Wiz is really bad, but I still think "Kansas City Wizards" is better than "Sporting Kansas City". Maybe I'm crazy. Real Salt Lake will forever be the worst.
If only they'd had a sense of humor...they passed on a fantastic opportunity to name their USL team Fake Salt Lake.
The artists formally known as the Islanders will be sitting out the 2019 season and returning in 2020 in USL league 1. (d3)
This actually has some juicy drama to it.... looks like Rush soccer wants to move the team... also looks like local owner of the Islanders isn't too happy with Rush soccer.... Also... Liga MX-MLS fusion talk: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...s-potential-north-american-league-possibility oh boy oh boy.
I'd think the existence or not of pro-rel will be a non-starter for one group or the other, but can you imagine the travel involved? What's the flight time from Montreal or Vancouver to Mexico City or Veracruz?
I think Mexican teams would be anxious to get rid of Pro-Rel if they could... the Mexican Pro-Rel is bogus to begin with.... and if they really want to keep Pro Rel you'd limit it to just the Mexican divisions in the new league with some crazy mundane formula. I have a crazy conspiracy theory level format that I think would work... I've been posting this everywhere spreading my gospel: No promotion and relegation. "Inter-league" play throughout the season... although it isn't really inter-league anymore because it's a single league. 54 teams (18 Mexican, 36 USA/CAN) 6 Divisions - 9 Teams each Divisions: Central South East West Mex 1 Mex 2 Play every team in your division twice. (Home/Away) 16 games. Your division will play two other divisions, each team 1 time. 18 games. Total of 34 games. You'd only have 9 "long" travel days per year in the schedule. Each new year the schedule would change and you would play new divisions. By year 3 a team would have played all divisions and would have started it's new cycle through the teams. (Home/Away would alternate in cycle two) Playoffs. 16 teams qualify. Top 2 from each division + 4 Wild Card Spots. USOC would put an emphasis on matching up teams who's divisions weren't playing that year to give a boost to that competition and bring teams to town who may not be meeting in the regular MLS season. Could give a little boost to that competition. Since Mexican teams are contained to all Mexican divisions you could still have the janky Mexican pro/rel setup they have going on down there if they want to/need to keep it. Really the biggest hurdle IMO would be determining schedule alignment and roster rules. Format wouldn't be an issue... you'd just have an NFL style league where you don't play every division every year and your schedule wouldn't be balanced. I think it's fair to say you may lose a little something by switching to something like this... but having regular USA team v. Mex team games in a competition that is legitimate outside of CCL may be enough to outweigh what is lost by doing something like this. (MLS is already moving towards not playing every team every year as they continue expansion, so probably would be an easier pill to swallow on the MLS side than the Liga MX side) I know 54 teams sounds crazy, but I honestly don't hate this format... I'd sort of be excited for it. The biggest strike against it as Union fan is you may need to wait a few years to see a flashy team from another Division play the Union... potentially even longer to see them come to Chester.... but you'd still be in a division with our core geographic rivals and see/play them home/away every year... also with that many teams it may be tough to make the playoffs.
I think its way more like for MLS to split into 2 leagues (MLS 1 and MLS 2) with a pro/rel system. I can see this with 32 MLS teams (16 in each). This would potentially open up pro/rel to USL 1 and 2 (or whatever they are calling it now). I'm not necessarily a pro/rel fan, but I see that as a way more likely scenario once the USA has the less leagues built up better. I don't think this Mexican/US/Canada league ever becomes a thing.
Looks like the Crew are going to be saved... that's good news. Also looks like Austin will still get a team. (Good road trip) I don't buy it... there is no incentive to do Pro/Rel... MLS can just tweak the format of the league and let all 32 teams in the top flight. (Could even expand to more) If we assume the Crew are saved, Austin still gets a team, Cincy, Nashville and Miami come in as expected, that's 27 teams right there. Sounds like Phoenix and now St. Louis are jockeying for spot 28, but no way MLS denies either if they are viable... that's 29.... Detroit is too big to ignore and has potential big money backing... 30... Can easily get to 32 and beyond if they want when you factor in groups in the Carolinas, San Diego, Sacramento, maybe even Tampa gets back into the fold with it's big media market... I'm sure other groups will emerge in the coming years too. I've been betting for awhile on 36 teams with no pro/rel... NFL style schedule with 4 divisions when all is said and done.
Thank you again to the Union fans for all of the STC support and that awesome JAWS TIFO earlier this season.
#NISAUSA is heading to the City of Brotherly Love, with a new professional soccer club operating within the city of Philadelphia when the 2019/20 season kicks off next fall. Read more at https://t.co/tQvbRZOKvQ pic.twitter.com/8RqMW5M3es— NISA Official (@NISALeague) October 18, 2018 Heh
What level is this going to be and why should we care? Other than friends and families of the players, who goes to these minor-minor-minor league games?
Above Reading, above Lone Star.. technically PDL and NPSL don’t have divisional sanctioning so they act as a de-facto D4. Those teams are typically amateur. This will be the same space as the new USL D3 league. Fully professional, but a level down from Bethlehem. Think of the old NASL v USL competing leagues at the D2 level.. now we will have competing leagues at the D3 level beteeen USL League 1 and NISA. I’m really skeptical of NISA in general, they are going to run it on a winter schedule too, which seems idiotic. Plus the rumor is the guy that runs the Fury will be running this team, and he seems like a bit of a BS artist imo. I get he sense it will be a league for contrarians that want pro/rel. Only real details is they will play in the city limits. It’s interesting, and I want to see where this goes but my expectations are low. My feeling is they will probably play at La Salle.
Thanks for the details. Can anyone make money owning a minor league soccer team unaffiliated with an MLS team. If so, what is the business model? Other than sponsorships (minimal), gate receipts (close to zero) and merchandise (probably zero), where does the revenue come from to pay players, coaches, equipment, travel, etc.?
The Colombian drug cartels were very successful with a similar business model in the late 80's and early 90's, subsidizing the operational expenses of their football clubs with revenues from their other business ventures.
Alt-Univerise Union LB Brandon Vincent retires... Guess Rosenberry was the better pick after all. 1057298802871320576 is not a valid tweet id
NPSL Pro is happening: http://www.npsl.com/news/9317 Short Season for 2019, full season 2020... our buddies the Cosmos are no longer homeless I guess. Sanctioning for this will be wonky, but essentially this will function as US Soccer's first D4 Pro league. (Below USL League 1 and NISA which will both occupy D3) Founding Teams: ASC San Diego Cal FC California United Strikers FC Chattanooga FC Detroit City FC FC Arizona Miami FC Miami United FC Milwaukee Torrent New York Cosmos Oakland Roots