We know that the USL Super League was delayed a year (so 2024-25 instead of 2023-24) but otherwise seems on track, while UWS has tabled their plans for a D3 league. In their place, is sounds like WPSL is hoping to launch their own D3 league with at least 10 teams in 2024. As a remember, the D3 standards require at least 6 teams, all with stadiums of at least 1k and primary owners worth at least $5m https://www.wpslsoccer.com/news/202...rofessional-division-iii-womens-soccer-league With us inching ever closer to these leagues starting, (not to mention the spectre of WISL as well at D2,) I thought it might be time to create a separate thread for the pro league discussion separate from an amateur-league-discussion-thread (i.e. W-League and the base UWS and WPSL).
First "big name" and big city I've seen attached to the USLSL; Heather Mitts is aiming too bring the USLSL to Philly https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/hea...ccer-usl-super-league-expansion-20231006.html The main reason she's aiming for USLSL over NWSL is the latter's lack of a development pathway.
Or she cannot afford the NWSL entry fee, and/or they are not interested adding Philly. She acts as if she had a choice.
That could certainly be true! (I find it hard to think NWSL doesn't want to be in Philly - it's the #4 media market in the country.) I do find it a bit odd that she's using the "no development path" as a reason/excuse... Sure, it's somewhat baked into the USL corporate structure, but there's nothing stopping NWSL teams from forming lower-division teams either.
BTW, the USL Super League got DI sanctioning, so there's something. The USSF standards got updated back in December and now there are DI, DII, and DIII pro league standards for women. Wikipedia has multiple potential lower leagues listed now, with the WISL at DII and then both UWS Pro and WPSL Pro at DIII. The only one of the bunch that looks like they'll get going anything soon is WPSL, but at least the potential DIII leagues are working off of an existing structure of amateur leagues with lots of teams in them.
I might've missed an update last Dec, especially with USLSL entering the picture, but those women's DI/DII/DIII pro league standards have existed in some form for years, since they were made back in the NASL/USL soccer war days (which was also around when NWSL was formed). I literally made both of those Wikipedia tables myself back when I was an active editor in early grad school (and I'm still technically the top author by characters added for the page despite not touching it for years, lol).
Interesting, as the reference for them got updated in December. I think they did tweak a few things from an earlier version I clipped out of there. It might just be some of the verbiage on the USSF site itself, or some of the smaller requirements not in the table.
We're approaching 120 days out from the kickoff of the Super League. DFW doesn't even seem to have a stadium plan yet, let alone branding. Two others have no announced branding, but are co-owned with USL teams, so that's probably no big deal. No date for a draft, no player announcements, no union agreements, and no salary cap (and supposedly competitive with NWSL salaries). You can buy Spokane branded scarfs though, so they've got that going for them.
Well there won't be a draft and there won't be a salary cap, so no point in expecting those. Both of those are from the league intending to function more like UEFA leagues, i.e. not single-entity like MLS & NWSL are. The lack of player announcements and general team info is definitely concerning, but IMO not surprising. Considering this league is essentially piggybacking off of USLC, I'm sure everyone is coming in with the thought that things will definitely happen even if the full picture isn't complete, because the league doesn't absolutely have to stand on its own. Also, at least on the player side, I bet the teams are planning on playing into the upcoming international transfer window to fill out their rosters. Definitely risky to not be trying to get more rank-and-file players now, but again, it would not surprise me if that was their plan.
I spoke too soon - just did a quick Twitter search and it seems like Lexington at least is holding a player combine on April 14th. That's all I could find, though; no other teams seem active on the player front yet. (At least officially - Tampa Bay has "signed" Formiga for a TST appearance.)
I looked around a bit at the news the last few months and I saw one article speculating that they had some provision for using academy players on their rosters. That could fill out a team fast, but it's going to look more like a W League team than an NWSL team. If they're going to wait for the summer window (July 18) to sign mid-level players, there's no way they can field professional looking squads in mid-August.
I mean, as much as USLSL wants to present itself as an alternative to NWSL, I think just about everyone anticipates that it's gonna be D1 in name only. USLSL is expected to have salaries similar to USLC, and the fact that men's D2 sanctioning requirements are essentially the same as women's D1 requirements is the main reason why USLSL decided to apply for D1 status. Their salaries were comparable to NWSL two or three years ago when the first hints of USLSL were being thrown around, but NWSL has grown so much in the interim that I don't think there's any reasonable way that USLSL will ever catch up. I definitely think it's going to be a glorified W-League for at least the first two or three years until they can prove they have staying power, and even then I think NWSL will still be way ahead of them.