I don't know. Making MLS 2 teams join a D3 should all but guarantee USL D2 status next year. They may be competitive, but most of their fields are below attendance requirements and their attendances are abysmal
What's to stop the league from letting each MLS team choose for itself where their "2" team plays? I could see an MLS club like Orlando operating a team at every level, but a team like the Revs might opt for the minimal involvement required.
thumbleweeds... no news in a while, anyone hear rumors or do you simply expect no news until the end of the year at least when SD votes and MLS decides?
The latest is that USL is no longer actively looking at San Diego, per Nipun Chopra. It also didn't show up in Steven Goff of the Washington Post's expansive list of markets USL is looking at, which included Baltimore, Fresno, Las Vegas, Birmingham and D.C. United II in Northern Virginia
Not surprised. With MLS moving in on Mission Valley (which the USL group we'd previously heard about was also apparently interested in) it makes sense the USL group would be squeezed out. And with NASL coming soon as well, this appears to be one instance where USL got beat to the punch by its rival league. Just hope NASL survives as USL with 8 teams poised to enter by 2019 on top of the 30 they have now certainly seems well placed for the future compared to the anemic NASL.
Feel like it's going to come down to 2 cities: Baltimore and Chicago. Can NASL get Wilt's Chicago effort to completion? Will Kevin Plank actually start an NASL team in Baltimore, or is he the guy behind Baltimore USL?
With Baltimore going USL in 2018, it seems the opposite is going to be true over there. NASL was beat to the punch even if Plank is still interested.
I mostly agree, much like I think San Fran was the linch pen that really got the ball rolling with LA and SD, getting both of those could be the linch pen for cities like Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Buffalo. At that point the league would have a solid base in the Midwest/Northeast, Deep South, and the West Coast to leverage. Although, I don't necessarily think losing both cities would be the death blow, I don't think the league would be able to survive any more blows (i.e. not finding an owner for Jacksonville).
I think landing Detroit City backed by a strong investor group is the coup NASL could really use. Gives Indy and the prospective Chicago bid a regional rival on top of being a prestigious club in and of itself.
SF has not really been the resounding success they thought it would be. Average attendance around 3K is not going to cut it in that, or any D2 city for long. Adding a team in OC seems like folly as they are going to compete head to head with USL and peripherally with 2 MLS teams. Personally, I am hopefull that NASL can hold on, but November and December are still going to be interesting to see if any more teams fold (Jax) or jump ship. Four out of the eight teams in the league are averaging under 4K, that is not a great sign, even if NASL is adding a team here and there.That is, if they even keep D2 status after August.
I don't think anyone is going to jump ship to USL unless the league folds or is demoted to D3 (which would probably result in it folding).
I hope that you are right, but after the end of the year 2016 I would not make any bets. We know that basically all of the teams were talking to USL, but some had financial commitments to stay in NASL.
The only thing I think that kept them from jumping ship last fall was no one wanted to be the team to make the first jump and incur the financial penalty for doing so. But fear of that fee is only going to hold the league together so long in the face of mounting losses.
Luckily no one took that seriously. Unfortunately, far too many people gave that troll the time of day. Reflects poorly on San Diego imo.
Well 6 months later the situation has clearly changed. USL has already taken in one of the last NASL teams still standing. Fingers crossed that San Diego 1904 FC will be one of the other lucky ones to make the jump to the far more stable league.
To be honest, given their proposed location and the low probability of San Diego MLS happening (especially in the 25/26 range) USL should be very open to 1904 ... provided a name change is coming over with them!
Agreed. The situation has changed dramatically since USL rejected the 1904 group (or vice versa... they were never really clear on who rejected who). But regardless you're right, 1904's Oceanside location, SoccerCity being on life support, and the demise of NASL should have both parties rethinking whatever it was that led to the Demba Ba group picking NASL in the first place.
Actually I won't call Soccer City "dead in the water". Latest word is the election vote will take place in June 2018 (during the primary election). Which gives it real chance at being either team 27 or 28. With this in mind I believe for them to be accepted by USL, they would have to be open to the idea of being an affiliate for San Diego MLS.
I think if their permanent home is Oceanside ... that may be far enough away from MLS SD that it won't be the "same market" so to speak. Either way, very interesting.
Maybe. But keep in mind there’s no requirement that the closest USL team affiliate with the MLS team.
True. There is a lot of logic, but no requirement. Realistically, as long as MLS waits until after SoccerCity is voted on, whether that is in June or November, to decide teams 27/28 then San Diego is absolutely in the mix. It seems to me like most people think SoccerCity is dead. For once, the slightly scummy politics of a professional sports league is going to benefit San Diego. The league will wait until SD has its vote.
i agree. i hope there is NO affiliation! I'd rather see all of the MLS teams have their own USL team and not "just affiliate". And I think if they have a USL2 team it be a U23 team and if they want it to be more of a U21 team it would be in D3 ... and they could have one or the other ... but they should have it in their own market IMO ... and not a "neighbor" market that deserves it's own independent (and unaffiliated) team.