D.C. United confirmed today that it will have an affiliate club in MLS Next Pro, Major League Soccer’s new professional league that will debut in 2022. However, United — like several other MLS organizations — will not field their affiliate in the new league, which will fit into the American men’s soccer pyramid at the third-tier level, until 2023.
United has had Loudoun United functioning as their professional satellite club in the USL Championship for three years now. While the release announcing the news did not specify whether United would be moving Loudoun over to MLS Next Pro or founding a new, third club, all available evidence points to porting the existing side over to a new league rather than having various teams in MLS, the USL Championship, MLS Next Pro, and the USL-W League.