MLS-owned USL teams

https://www.socceramerica.com/artic...o-expand-puget-sound-reach.html?edition=17186

Some pro soccer clubs have teamed up with pro baseball clubs on sharing facilities. The Seattle Sounders and Tacoma Rainiers are taking it a step further and announced plans to build a 5,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium adjacent to the Rainiers' Cheney Stadium in Central Tacoma for the Sounders' USL team.

The Sounders FC II have played at Starfire Sports in Tukwila since its launch in 2015. The MLS Sounders and Triple-A Rainiers will rebrand the USL team. The Sounders will run the soccer side and and sporting infrastructure, and the Rainiers will run the business operations

 

Not the best location but not the worst, freeway and school separating it from the rest of the housing and businesses

 

Better than playing in Seattle where no one will watch them or playing in a baseball stadium.

 

We are now a little over a quarter of the way through the regular season. Here are the standings by PPG. This is supposed to be a comparison of the different types of teams, not current league standings which is why I'm using PPG.

The standings:
New Teams
MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte)
*Unaffiliated

I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams.

STANDINGS
EAST
1. Charleston 2.52
2. Tampa Bay* 2.00
3. Louisville* 1.88
4. Rochester 1.50
5. Pittsburgh 1.40
6. St. Louis* 1.38
7. Orlando B 1.33
8. Charlotte 1.33
--------------------------
9. Cincinnati* 1.20
10. Bethlehem 1.12
11. Ottawa 1.12
12. Harrisburg* 1.12
13. NY RB II 1.10
14. Richmond 1.00
15. Toronto II 0.67

WEST
1. Real Monarchs 2.67
2. San Antonio 2.60
3. Swope Park 1.71
4. RGVFC 1.62
5. Tulsa 1.50
6. Orange Cty 1.43
7. Sacramento* 1.30
8. Seattle 2 1.30
----------------------------------
9. Phoenix* 1.29
10. Vancouver 2 1.22
11. Co. Springs* 1.18
12. Reno 1.14
13. OKC 1.00
14. LAG II 0.89
15. Portland 2 0.45

There is only one new team this year. Reno started off poorly but has been playing better lately. They are still pretty far down the standings in the West. The MLS2 teams in the East not doing very well with only Orlando above the line. The West has MLS2 teams from the top to the bottom. The unaffiliated teams are also well distributed but none are in the bottom three of either conference.

The overall table:

1. Real Monarchs 2.67
2. San Antonio 2.60
3. Charleston 2.52
4. Tampa Bay* 2.00
5. Louisville* 1.88
6. Swope Park 1.71
7. RGVFC 1.62
8. Tulsa 1.50
9. Rochester 1.50
10. Pittsburgh 1.40
11. Orange Cty 1.43
12. St. Louis* 1.38
13. Orlando B 1.33
14. Charlotte 1.33
15. Sacramento* 1.30
16. Seattle 2 1.30
----------------------
17. Phoenix* 1.29
18. Vancouver 2 1.22
19. Cincinnati* 1.20
20. Co. Springs* 1.18
21. Reno 1.14
22. Bethlehem 1.12
23. Ottawa 1.12
24. Harrisburg* 1.12
25. NY RB II 1.10
26. Richmond 1.00
27. OKC 1.00
28. LAG II 0.89
29. Toronto II 0.67
30. Portland 2 0.45

MLS2 teams make up four of the bottom six teams in the league but there are also three in the top seven. Unaffiliated teams are mostly clustered in the middle of the table but Tampa Bay and Louisville are close to the top.

 

The USL season is almost exactly half over. Here are the standings by PPG. This is supposed to be a comparison of the different types of teams, not current league standings which is why I'm using PPG.

The standings:
New Teams
MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte)
*Unaffiliated

I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams.

