MLS NEXT Pro announced its 2025 regular season schedule and playoff format.
The league’s fourth season will begin Friday, March 7 – the earliest in its history. Twenty-nine clubs will compete again this year, 27 MLS affiliates and two independent teams: Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC, who will look to build upon last year’s successful debut seasons.
The complete 2025 regular season schedule is available here.
For the third consecutive year, the majority of regular season matches, in addition to all Decision Day matches, playoff matches and MLS NEXT Pro Cup, will be available to watch live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Available in more than 100 countries and regions, MLS Season Pass can be viewed on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles, and online.
The remainder of regular season matches will stream live on MLSNEXTPro.com.
The 2025 regular season will consist of 406 matches, with each club playing 28 games – 14 at home and 14 away – over 30 weeks. Clubs will face each divisional opponent a maximum of three times as well as other intraconference rivals to round out this year's schedule.
Pacific
- LAFC 2
- Real Monarchs
- Timbers2
- Tacoma Defiance
- The Town FC
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
- Ventura County FC
Frontier
- Austin FC II
- Colorado Rapids 2
- Houston Dynamo 2
- MNUFC2
- North Texas SC
- Sporting KC II
- St. Louis CITY2
Southeast
- Atlanta United 2
- Carolina Core FC
- Chattanooga FC
- Crown Legacy FC
- Huntsville City FC
- Inter Miami CF II
- Orlando City B
Northeast
- FC Cincinnati 2
- Chicago Fire FC II
- Columbus Crew 2
- New England Revolution II
- NYCFC II
- New York Red Bulls II
- Philadelphia Union II
- TFC II
Opening Weekend
Opening Weekend of the 2025 season will feature 12 matches across three days, headlined by North Texas SC beginning its title defense on Sunday, March 9. The 2024 MLS NEXT Pro champions will start the new season by hosting a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final (vs. St Louis CITY2, 8:30 pm ET).
Opening Night – Friday, March 7 – will see four matches, including a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Quarterfinal as Ventura County FC host Tacoma Defiance (10 pm ET).
Saturday, March 8 features a pair of matches, with Inter Miami CF II hosting Chattanooga FC (7 pm ET) before Houston Dynamo 2 face Sporting Kansas City II at (8:30 pm ET).
Opening Weekend concludes Sunday, March 9 with six matches, including a showdown between Western Conference contenders LAFC2 and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (10 pm ET).
Decision Day
Twenty-eight of the league’s 29 clubs will compete on the final day of the regular season, Sunday, October 5. Fourteen matches will take place to determine final playoff positioning, with eight teams in each conference qualifying for the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs.
Eastern Conference matches will kick off at 1:00 pm ET, followed by the Western Conference at 4:00 pm ET.
Pick-Your-Opponent returns
The 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs will feature 15 single elimination matches over the course of four consecutive weekends, with three rounds beginning the weekend of October 17 and culminating with MLS NEXT Pro Cup the weekend of November 7.
Matchups during the first two rounds of the playoffs will be determined through the Pick-Your-Opponent format that has garnered much acclaim since its inception in 2023. This season will mark the third straight year the unique process has been utilized by MLS NEXT Pro.
