If you are a follower of Major League Soccer (MLS), you have probably heard of MLS NEXT already. It is basically the leagues way of saying that they are growing and things are changing for the better. Next year will be the 20th season for MLS. Along with this milestone comes two new teams to join the league: New York City FC and Orlando City FC. Both teams have already signed several internationally recognized players to star for them in their debut season, namely, Kaka, David Villa, and Frank Lampard.

What else is new for MLS? There are new media partnerships that have been formed so that games will be broadcast more regularly. As it is right now, ESPN hosts about 1 game per week and NBCSN also hosts some. Otherwise, you can only catch your home team on local television or pay for MLS Live, and let me tell you, Time Warner Cable sports channel here in Columbus is below sub-par. It's just terrible. Next year, FOX and Univision will be added as tv partners.

There are more cities that are looking to join the league, including Atlanta (for sure), Sacramento, and Las Vegas. David Beckham is also attempting to bring a club to Miami. The league owner has stated that he wants to keep the league at about 24 total teams, but we will see how that changes as new markets for soccer emerge. Almost all of the current teams have been thriving.

You can check out the official announcement of MLS NEXT here:http://www.mlssoccer.com/next

One of the cool things about the new logo (above) is that each team can personalize it with their team colors. I've even seen some very creative fan-made logos. These will be embroidered on the team jerseys, which means the jersey I bought this season is already outdated, since the Columbus Crew are actually debuting a new logo tomorrow as well! Man, if only I had known...

What do you think about MLS NEXT? I think the league is moving in the right direction. The last World Cup increased my attention and now I consider myself a full-time fan. I think many other people feel the same.

Thanks for reading! I'm definitely going to make a post tomorrow about the new Crew logo.

The Crew were on a streak!