STANDINGS
EAST
1. Charleston 2.06
2. Louisville* 1.93
3. Charlotte 1.87
4. Bethlehem 1.62
5. Rochester 1.60
6. Tampa Bay* 1.50
7. Cincinnati* 1.33
8. Ottawa 1.25
--------------------------
9. Orlando B 1.24
10. NY RB II 1.24
11. Pittsburgh 1.18
12. St. Louis* 1.07
13. Harrisburg* 1.00
14. Toronto II 0.82
15. Richmond 0.70

WEST
1. Real Monarchs 2.53
2. San Antonio 2.19
3. Swope Park 1.93
4. Reno 1.67
5. Sacramento* 1.47
6. Tulsa 1.40
7. Orange Cty 1.36
8. Seattle 2 1.35
----------------------------------
9. Phoenix* 1.35
10. RGVFC 1.33
11. Co. Springs* 1.33
12. OKC 1.12
13. Vancouver 2 1.00
14. LAG II 0.82
15. Portland 2 0.29

Reno, the only new team, has made a good move up the table in the West. MLS2 teams are all over the place but they seem to be congregating at the bottom in the West. Unaffiliated teams are mostly in the playoff zones. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year to see if those teams have improved more than the affiliates. It seems strange to see Orange County that high but they have only played 11 games. They are 13th in the points earned tables but have a lot of games in hand so they could make a big move.

The overall table:


1. Real Monarchs 2.53
2. San Antonio 2.19
3. Charleston 2.06
4. Swope Park 1.93
5. Louisville* 1.93
6. Charlotte 1.87
7. Reno 1.67
8. Bethlehem 1.62
9. Rochester 1.60
10. Tampa Bay* 1.50
11. Sacramento* 1.47
12. Tulsa 1.40
13. Orange Cty 1.36
14. Seattle 2 1.35
15. Phoenix* 1.35
----------------------------------
16. Cincinnati* 1.33
17. RGVFC 1.33
18. Co. Springs* 1.33
19. Ottawa 1.25
20. Orlando B 1.24
21. NY RB II 1.24
22. Pittsburgh 1.18
23. OKC 1.12
24. St. Louis* 1.07
25. Harrisburg* 1.00
26. Vancouver 2 1.00
27. LAG II 0.82
28. Toronto II 0.82
29. Richmond 0.70
30. Portland 2 0.29



MLS2 teams are now 4 of the bottom 5 or 6. There are still some up in the very top as well. Unaffiliated teams are almost all between 1.00 and 1.35 PPG in the middle of the table. Louisville, Tampa, and Sacramento are the best performers but only Louisville is up toward the top. Phoenix has been making moves lately to join that group and they have only played 14 games.

 

The 2017 USL regular season is right at three-quarters over. Here are the standings by PPG. This is supposed to be a comparison of the different types of teams, not current league standings which is why I'm using PPG.

The standings:
New Teams
MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte)
*Unaffiliated

I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams.

STANDINGS
EAST
1. Louisville* 1.91
2. Charlotte 1.76
3. Rochester 1.65
4. Charleston 1.64
5. Tampa Bay* 1.58
6. Orlando B 1.40
7. Bethlehem 1.37
8. Cincinnati* 1.36
--------------------------
9. Pittsburgh 1.32
10. NY RB II 1.28
11. St. Louis* 1.21
12. Ottawa 1.21
13. Harrisburg* 0.96
14. Richmond 0.92
15. Toronto II 0.84

WEST
1. Real Monarchs 2.29
2. San Antonio 1.96
3. Reno 1.83
4. Swope Park 1.75
5. Phoenix* 1.57
6. Sacramento* 1.52
7. Tulsa 1.43
8. OKC 1.37
----------------------------------
9. Orange Cty 1.32
10. Co. Springs* 1.32
11. Seattle 2 1.21
12. RGVFC 1.12
13. LAG II 0.96
14. Vancouver 2 0.88
15. Portland 2 0.39

Stark difference between the East and West. The MLS2 teams in the West are all top or bottom. In the East they are mostly in the middle. Non-affiliated teams are still scattered throughout the standings but most are in the playoff zone.


1. Real Monarchs 2.29
2. San Antonio 1.96
3. Louisville* 1.91
4. Reno 1.83
5. Charlotte 1.76
6. Swope Park 1.75
7. Rochester 1.65
8. Charleston 1.64
9. Tampa Bay* 1.58
10. Phoenix* 1.57
11. Sacramento* 1.52
12. Tulsa 1.43
13. Orlando B 1.40
14. Bethlehem 1.37
15. OKC 1.37
--------------------------
16. Cincinnati* 1.36
17. Orange Cty 1.32
18. Pittsburgh 1.32
19. Co. Springs* 1.32
20. NY RB II 1.28
21. St. Louis* 1.21
22. Seattle 2 1.21
23. Ottawa 1.21
24. RGVFC 1.12
25. Harrisburg* 0.96
26. LAG II 0.96
27. Richmond 0.92
28. Vancouver 2 0.88
29. Toronto II 0.84
30. Portland 2 0.39

Pretty even distribution of all types of teams in the overall standings. A lot of MLS2 teams at the bottom but not all of them.

