Since the previous Next Pro thread is getting long, and the in-and-offseason thread concept seems to make sense, why don't we start a new thread for the 2023 season. There's a schedule and TV info now: MLS NEXT Pro today announced its 2023 regular season schedule, with matches beginning Friday, March 24. The League’s second season will feature 27 clubs, including seven new MLS affiliates. Joining MLS NEXT Pro in 2023 will be Atlanta United 2, Austin FC II, Crown Legacy FC (Charlotte FC), Huntsville City FC (Nashville SC), LA Galaxy II, Los Angeles Football Club 2 and New York Red Bulls II. The majority of regular season matches, plus all Decision Day matches, playoffs matches and MLS NEXT Pro Cup, will be available to watch live and on-demand on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app. The remainder of regular season matches will stream live on mlsnextpro.com. MLS Season Pass is the subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer that is home to all MLS and Leagues Cup matches and hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches. https://www.mlsnextpro.com/news/mls-next-pro-announces-2023-schedule-and-new-playoffs-format The old thread is here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/mls-next-pro-league.2119299/ Is there a non-Next Pro lower-division in-season YNT thread? If so, please put it here!
My first question, will they be using the AI cameras for the Next Pro dot com broadcasts this year? Very hard to follow and enjoy the games (plus the zoom cut off many key moments). I’m going to assume that Apple won’t go in that direction.
Apple definitely has a standard of production they require for (most of) their content. That said, given the number of people who will watch Next Pro, I don't know that it will be worth the investment for anyone.
Are most teams releasing rosters for this or is it essentially academy all star teams and first team reservists? LAFC2 has only announced 2 players so I am confused about the squad makeup.
There is a roster deadline for teams to submit to MLS Next Pro. Probably Thursday night prior to the opening game on Friday. I believe last year all teams released their rosters to local media by that time. Right now many are looking at trialists and rosters aren’t set.
Inter Miami 2 has signed Haitian-American F Bryan Destin (06) and American D Tyler Hall (06) to MLSNP contracts. Both recently played in the CONCACAF U17 championship, the latter for Haiti, making him provisionally cap-tied. https://www.intermiamicf.com/news/inter-miami-cf-ii-signs-bryan-destin-to-professional-contract https://www.intermiamicf.com/news/inter-miami-cf-ii-signs-tyler-hall-to-professional-contract Atlanta 2 has signed forward Luke Brennan (05) to a deal that will make him homegrown for the first team in 2024. https://www.atlutd.com/2/news/atlanta-united-2-signs-forward-luke-brennan Austin has signed F Jona Santillian (04), formerly of LAG's academy, to an MLSNP deal. https://www.austinfc.com/austinfcii/news/austin-fc-ii-signs-joe-hafferty-jonathan-santillan Last month Rapids 2 signed 04 Logan Batiste, a fullback from Florida. https://www.coloradorapids.com/rapids2/news/colorado-rapids-2-sign-right-back-logan-batiste Columbus 2 signed D Xavier Zengue, an 01 who was a 4-year player at Dayton that it took late in the first round of the SuperDraft. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-2-signs-defender-xavier-zengue Earlier this month, Minnesota 2 signed Britton Fischer (04), a big CB from North Carolina who was with North Carolina FC in USL League One the past couple of years. https://www.mnufc.com/news/mnufc2-signs-defender-britton-fischer New England 2 signed an 04 GK from, of all places, Vermont this week named Max Weinstein. https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/ne...keeper-max-weinstein-to-professional-contract NYRB2 signed M Dylan Sullivan, an 01 who spent 4 years at Clemson. Notably, he is the stepbrother of Tyler Adams. https://www.newyorkredbulls.com/2/n...product-dylan-sullivan-to-an-mls-next-pro-con In an intriguing move, North