Nashville Soccer Club has signed attacking forward Tyler Freeman to a four-year contract, via free agency.

Freeman is coming off a career-year where he scored eight goals in 24 appearances for Loudoun United FC of the USL Championship last season and played a 45-minute stint with Major League Soccer club D.C. United.

Loudoun, an affiliate team of D.C. United, sent Freeman to the country’s capital as Black-and-Red took on Flower City Union in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on April 19.

The 19-year-old is a product of the Sporting Kansas City Youth Academy. Playing since age 11, he became the second youngest player in Sporting Kansas City history to sign an MLS contract at the age of 15. Freeman made 35 appearances for Sporting Kansas City II during his time with the club.

At the international youth level, Freeman has represented the United States with their U-14, U-16 and U-17 national teams. He was instrumental in helping the U.S. to a second-place finish in the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship.

Nashville SC kicks off their season on Feb. 25 as they host NYCFC at GEODIS Park.

Nashville Soccer Club selected 2023 Generation adidas defender Joey Skinner, defenders Sean Suber and Makel Rasheed, forwards Alex Meinhard and Lyam MacKinnon, and midfielder Rory O’Driscoll in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, presented by adidas.

Nashville added Skinner with the 11th overall pick after acquiring the pick from Charlotte FC via a trade on Dec. 12, 2021. Skinner played his sophomore season at Clemson University, appearing in every match for the Tigers in 2022. The defender transferred from UNC Greensboro, in which he was a first-team All-SoCon selection as a freshman in 2021, scoring four goals and registering seven assists, while anchoring the program to the best goal differential in the country (+38) and 10 clean sheets.

In the Second Round, Nashville SC selected defender Suber with the sixth pick. Suber played three seasons at UNC Charlotte, appearing in 37 matches. In his senior season, he was named Team Captain and guided Charlotte to its best start in program history with victories in each of its first seven matches.

With the second selection in the Second Round, Nashville SC selected forward Meinhard from the University of Tulsa. A prolific collegiate scorer, Meinhard recorded 29 goals in 39 appearances for Tulsa, including double-digit goal scoring efforts in back-to-back seasons. The attacker was selected as The American Offensive Player of the Year in 2021 and was First-Team All-Conference this past season.

Nashville SC had three selections in the Third Round, beginning with defender Rasheed from Xavier University. Rasheed played his senior season at Xavier after transferring from the University of Indianapolis. Across his four-year collegiate career, Rasheed appeared in 63 matches.

With the second selection in the Third Round, Nashville SC selected O’Driscoll from the University of New Hampshire. O’Driscoll made 63 appearances with 19 goals in four seasons.

The final selection of the night was forward MacKinnon from Villanova University. In three seasons for the Wildcats, MacKinnon scored 15 times in 49 appearances.

Nashville SC Selection Details from 2023 MLS SuperDraft:

JOEY SKINNER
Position: Defender
Height: 6-2
Weight: 155
Birthdate: 3/28/2003
Age: 19
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Nationality: United States
Last club: Clemson
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

SEAN SUBER
Position: Defender
Height: 6-1
Weight: 180
Birthdate: 6/13/2001
Age: 21
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Nationality: United States
Last club: UNC Charlotte
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 6 pick in the Second Round (35th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

ALEX MEINHARD
Position: Winger
Height: 5-11
Weight: 160
Birthdate: 11/26/1998
Age: 24
Hometown: Tartu, Estonia
Nationality: Estonia
Last club: University of Tulsa
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 20 pick in the Second Round (49th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

MAKEL RASHEED
Position: Defender
Height: 6-4
Weight: 197
Birthdate: 5/14/2001
Age: 21
Hometown: Rockville, MD
Nationality: United States
Last club: Xavier
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 7 pick in the Third Round (65th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

RORY O’DRISCOLL
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-10
Weight: 165
Birthdate: 2/16/2000
Age: 22
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Nationality: United States
Last club: University of New Hampshire
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 20 pick in the Third Round (78th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

LYAM MACKINNON
Position: Forward
Height: 6-1
Weight: 175
Birthdate: 9/25/199
Age: 23
Hometown: Lausanne, Switzerland
Nationality:  Switzerland
Last club: Villanova
How Acquired: Selected by Nashville SC with the No. 26 pick in the Third Round (84th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas

Huntsville City Football Club has announced Isaiah Johnston as its first-ever player signing ahead of the club’s inaugural MLS NEXT Pro Season, which is scheduled to kick off in the spring of 2023.

Johnston’s MLS NEXT Pro professional contract is pending league and U.S. Soccer Federation approval, as well as the receipt of his ITC and work authorization. The financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

“Isaiah is a talented young midfielder who has the qualities we look for in a potential first team player for Nashville SC. In many ways, he embodies the project behind Huntsville City FC as a talented prospect who has the potential to influence winning, and will continue to grow and make strides in MLS NEXT Pro with HCFC,” says Mike Jacobs, General Manager of Nashville SC and its affiliates, including Huntsville City FC.

As an affiliate of Major League Soccer club Nashville SC, Huntsville City FC players may see an opportunity to move to Huntsville’s parent club throughout the season.

“I’m so excited to be joining the first professional football club in the beautiful city of Huntsville, Alabama,” Johnston shares. “Being the first signing in club history means everything to me, as the club has showed faith in my abilities as a footballer and I will give everything to keep that faith in them and for the fans of Huntsville. Thank you for all the support we have already received. I can’t wait to get started and play in front of all our Huntsville City FC enthusiasts!”

At just 20-years old, Johnston joins Huntsville City FC as one of the most regarded soccer prospects in Canada. The midfielder from Milton, Ontario spent the past three seasons playing for his hometown club of York United FC in the Canadian Premier League, where he amassed 53 professional appearances across all competitions. In 2021, Johnston led York United FC to the playoffs, which earned him the honor of appearing as one of the CPL’s Next Gen stars, an award that celebrates the best of young Canadian talent.

Prior to joining the Toronto-based club as a 2019 CPL-U SPORTS Draft pick, Johnston spent his freshman year at Cape Breton University where he won the Atlantic University Sport Rookie of the Year Award after claiming the national bronze medal.

Major League Soccer today announced new, four-year linear television agreements with FOX Sports and TelevisaUnivision in the US, plus TSN and RDS in Canada.

Linear broadcasts will include select matches for the MLS regular season, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, MLS Cup and Leagues Cup. The deals run from 2023 through 2026, when the FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This agreement with FOX Sports ends a decades long partnership MLS had with ESPN.

“We’re proud to extend our longstanding partnership with Major League Soccer at a truly exciting time for the sport here in the United States,” shares Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports. “There is no soccer league in the world better positioned for growth and with FOX’s unrivaled reach we are fired up to be a part of it.”

These new agreements complement a transformative 10-year partnership between MLS and Apple, starting next year with MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, where every live MLS match will also be available. Subscriptions to MLS Season Pass start on Feb. 1 and will feature innovative programming and broadcasts. A selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest playoff matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers.

“We are proud to continue our partnerships with FOX Sports, Univision and TSN, and we are pleased to have MLS matches on RDS in Canada,” adds MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “These broadcast industry leaders continue to demonstrate their deep commitment to MLS and soccer.

“Our linear agreements, along with our partnership with Apple, are the culmination of a series of collaborative discussions to provide our fans with the most expansive and accessible lineup of programming MLS and our sport in the U.S. and Canada have ever seen–and by a significant margin.”