SC | North Texas SC |

### Finals

| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-Up | Venue | MVP | Attendance |
| 2022 | Columbus Crew 2 | 4–1 | St. Louis City 2 | Lower.com Field | Marco Micaletto (CC2) | 7,446 |
| 2023 | Austin FC II | 3–1 | Columbus Crew 2 | Lower.com Field | Valentin Noël (AU2) | 7,500 |
| 2024 | North Texas SC | 3–2 | Philadelphia Union II | Toyota Stadium | Herbert Endeley (NTX) | 7,692 |

## Individual game highest attendance
### Regular season

| | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Stadium | Date |
| 1 | St. Louis City 2 | 5–0 | Tacoma Defiance | 12,022 | CityPark | October 6, 2024 |
| 2 | St. Louis City 2 | 2–0 | Sporting Kansas City II | 10,671 | CityPark | June 23, 2024 |
| 3 | St. Louis City 2 | 4–1 | LA Galaxy II | 9,626 | CityPark | September 17, 2023 |
| 4 | St. Louis City 2 | 4–0 | Real Monarchs | 9,489 | CityPark | August 6, 2023 |
| 5 | The Town FC | 0–0 Pen: 4-2 | Austin FC II | 5,500 | PayPal Park | April 20, 2024 |

### MLS Next Pro Cup Playoffs

| | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Stadium | Date |
| 1 | North Texas SC | 3–2 | Philadelphia Union II | 7,700 | Toyota Stadium | Nov 9, 2024 |
| 2 | Columbus Crew 2 | 1–3 | Austin FC II | 7,500 | Lower.com Field | October 22, 2023 |
| 3 | Columbus Crew 2 | 4–1 | St. Louis City 2 | 7,446 | Lower.com Field | October 8, 2022 |
| 4 | St. Louis City 2 | 0–2 | San Jose Earthquakes II | 5,227 | CityPark | October 1, 2023 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Union II | 4–0 | Columbus Crew 2 | 4,727 | Subaru Park | November 2, 2024 |
Key :
* MLS Next Pro Cup
* Conference Final
* Conference Semifinal
* Otherwise, it is a previous knockout round