 

GlassCity‏ @GlassCityFC 5h5 hours ago
GlassCity Retweeted Arcadio Marcuzzi
Whitecaps are planning to dissolve WFC2 at the end of this season. #VWFC

 

I believe there are rumors that they will be using Fresno as an affiliate. We'll see what happens.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with S2. It sounds like USL is forcing the MLS2 teams to get their stadiums up to regulations and Starfire is below the seat count regulation and the Rainiers likely won't be ready with their stadium until 2020.

 

Could they move to Tacoma and play at the current Rainiers stadium?

 

I don't know, tbh. They had a S2 game there a couple of years ago, but I wasn't there, so I'm not sure what the configuration was and what the capacity was. Cheney stadium's capacity is only 6,500k, so unless they have the whole stadium open, it's likely it still wouldn't make the D2 capacity requirement.

 

The 2017 regular season is over.

The standings:
New Teams
MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte)
*Unaffiliated

I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams.

STANDINGS
EAST
1. Louisville* 1.94
2. Charleston 1.69
3. Tampa Bay* 1.66
4. Rochester 1.66
5. Charlotte 1.50
6. Cincinnati* 1.44
7. NY RB II 1.38
8. Bethlehem 1.38
--------------------------
9. Orlando B 1.31
10. Ottawa 1.19
11. Harrisburg* 1.16
12. St. Louis* 1.12
13. Pittsburgh 1.12
14. Richmond 1.00
15. Toronto II 0.78

WEST
1. Real Monarchs 2.09
2. San Antonio 1.94
3. Reno 1.84
4. Swope Park 1.81
5. Phoenix* 1.81
6. OKC 1.53
7. Tulsa 1.44
8. Sacramento* 1.44
----------------------------------
9. Co. Springs* 1.38
10. Orange Cty 1.34
11. RGVFC 1.09
12. Seattle 2 0.97
13. LAG II 0.91
14. Vancouver 2 0.75
15. Portland 2 0.47

The differences between the East and West stuck around. The MLS2 teams are pretty much all in the middle in the East while they are at the top or bottom in the West. Non-affiliated teams are still mostly in the top half of each conference.

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Real Monarchs 2.09
2. Louisville* 1.94
3. San Antonio 1.94
4. Reno 1.84
5. Swope Park 1.81
6. Phoenix* 1.81
7. Charleston 1.69
8. Tampa Bay* 1.66
9. Rochester 1.66
10. OKC 1.53
11. Charlotte 1.50
12. Tulsa 1.44
13. Sacramento* 1.44
14. Cincinnati* 1.44
15. NY RB II 1.38
16. Co. Springs* 1.38
--------------------------
17. Bethlehem 1.38
18. Orange Cty 1.34
19. Orlando B 1.31
20. Ottawa 1.19
21. Harrisburg* 1.16
22. St. Louis* 1.12
23. Pittsburgh 1.12
24. RGVFC 1.09
25. Richmond 1.00
26. Seattle 2 0.97
27. LAG II 0.91
28. Toronto II 0.78
29. Vancouver 2 0.75
30. Portland 2 0.47

That big clump of MLS2 teams at the bottom really stands out with 6 of the 7 bottom spots. The other 6 are scattered out in the top 19 but there are 3 in the top 5 spots. Last year there were only 3 MLS2 teams in the bottom 9 while there were only 2 in the top 5. It sure seems like the typical MLS2 team has slid down in the standings but a few are able to stay near the top.

Interestingly it was NYRBII and RGV at the top last year while SLC, Reno, and Swope Park are the top MLS2 teams this year. Fluctuations are probably going to be more normal for the MLS2 teams as they churn through players looking for guys able to move up.

We shall see what next year brings. We'll have some more new teams but apparently also some changes in the MLS2 teams.

 

Enforcement of D2 standards accelerates Sounders FC 2 move to Tacoma

https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...aign=18020&hashid=6YravZalrGQnCVikplb6CsfOqks

 

I wonder if they are going to rebrand the team to Tacoma or keep them as S2.