Texas signed 01 attacker Tomas Pondeca earlier this month. He had been a star with the US national futsal team and was named the best young player at the last CONCACAF futsal championship. https://www.fcdallas.com/northtexas...deca-to-an-mls-next-pro-professional-contract NYCFC2 signed D Klevis Haxhari, an 05. He's from the Bronx but is provisionally cap-tied to Albania, whose chief export is chrome. https://www.nycfc.com/news/new-york...cademy-product-klevis-haxhari-to-professional Last month, Royal Monarchs signed MF Griffin Dillon, 03, formerly of the RSL academy, after his sophomore season at Maryland. https://www.rsl.com/monarchs/news/real-monarchs-add-former-rsl-academy-midfielder-griffin-dillon Similarly, Kansas City II signed 01 MF Enzo Mauriz, a former academy player who spent three college seasons at Kentucky. https://www.sportingkc.com/skcii/ne...demy-product-and-college-standout-enzo-mauriz Portland 2, which rarely seems to give a shit about player development, signed GK Carver Miller (04), who'd been toiling in a lower level in Germany and Blake Pope (03), a winger who was with North Texas last year. https://www.timbers.com/t2/news/tim...er-signings-ahead-of-2023-mls-next-pro-season
Vamos #LosDos ✨LA Galaxy II announce player signings ahead of team’s inaugural 2023 campaign in @MLSNEXTPRO.📰: https://t.co/oWLWczOQ2Z pic.twitter.com/6QO7q9FctJ— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) March 23, 2023
Apple Season Pass has added a Next Pro section that lists the first 6 broadcasts for each team. Hopefully the quality of the camera work is improved over last year.
I've probably missed a few but here's what I have for all YNT-eligible pros: Austin II: '02 David Rodriguez '03 Emmanuel Johnson '04 Leo Torres '04 Jonathan Santillian '05 Anthony De Anda '06 Micah Burton STL2: '01 Larsen Hackworth '02 Christian Olivares '02 Michael Wentzel '02 Eric Walker SKCII: '01 Mo Abualnadi '01 Enzo Mauriz '01 Jahon Rad '01 Andrew Draper '01 Ethan Bryant '03 Coby Jones '03 Mikey Lenis Inter Miami II: '01 Owen Finnerty '01 Lawson Sunderland '02 Braxton Taghvai-Najib '04 David Ruiz '06 Tyler Hall '06 Bryan Destin ATL2: '01 Nick Firmino '03 David Mejia '03 Vincente Reyes '05 Jonny Villal '05 Luke Brennan '05 Alan Carleton OCB: '04 Gonzalo Augustoni '06 Alejandro Granados NE Revs II: '01 Jordan Adebayo-Smith '01 Victor Souza '01 Jacob Akanyirige '04 Brandonn Bueno '04 Max Weinstein '05 Santi Suarez '05 Malcolm Fry TFCII: '04 Adisa De Rosario Dynamo 2: '01 Isaiah Reid '02 Diego Gonzalez '02 Isaiah LeFlore '02 Jathan Juarez '03 Joyner Castillo '03 Iffy Udanoh Tacoma Defiance: '01 Travian Sousa '04 Cody Baker '05 Antonio Herrera '06 Chris Aquino '06 Stu Hawkins Crew II: '01 Xavier Zengue '01 Thomas Roberts '01 Stuart Ritchie '01 Ariel Mbumba '01 Gibran Rayo '02 Coleman Gannon '03 Aidan Wolf '04 Zion Scarlett NTXSC: '01 Thomas Pondeca '02 Andre Luque '03 Ale Araneda '04 Pablo Torre '06 Ale Urzua '06 Diego Garcia Crown Legacy: '02 David Poreba Huntsville: '01 Perrin Barnes '01 Sean Suber Portland 2: '01 Jaden Jones-Riley '03 Selmir Miscic '03 Blake Pope '04 Carver Miller SJ 2: '01 Roberto Hategan '01 Eric De La Cerda '01 Jerry Ayon '01 Lalo Blancas '02 Aaron Edwards '04 Alejandro Cano LAG II: '01 Axel Picazo '02 Carson Klein '02 Aaron Cervantes '03 Adrian Gonzalez '05 Brandon Tellez '05 Diego Lopez '05 Alex Alcala '06 Sergio Villalpando '06 Nolan Anderson Minnesota 2: '04 Britton Fischer LAFC 2: '04 Yekeson Subah '04 Christopher Jaime '04 Dustin Aguirre '05 Bryan Moyado '05 Diego Rosales NYRB II: '01 Dylan Sullivan Rapids 2: '01 Marlon Vargas '01 Blake Malone '04 Logan Batiste '04 Robinson Aguirre Real Monarchs: '02 Bobby Pierre '03 Griffin Dillon '05 Terron Williams '06 Fernando Delgado '07 Zavier Gozo '08 Luca Moisa
A strong Fire II lineup with a solid 3-1 win over mostly teenage Miami II. Ben Cremaschi had an assist, but was pocketed most of the match. David Ruiz ('04) had a solid relief outing in a losing cause. Justin Reynolds ('04) played well on a veteran Fire back line and Alex Monis ('03) bagged an insurance goal.
