I know the Menace have met with USL officials about the 3rd Division league coming to DM. I'm not sure what is going on in Omaha, but there have been talks with NASL before they went to shit, NISA, PDL, and the USL with different owners and fields.
While it doesn't have Austin which is supposed to have a team in 2019 and San Diego which has announced they are finalizing a deal with USL this looks good. Should those teams materialize and Cincinnati not join MLS until 2020 they could easily be fit into the conferences as shown.
I will never in my life understand why alignments and the number of times teams play other teams is such a recurring theme and such a mandatory exercise here.
I'm fascinated with the spread and growth of the lower divisions and watching to see if they sprout and gain strength at the local level.
As good as the map looks, at some point USL will have to make that decision about some of the weaker USL2 teams and have them move to USL3, or maybe drop to PDL or drop or relocate all together. - I guess the other thing that always runs through my brain with this, if we don't/won't have pro/rel and we don't really have a baseball style progression (A-AA-AAA-MLB), what do we have other than a splintered mess? What is the importance of USL3? Is it really just to spread the game of soccer all over the country? Is it because we have so many cities that want soccer or we have people who want to buy in and own a team regardless of leagues or structures? - I am so excited that soccer is growing, but I am still waiting for a more organized structure to carry us forward.
I really think it's useful to think of NCAA divisions when it comes to this. Different schools have different financial realities, between how many scholarships they are able to provide, to the facilities they can or choose to afford, to the distance they can reasonably travel. It makes sense for schools with similar resources to play each other and not worry about how Alabama's athletic budget is bigger than your school's entire operating budget plus endowment. The Division 2 champion of whatever sport is just as much champion as D1's, just much, much lower profile. On the flip side, potentially more sustainable. If, through sustained success or investment, the club could look to move up. Higher profile, but higher risk, higher costs, probably less success. Going back to the NCAA example, was it really a good idea for Appalachian State or Georgia Southern or, going back even further, Marshall, to leave being powerhouses in DI-AA to being minnows in DI-A? Maybe, but I can't imagine they've grown their fan base much if any. I don't think people are lining up to throw their money at lower division soccer, I'm afraid.
Steven GoffVerified account @SoccerInsider Las Vegas Lights Technical Director Jose Luis Sánchez Solá "Chelis" suspended seven games for "referee assault" following last Friday’s USL game against San Antonio.
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper 8m8 minutes ago Toronto FC II becomes the first MLS-run USL team to move to the USL’s third division for next year.
-------- Vancouver affiated with Fresno this year I believe. Going forward ? Is Montreal still affiliated with Ottawa? So why couldn't the 3 MLS Canada teams put their reserves in the second division in Canada, on the basis that the CPL is Canada D1? Or is there some story or ruling I missed?
Yes but the Whitecaps told their fans at a meeting that they arent feeling like it's been successful so far Yes but it will end at the end of the season. Ottawa Fury is expected to upgrade to CPL The 3 MLS teams wanted their 3 B-Teams in CPL. The league said no as they feel it adds no value to the league which will be top league in the Canadian pyramid * *Wikipedia is wrong, MLS is not part of the Canadian pyramid, 3 of its members are allowed to play in a league within the American pyramid Whitecaps tried to move their USL team to Victoria and Calgary but the CSA blocked it. It is viewed as a dick move on their part within Canadian soccer circle. There's no Division II in Canada but CPL plans to start D2 at the latest in 2026 and instigate pro/rel. The long term goal is for the league to have 3 divisions. The CSA is highly unlikely to sanction any new teams in USL leaving the 3 teams with no choice but to affiliate with a US based team in USL III or for Montreal to revive Montreal Academy in PLSQ. TFC has its team in League 1 Ontario. That's the situation
That will be their decision. As it has been since the Chicago Sockers dropped to the PDL after winning their second straight D3 title. Yes. Isn't that obvious? Even when it was still very uncertain that you could make any money at all doing this, we had 79 professional teams in this country (1998). We have 56 (officially) this year (though those we have now are far better than the ones we had then). The fact we've had all these attempts at leagues lately, the fact we've had people establish teams that, 15 years ago, would have been the Hershey Wildcats, but now are Louisville City, seem to indicate there is a demand on the part of fan bases and an interest on the part of investors. Why? Why are the aesthetics so important to people? Do you realize we're in a golden age right now? And that's despite the fact that people in this sport have never ever worked together for any appreciable length of time. THAT's why it's been fits-and-starts, and disorganized. (That and the fact that, until recently, you were banging your head against a wall if you thought you could make a go of this.) Baseball's progression model is kind of unique (in its structure, at least - hockey has a similar ladder, though it's not as cut and dried) and took decades to reach a certain point. We're simply not likely to get to that, because, unlike in baseball, you can play professional soccer at 17 (and, in fact, some would say you'd better get on it by that age if you're going to be a pro). You aren't required to follow the traditional Rookie League > A ball > AA ball > AAA ball > majors routine (the efficacy of which may be questionable, but the sheer numbers cover up any real problems). And we're not going to get promotion and relegation anytime soon. So what? Quiet as it's kept, some folks just like having a local soccer team to go see and support. Not everything has to have some grander meaning.
