ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2024) – Orlando City B has announced its 2024 MLS NEXT Pro schedule, presented by Orlando Health, it was announced today. The Lions enter their third season in MLS NEXT Pro following a 2023 campaign in which they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in Club history.
Osceola County Stadium, located at the Orlando Health Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park, will serve as the home field for OCB for the third-straight year. Ticketing information for Orlando City B matches will be available at a later date.
The Lions will open the 2024 season on the road for two-consecutive matches, first traveling to take on Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, March 16, followed by a trip to Alabama for a matchup with Huntsville United FC on Friday, March 22.
OCB’s slate of home matches will begin on Tuesday, April 2, with an intrastate rivalry matchup against its southern neighbors Inter Miami CF II. The location of that match will be announced soon.
Orlando City B’s full schedule for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season can be found below.
2024 Orlando City B Schedule:
Decision Day 2024
Twenty-eight of the 29 clubs in the League will compete on the final day of the regular season, Sunday, October 6. Fourteen matches will take place to determine final playoff positioning, with eight teams in each conference qualifying for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs. Eastern Conference matches will kick off at 1:00pm ET, followed by the Western Conference at 4:00pm ET. All Decision Day matches will air live on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
Enhanced Pick-Your-Opponent Format
The 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs will feature the return of the “pick-your-opponent” format that debuted during the 2023 postseason and quickly garnered widespread attention. This year will feature more teams qualifying for the playoffs, more teams making selections and more knockout matches being played.
Eight teams will qualify for the playoffs from each conference (16 total), with Seeds No. 1-4 in each conference hosting and selecting their opponents in the first round. In the second round, the highest remaining seed in each conference will select an opponent from any of the remaining three teams. This year’s postseason will see 15 total matches, including MLS NEXT Pro Cup.
Shootouts Return in 2024
There will once again be no ties in MLS NEXT Pro in 2024. A unique and exciting element in matches since the League’s inception in 2022, shootouts featuring kicks from the penalty mark will once again decide matches that are tied after regulation this season. Each team receives one point for the draw in regulation, with the winner of the shootout receiving one additional point (two points total). The past two seasons, approximately 20+% of all regular season matches in MLS NEXT Pro resulted in a shootout.
Updated Conference Alignment
With the addition of two new clubs to the League, the Eastern Conference will feature updated divisions in 2024. The former Central Division is now the Southeast Division, with the following changes that can also be seen in the chart below:
- Crown Legacy FC moves from the Northeast Division to the Southeast Division
- Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC join the Southeast Division
- FC Cincinnati 2, Columbus Crew 2 and Chicago Fire II move from the Central Division (now Southeast Division) to the Northeast Division