What are these new d2 standards going to do to the other MLS2 teams?
Vancouver is folding
Seattle is moving to Tacoma
Portland might be moving
what about the rest?

 

Bethlehem Steel is OK, I think.
Real Monarchs have been playing at Rio Tinto. Orlando moved their games to the main stadium last year. TFC II has already announced that they are moving to BMO Field.
The others (NYRBII, Swope Park, LA2) will probably do the same.

 

Real Monarchs just completed the construction of their own stadium that can seat 5,000 right next door to the new RSL acadamy and practice facilities that in total cost the owner ~70 million dollars.

The Monarchs stadium was going to be smaller, as it would only have 1 stand to start, but they added a second stand in the end, likely to hit the D2 requirements of 5,000 seats.

 

USL is proud to announce the addition of a @ATLUTD owned and operated club for the 2018 season!

 

Bob Williams‏Verified account @WilliamsBob75 2h2 hours ago
USL news from a highly placed source:
Orlando City B is to go on hiatus in 2018 and come back in @USL_D3 in 2019. The Rochester Rhinos have option to go to USL D3 in 2019 too.

 

OCB will not play in 2018:

https://www.orlandocitysc.com/post/...ty-b-elects-forgo-2018-usl-division-ii-season

 

Will not be surprised to see a few more MLS2 teams go to D3 next year. Could be "regional" in the way they move, if there is a region in D3 that a MLS2 team is located they could be moved faster. I honestly hope they try to limit D2 to 36 teams and as teams from Baltimore, Cleveland, San Diego, Detroit, etc. join D2 then MLS2 teams move down, keeping a 3 conference, 36 team format at the D2 level and growing the D3 level.

 

Updated 4/4/18

Please let me know if I missed anything.

MLS-USL affiliation/owned history:

Atlanta United: Charleston Battery (2016-17), Atlanta United 2 (2018)
Chicago Fire: Saint Louis FC (2015-16), Tulsa Roughnecks (2017-18)
Colorado Rapids: Charlotte Independence (2015-18)
Columbus Crew: Dayton Dutch Lions (2014), Austin Aztex (2015), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2016-17), None (2018)
DC United: Richmond Kickers (2013-18)
FC Dallas: Arizona United (2015), OKC Energy (2016-18)
Houston Dynamo: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2014), Charleston Battery (2015), Rio Grande Valley (2016-18)
LA Galaxy: LA Galaxy II (2014-2018)
Los Angeles FC: Orange County SC (2017-18)
Minnesota United: None (2017), Saint Louis FC (2018)
Montreal Impact: FC Montreal (2015-16), Ottawa Fury (2017-18)
New England Revolution: Rochester Rhinos (2013-17), None (2018)
NY City FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2015-16), San Antonio FC (2017-2018)
NY Red Bulls: NY Red Bulls II (2015-18)
Orlando City: Louisville City (2015), Orlando City B (2016-17), None (2018)
Philadelphia Union: Harrisburg City Islanders (2013-15), Bethlehem Steel (2016-18)
Portland Timbers: Sacramento Republic (2014), Portland Timbers 2 (2015-18)
Real Salt Lake: Real Monarchs SLC (2015-18)
San Jose Earthquakes: Sacramento Republic (2014-16), Reno 1868 (2017-18)
Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders 2 (2015-18)
Sporting Kansas City: Orlando City (21013-14), OKC Energy (2014-15), Swope Park Rangers (2016-18)
Toronto FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2014), Toronto FC II (2015-18)
Vancouver Whitecaps: Charleston Battery (2014), Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (2015-17), Fresno FC (2018)

I used the years that the teams played rather than from the date of the affiliation/ownership announcements. Obviously most of these will be ongoing but we can update this as it goes.

 

I thought I remembered that but I didn't see it on the USL website.

I corrected my post.

 

I hope for the same. Having the MLS 2/B teams in D3 will still be more competitive than a traditional reserve league, but will cut down on travel expenses.

 

Somewhere along the line, someone with Colorado Springs must have pissed off someone in Denver for them to not affiliate with the Switchbacks.

Charlotte's a dog of a franchise, I can't for the life of me see that it's anything but a spiteful move. Shoot, Phoenix would be a better affiliate by this point.