The new NPSL "Pro" league made an announcement about a new competition involving the NY Cosmos and Miami FC. http://www.npsl.com/news/9317 The Founders Cup seems to be the name of the competition in the fall of 2019 but there is no name included for the league going forward. The timing of this 2019 competition probably means that these teams will still participate in the 2019 regular NPSL season.
ASC San Diego - existing club, averaged 1,000 fans per game in 2018 Cal FC - same club as before, right? Only without Waldo? California United Strikers FC - the erstwhile NASL club Chattanooga FC - solid Detroit City FC - solid FC Arizona - run by a crazy person with no money Miami FC - run by a crazy person with money Miami United FC - the other big name in no-name clubs in Miami Milwaukee Torrent - No data on them from this year, but they averaged 799 last year New York Cosmos - their reputation precedes them Oakland Roots - have apparently been in existence for about four months
So, it says they're going to have a professional team in the NPSL, but not that they're going to be in the Founders Cup. (If that's stated elsewhere, apologies.) They've said the Founders Cup is launched by 11 teams "in association with the NPSL." It's all very confusing.
That makes NPSL teams do not have to be amateur. Several of the teams joining the new league have been paying their players while in the NPSL. The article linked says: "Virginia Beach City FC announced today it will upgrade its current semi-professional men's soccer team to field a professional men's soccer team in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)" That says they will remain in the NPSL. This new Virginia Beach pro team might be headed for the Founders Cup in 2019 or the new league in 2020 but I don't see where they have said that yet. That does seem likely though. I believe that the Founders Cup teams will participate in the regular 2019 NSPL season before playing the Cup in the fall and then splitting off to the new league. Virginia Beach City FC says that they are going to re-brand their current amateur NPSL team as Virginia Beach City FC U23. Will both be in the NPSL in 2019? The article says the league for that team is to be announced. BTW, the NPSL has been calling it the NPSL Founders Cup from the beginning. The new league doesn't have a name yet so we don't know if NPSL will be in the name of that but it sure looks like more than an "association."
Thanks! Do you know if professional teams will be allowed in the current NPSL following the pro league's launch or will it be one league for pro teams and the other for amateurs?
Maybe but the NPSL hasn't said anything like that. It would probably depend on these factors: 1. Is this new league a part of the NPSL or is it an off-shoot that wants to control itself? That distinction isn't clear yet. 2. How will this new league be organized? Surely it will have a longer season than the current NPSL but more than that. Is it going to be one big national league or will there be a geographic component? Is there going to be any sort of centralized revenue stream or revenue sharing among teams? There are a lot of different ways that could go. Teams paying players might not want all the other stuff that comes along with the particular league. 3. There are other costs involved other than just what teams pay players. Does every team paying some players want to take on those costs? 4. How closely does the NPSL want to manage the way individual teams operate? If a team decides that they don't want to switch over to this new league but wants to pay some players is the NPSL going to stop them? It is pretty hard to speculate on how things within the NPSL will be organized when we don't know the answers to all those questions. The teams themselves probably don't know at this point.
I was looking at the team list and noticed it filled a few holes in the "major league markets without a pro soccer team" list (Detroit, Milwaukee and San Diego for outdoor). Here's the remaining list by 2021 assuming this league materializes: Cleveland Buffalo Green Bay New Orleans Baltimore (has an indoor team) Narrow slices of larger metro areas that have their own team in a major sport but no pro soccer team specific to them: Brooklyn San Francisco
Does this mean Chattanooga will have two professional soccer teams? I bet that's gonna work out soooo well..... NPSL is going to be a disaster with only 11 pro teams..... spread from coast to coast. Drawing a few thousand a game..... This will go tits up before the first year is finished.
Yes, Chattanooga will have two pro teams this coming year. The Red Wolves (?) have the look of carpetbaggers. It's hard to tell what damage (if any) they did by poaching CFC's GM and those relationships, and also hard to tell how soccer fans will react. The CFC hardcores will stay with CFC, you'd think. But what will a perceived higher level of play do for those who have been outside the tent to this point remains to be seen. As for this competition (not yet a league), we don't know the parameters, but if it's September/October/November as (I believe) it's been advertised, that seems to indicate it will come after the regular NPSL season and will be, of necessity, short. Doesn't seem likely every team would play every other one twice, as that might as well be an actual league. Maybe it'll be a knockout, maybe group stage and then a knockout, who knows? But if DCFC, for one example, has to suddenly leave the state of Michigan regularly, that's a change in their dynamic. Eleven teams spread across the country sounds like a challenge. We'll see. I don't worry so much about Chattanooga and Detroit, but the San Diego team that draws 1k a game having to travel across the country (if they do) is an issue, and the teams that don't yet actually exist except on paper...well, I'd take the under on them.
Looks like they're planning 2 divisions. Should cut down significantly on travel. Especially in the West. http://www.npsl.com/founders-cup-teams
The established group of 11 clubs stretching across the United States for the first-ever #NPSL Founders Cup competition will be split into two regionsRead more: https://t.co/tIZnvttFlq pic.twitter.com/3AlQjEPrRj— National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) (@NPSLSoccer) December 17, 2018
Does anybody really think Miami can support three pro soccer teams? They barely support one pro baseball team.
So teams will play home-and-home with the others in their division. So the East teams will play eight games and the West teams will play 10. And somehow out of that, someone's going to win the Cup (unless the East winner meets the West winner, but that has not been explicitly stated yet).
Is it going to be the Founder's Cup or the Founders' Cup? We really need to know. If it's the former then who is the Founder?
The ASL is now part of the US Premiership, which is "continuing to evolve" according to its Facebook page, with leagues in Texas, Florida, California, Nevada and New York (Lancaster PA and Hartford CT are listed under New York). Pre-season friendlies are underway. The links in the website don't seem to work.
The links are evolving from digital primordial soup created by Al Gore on the sixth day of the internet.