MLS NEXT Pro announced today\u00a0its plans to shift the League’s competition calendar in 2027, to align with Major League Soccer and other top global soccer leagues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a transition from the current calendar to the new Summer-to-Spring calendar, MLS NEXT Pro will feature\u00a0an initial\u00a0Sprint Season\u00a0in February 2027\u00a0which will carry the weight of a traditional season. Every\u00a0Club will play 14\u00a0regular\u00a0season matches, running mid-February\u00a0\u00a0through\u00a0late April, followed by four rounds of\u00a0playoffs and concluding with\u00a0the\u00a0MLS NEXT Pro Cup in late May.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0inaugural\u00a02027-28 MLS NEXT Pro\u00a0season\u00a0will consist of 28\u00a0regular season\u00a0matches per\u00a0Club, with the first half taking place from mid-July through mid-December. A winter break will be followed by the second half of the season, which will run\u00a0from early February through early May. The ensuing\u00a0MLS NEXT Pro\u00a0Playoffs will culminate with\u00a0the\u00a0MLS NEXT Pro Cup in early\u00a0June.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With MLS NEXT Pro shifting its calendar to the Summer-to-Spring format, all three levels of the MLS player pathway will share the same calendar beginning in 2027-28. The continuity will provide\u00a0additional\u00a0opportunities for player movement between MLS, MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT, in turn increasing player development opportunities and efficiencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Launched in 2022 by Major League Soccer, MLS NEXT Pro is a professional men\u2019s soccer league in the United States and Canada that completes the pro player pathway from MLS NEXT to MLS first teams. MLS NEXT Pro continues to grow the game through innovation and access, bringing professional soccer to new communities and creating opportunities both on and off the field. MLS NEXT Pro celebrates its fifth season in 2026 with 30 teams, 27 MLS-affiliated and three independent, Carolina Core FC, Chattanooga\u00a0FC\u00a0and Connecticut United FC.\u00a0Additional\u00a0MLS-affiliated and independent clubs will join in the years ahead, including Forest City Cleveland, Jacksonville Armada FC, AC Grand Rapids, and The Island FC. For more information about MLS NEXT Pro, visit\u00a0mlsnextpro.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MLS NEXT Pro announced today\u00a0its plans to shift the League’s competition calendar in 2027, to align with Major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[55718,9,24,55,54,12,56,22179],"class_list":["post-331362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-announcements","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-news","tag-ny","tag-nycfc-ii-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}