Major League Soccer has agreed to a deal that will see global investment firm KKR make a “strategic investment” and partner in the lower-division MLS Next Pro.
KKR will inject capital into MLS Next Pro with an eye on growing the league and its footprint around the continent. As part of the partnership, KKR and MLS have formed Hometown Soccer Holdings (HSH), a company led by former LA Galaxy president Chris Klein and former Charlotte FC and NYCFC executive Tom Glick.
The design of the partnership will see KKR and HSH oversee commercial strategy as it looks to move MLS-affiliated Next Pro teams into new markets, with an eye on building brands within those communities and seeking stadium development deals.
“This partnership is extremely important for MLS Next Pro, it’s a real milestone,” said MLS Next Pro president Ali Curtis. “This will really help us propel the next phase of how we think about player development, how we think of being in different local communities, and then how we elevate the league largely. And we think it’s going to have an incredible impact on the sport.”
MLS Next Pro has faced numerous challenges since launching in 2022, namely building audience and resonance for its teams, which include 27 MLS affiliated teams and three independent clubs. The league has sent numerous players to MLS teams, most prominently U.S. men’s national team defender Alex Freeman, but has yet to resonate from a commercial standpoint.
KKR believes it can help elevate the commercial opportunities, with an eye especially on moving into new markets, much in the same way Nashville SC’s affiliate has found success in Huntsville, Ala. Ted Oberwager, a KKR partner who leads the gaming, entertainment, media and sports verticals, said KKR’s investment goes beyond just the scale of capital from the private equity arm, but also across “the diversity of capital that we have,” pointing to KKR’s real estate, infrastructure, insurance and capital markets business. He pointed out that the vast majority of MLS-affiliated teams in Next Pro have not been commercialized, and that creates significant room for growth.
“This opportunity is not going to happen overnight,” Oberwager said. “It’s going to take years, and we’re prepared to really build something the right way with our partners for the long term.”
Oberwager said the accelerating functionality of AI opens the door to build “outbound sales engines, all the centralized functions of an organization, (and) being able to do it in a 2026 version of the world, versus a 1996 version of the world.”
“If we do that right, when I look forward over the next five, 10, years, we will hopefully have a very vibrant MLS Next Pro league at the national level, player development improving, good for everybody in U.S. Soccer, and then from a local perspective, we do want to open and sort of launch these teams in many cities across the country that maybe don’t have access to an NFL team. And so you have a really interesting local entertainment product all built on a platform that was made in 2026. To me that is where some of the truly exciting components of this deal are from a business perspective.”
Oberwager declined to comment on specific financial details of the deal. Curtis said MLS would maintain sporting operational control of the league and teams, but also said the league has never required MLS teams to field affiliates in the league.
Glick said this deal is built around a belief that Next Pro can be the top league for player development in the U.S., pointing to the more than 250 players that have moved from Next Pro to MLS since the league’s launch and the expected “tailwinds from this summer’s (World Cup) tournament.” Going into new markets will also help reach more players, he said, and elevate grassroots soccer in more cities and markets around the country.
“The U.S. market is still really underserved for professional soccer,” Glick said. “There’s more than 100 markets, mid-sized cities, large cities, suburban areas of major metros that do not have their own professional soccer team, and really deserve to have their own professional soccer team. And so this is about helping to expand player development, but also serving fans and serving cities and bringing the very best version of professional soccer (and) creating new clubs and new venues in those cities. And we’ve made a conscious decision to do it with MLS Next Pro, because that’s where the best prospects are.”
MLS Next Pro houses a number of MLS affiliate clubs and serves as a developmental league (Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)
The changes come to MLS Next Pro at the same time as the USL, which operates second- and third-division leagues, undergoes its own changes. USL has announced it intends to launch a first-division league, USL Premier, in 2028 and will eventually introduce promotion and relegation into its three-tiered pyramid.
“My philosophy on building businesses and enterprises is to focus on what you can control in yourself and building a great product,” Oberwager said. “And I think there’s enough room in the United States for a lot of soccer and enough fandom in the United States for a lot of soccer. So I feel like we have an immense amount of white space to go pursue (that), irrespective of any other league.”
All parties involved declined to put timelines on how long it will take to start to see MLS teams move into new markets, however there is a belief that some movement could start to happen in the near future. There have already been discussions with numerous markets.
One of the criticisms about Next Pro is that it feels more like an under-19 or reserve league, one that lacks the atmosphere and pressures that aid in player development. The hope is that moving into affiliate markets and into new soccer-specific venues can alleviate those issues.
“Being in local markets with new, distinct brands, and in stadiums that can support what we’re all trying to achieve, that’s super important for soccer, it’s super important for Major League Soccer as an enterprise, and for MLS Next Pro,” Curtis said. “This is going to be good for so much of what we’ve been trying to achieve over the last four plus years.
“My rookie year was in 2001 with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and I remember I was on the side warming up, and you could hear the music playing, and I’m stretching, and that was the first time … I finally felt like a professional soccer player. And every player should have that feeling, every fan should be able to go into a stadium and create those memories and create those experiences. And I truly believe that the partnership with KKR and Hometown Soccer is going to help us do that.”