RBNY II started '01 Jayden Reid and '05 Curtis Ofori, who both have a first team contract. Interestingly, both are left backs, so I think one played LM. Also, Erick Ruiz, an '05 that I know nothing about, played the 2nd half.
Also started a 18 year old CB, Jack Neely, who they signed the day prior to a HGP deal. Feel like Charlotte are taking Next Pro seriously...started 4 players who have played or been on the bench for the 1st Team including Ben Bender. Of course from the few minutes, I saw and the talking points afterwards they didn't look so great in a 2-2 draw against Huntsville, but maybe Huntsville is good as on of the few non-MLS squads.
Not sure if anyone has noted this yet but from what I have seen the camera work is much better as are the announcers. I think it might still be an AI camera, just a better one, or a remotely operated camera.
It is much better. Still feels like a small college broadcast, but it’s watchable and they have in game replays which they really lacked last season. I get the impression announcers might be college interns looking for a sports journalism degree. I wish they would put up replays for at least a period of time. Maybe it’s the MLS owners that prefer not to leave up scouting footage.
So the funny thing is that some games are available on replay on YouTube. 4 from opening weekend if you look in the MLS channel. Super weird that those would be available for free on YT but no replays on Apple
Were any of the 4 Apple broadcasts or were they all from MLS Next Pro dot com? It could be MLS posts them on YouTube because they have rebroadcast rights to those games. It costs nothing to upload them, right? Why not attract more eyeballs to the league?
Here’s one - Apple TV broadcast and everything. https://www.youtube.com/live/qkFiiYFM0ds?feature=share Go to the part they show the lineups for a real surprise
I don't know where to put this, but I think people will appreciate it. https://www.si.com/soccer/2023/03/22/alyssa-thompson-nwsl-angel-city-fc-daily-cover
I watched the New England - NYCFC II game. NYCFC dominated the majority of the match and were unlucky to lose 2-1. Esmir Bajraktarevic came on for New England in the 50th minute and helped them get a foothold back in the game, and eventually scored the winner. Only thread eligible player for NYCFC was 2005 Klevis Haxhari, who plays for the Albania U19s. He played very well. CB with good size and excellent passing. New England had a 6’5” CB who is also an 05. Not great on the ball but ate up a lot of crosses
What a goal! 👊Esmir Bajraktarevic slots it home to put @NERevolution2 in front! 2-1 pic.twitter.com/onCe9opqVF— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) April 3, 2023 07' Peyton Miller -> 05' Malcolm Fry -> 05' Esmir Bajraktarevic
https://www.youtube.com/live/YkOpxSw4lBQ?feature=share Atlanta - NYCFC is on YouTube. Noah Cobb featured prominently in this one, but most of the young players for NYCFC weren’t on the roster for tonight. Christian McFarlane did get in at the 67th minute and looked really good. Maybe taller somehow, still very smooth on the ball and strong defensively.