And it would be based on something less ephemeral than one season's worth of results. (Side note: I didn't realize it had been 20 years since Marshall moved up. Given they had accomplished more than most in what was then I-AA, the move was not as ill-advised as, say, Troy's or schools like that.) Given Marshall moved up in '97, I don't have good data on what they were drawing in I-AA. But last year they were down about 9k per game from their high of 30k per game in attendance in 2007. 1998...24,788 1999...28,674 2000...28,498 2001...26,578 2002...27,789 2003...27,837 2004...25,933 2005...26,510 2006...26,031 2007...30,020 2008...24,766 2009...22,236 2010...27,046 2011...25,874 2012...24,896 2013...25,023 2014...27,461 2015...26,322 2016...24,760 2017...21,741 Still, there is that old joke: How do you know a Deadhead has been in your house? He's still there. If Marshall is still in the FBS after all this time, it might be safe to assume it's working out for them. As for App State and Georgia Southern, I'm missing some data points, but Georgia Southern - which was terrible last year - had one of its worst average attendance years, and App State is doing similarly to how they did in I-AA (they may be doing better revenue-wise, but are surely spending more). Georgia Southern 2003...15,793 2004...???? 2005...16,241 2006...15,612 2007...18,925 2008...18,168 2009...16,728 2010...17,627 2011...17,701 2012...18,487 2013...14,828 -------------- 2014...??? 2015...??? 2016...20,780 2017...15,258 Appalachian State 2003 14,661 2004 ???? 2005 17,917 2006 20,546 2007 24,218* 2008 25,161* 2009 24,004 2010 25,715* 2011 26,211* 2012 26,358* 2013 24,894* -------------- 2014 ??? 2015 21,459 2016 26,153 2017 25,787 *Led country But a college football team "grows its fan base" how? More students and more alumni who remain close to campus, right? (Community support can be grown a bit, I guess, but the emotional connection is best created through students and alumni.) That can't be done overnight. Actually, there are far more quality investors in lower divisions than we've ever had.
Upgrade. That's funny. I love how your league - which has yet to kick a frigging ball, and which is governed by a fed that can't get its national team INTO the Hex, much less out of it - is going to be completely immune to all the challenges that other recent startup leagues have had. You've been acting like it's a fait accompli that the CPL (a foolish brag in name alone, if nothing else) is just going to be an amazing success from the jump, that travel costs won't be an issue, players won't be a problem, startup growing pains, nah, everything's going to be wonderful. Best league ever. Upgrade over everything else that's taken 20+ years to build. Spare me.
Budgets are expected to be higher than USL. Ottawa Fury themselves were surprised at the league's budgets, which will be a D1 league. So that would be accurate. Kickoff is April 2019... Not sure what the HEX and CSA has to do with it. Well, prior to 1990, we did far FAR better (since you used bold letters) than the US in qualifications. We made the hex for 94 (lost Intercontinental playoffs to Australia on penalty) and 98, won the 2000 Gold Cup (beating Mexico and Colombia back to back) without a domestic league and then the results weren't there. You're right to point out the CSA mismanagement during that time but inaccurate about the overall history of our National team. Canada isn't the only country who struggled to qualify without a domestic league but the point is when nations like Australia and Korea launched their leagues approximately 15 to 25 years ago, those nations have yet to miss qualifying. Not having a domestic league was always a huge handicap. The CSA finally came to the conclusion that cross-border leagues (USL, NASL, MLS) was insufficient and didn't work for Canada. Victor Montagliani, who came to that conclusion when he took over, started the CPL project which led to the 1st ownership hiring Paul Beirne...who started TFC. Montagliani isn't a fan of cross border leagues Of course CPL will have it's share of challenges, like MLS had when it started but we have no choice. USL and NASL never drew in Canada and MLS isn't working for the CSA. CPL is just vital for the program. I have yet to see anyone stating that there won't be challenges Lots of leagues use "Premier" to name the top league of their country. Why are you offended by that? CPL will be higher than both L1O and PLSQ. I don't get why you feel compalled to call that out when it has nothing to do with leagues outside Canada who, I remind you, still has strong ties to the UK so the name isn't that big of a surprise nor an attempt at bragging... FC Edmonton ticket drive surpass any years they were in NASL. Other teams membership counts exceeds expectations, something USL was never able to pull off after decades in Canada... not remotely close. Tickets wise, it's projected to surpass expectations according to existing data. The league said that travel was already accounted for and there was ways to further bring it down. It has yet to crash the CFL and they have the same challenges. The league is already being contacted by players both domestically and from around the world. Teams already have lists of players they want and intend to go after. They have already started the scouting as of earlier this year. Building rosters doesn't seem to be an issue for the league. Of course there will be pain but can't be worse than status quo. There won't be a better timing than now to start it. Best attendances is virtually every World Cups versions we hosted Among the highest World Cup viewership proportionally in the world Among the highest World cup ticket buyers proportionally in the world in Brazil for a nation with no team (yes higher than the US) More Canadians watched the All Canadian semifinal between TFC-Montreal than Americans watched the all American semifinals with only 1/10 of the population More Canadians watched both MLS Finals in Toronto than Americans did with 1/10 of the population We co host the World Cup in 2026, meaning CPL will be in better position to profit and establish itself. There's a HUGE demand for soccer and and HUGE untapped potential for it in Canada. CSA imposing a moratorium on sanctioning new teams in the USSF opens the door to CPL. Growing pain, sure, but the project was enough to convince rich Canadian owners to buy in and stick with it for the long term. Wonderful? I think so, better than what we have now. Obviously not, is MLS the best league ever? CPL will be OUR league and that's what matters Upgrade over USL IN CANADA? Yes. Before the ball has even been kicked around, CPL already draws more than USL. More sponsors wants to get involved than both USL & NASL, more owners (22 applications) wants in than in USL, more cities are trying to get into the league (something they would never do for USL or NASL). You're confusing judging USL as a whole vs judging USL in Canada. It's 2 different worlds. I'm not judging USL the league, just informing that it hasn't work, doesn't work and will never work in Canada.