‘The same pandemonium’ – How MLS Next Pro’s radical penalty shootout rules are simultaneously reimagining player development and amplifying fan engagement

There are all sorts of aspects to player development. Most teams, in most leagues, focus on the minutiae, the tiny stuff that has to be developed with rep-after-rep: scanning, receiving the ball on the correct foot, knowing when to execute an offside trap, or how to bend a run behind an opposing defense. 

Those things have to be honed on a daily basis. They can’t be taught as much as learned. But they are invaluable in molding a soccer player. 

Penalties, meanwhile, are a different beast, and something the rest of the world has been reluctant to touch - at least, in a practical sense. Shootouts, we are told, come down to a psychological battle, a player taking on a goalkeeper in a meeting of minds. It’s all about having a plan, doing your research, and executing it. 

There are thousands of studies, some of them written by real-life goalkeepers, that turn a simple, isolated moment into a complex mathematical equation. 

MLS Next Pro’s response to that? Integrate penalties into as many games as possible - and see what happens.

Curtis was there at the beginning. He has a fine resume in the scope of American soccer. An MLS vet who has either played or spent time with five clubs, he took part in the original discussions as to how, exactly, MLS Next Pro could work. 

Their central thesis was that they wanted to piece together a league that focused on player development. Sure, there was money involved, and fans to entertain. But they wanted to train youngsters to reach a higher level. A slew of rules and regulations were tossed around. But one that stuck was the rather simple idea that every single tie should end in a penalty shootout.

“Those are some of the critical moments that a game can come down to. And we thought that for a couple of different reasons, one from a player development perspective, but then also from a fan experience perspective,” Curtis said. 

And there’s logic to this thing. Penalties had become mathematics. Around 85 percent of penalties are converted during regulation time. That figure drops to around 75 percent in shootouts. Roughly 10 percent - shootout or otherwise - are saved. The remainder are basically shanked. 

But those numbers, fun as they might be, are entirely abstract. MLS Next Pro wanted to make them a little more human, a little more tangible. 

“It’s really hard to train for a shootout. It's hard to develop,” Curtis said. “It's the type of thing that you don't really get unless you have real reps in meaningful competition. It doesn't matter how much you train for them, or you practice for them, you don't really get good at them until you just are part of them in a meaningful game.”

There was a bit of hesitation, though. 

“To be honest… we had some reservations because we were launching a new league, and you want that league to be authentic and for people to view it as good for the game,” Curtis said. 

Still, after debate, the idea of innovation is what stuck. Soccer, more broadly, is resistant to change. For a long time, for example, goalkeepers were allowed to use their hands to pick up backpasses. Offside is tweaked all of the time. Golden goal, handball rules, goalline technology have all been met with some version of resistance. 

MLS Next Pro admitted that there would be some pushback. But they knew that evolution - not wholesale change - could only be a good thing. 

“Whenever you're trying to adjust or modify a game that's rich in tradition, you want to ensure that you're not changing it. You're just kind of evolving it to what kind of makes sense,” Curtis said.

It helps, too, that fans are guaranteed to see the ball hit the back of the net with increased regularity.  It has long been a complaint among American soccer detractors that this sport is boring. Scoreless draws don’t happen in any other American sport. At all. Even lower-scoring sports - hockey, for instance - finish in Golden Goal overtime. 

That is a stereotype that has faded with time. This country has embraced the sport more. There is a broader understanding that 90 compelling minutes can still bring about an enthralling scoreless draw. Goalkeepers have good days. Woodwork gets peppered. 

But the thrill of seeing the ball hit the back of the net - especially for a match-going fan - cannot be replicated. It’s something you can’t quite see from home, Core coach Donovan Ricketts said, but the specific moment of ecstasy - or dread - brought about by seeing your team either score or concede isn’t felt in the same way from a couch. 

“It does something for the fans, because the fans look forward to it. They like the shootout,” Ricketts said. 

There’s just something satisfying and compelling - knowing you’ll see successful strikes - as well some occasionally dramatic saves. 

“It's always exciting to watch a goal hit the back of the net. And from that perspective, I think that that's been a bonus… it's also a really nice element from a fan engagement,” Curtis said.

Matt Freese is perhaps the best case study. The USMNT needed penalties to advance against Costa Rica in this summer’s Gold Cup quarterfinals. 

And as his team missed shot-after-shot, Freese stood tall. He denied Costa Rica on three of their six attempts - a showing that not only etched himself into U.S. lore but might have also landed him the starting job going forward. He is not the only American goalie to turn in a performance on the big stage - there’s plenty of precedent. 

But Freese, as many pointed out, was an MLS Next Pro vet of sorts, who had made 31 appearances for Philadelphia Union II. He won three shoutouts in his inaugural season, and denied at least one penalty in each. He didn’t lose a single one. 

“A million variables are different, but having the opportunity to do that maybe helps you prepare more. I do understand the fundamental reasoning behind MLS Next Pro making that a rule,” he said.

The question of impact here is a difficult one to tackle. MLS has always erred towards the kind of off-kilter rules that the rest of the soccer world originally neglected to embrace. The famous run-up penalty shootouts of the 1990s, for example, are fun to look back on - but never caught on. 

Yet in other cases, MLS has been on the cutting edge. They were one of the first leagues to fully implement VAR, and the practice of referees explaining their decisions in front of the whole stadium on the PA has now worked its way into the English Premier League. 

Full time penalties might be different. Leagues Cup has embraced it as a rule, and 16 group stage games went to shootouts. A handful of those earned teams decisive points in securing qualification for the knockouts. LAFC and Mazatlan needed 13 rounds to settle things before the Liga MX side won. 

Curtis has taken heart from those moments. 

“It’s been adopted in Leagues Cup. So you see that, which is what I would say, that is a bit of validation as well,” he said. And perhaps most importantly of all, these things are fun. Carolina still celebrate every penalty shootout win like it’s the World Cup final, Ricketts admitted. 

“It’s the same feeling every week. It feels like you just won something. It’s the same scene, the same pandemonium,” he said. 

That buzz never goes away - regardless of the competition or the 90 minutes before it. Such feelings can only be brought about one way. And MLS Next Pro is giving space for them to exist - while also just maybe developing a few good footballers along the way. 

“It’s important to embrace tradition, but also embrace new ways of looking at things and doing things,” Curtis said.