The Cosmos deal was required to get the league to eight teams, which was the only way the league was granted the provisional D2 status, so I would say so - even if not with pen on paper. As for the first point, if the NASL can survive and add the teams being discussed, whether USL will be the more appealing league will be in the eye of the investors. And we'll be back to the same question as before...is the single entity structure fostered by MLS and USL the only way to make an American professional soccer league work?
I generally agree. But anyone who thinks the wholesale USSF promotion of every single USL club to Division 2 status is what's best for the game is drinking their own urine for nutritional purposes.
Yeah, I don't believe that, either. And I think there has to be a shakeout with clubs like LAGII and Harrisburg and NYRBII. But that gives us something to talk about all year. I think they did the best they could with the hand they were dealt. I think their priorities were: 1 - Try to keep the NASL from failing if at all possible. 2 - Not deny USL's supposed best-ever DII application. 3 - Get a deal done while racing the ticking clock. So for 2017, Rio Grande Valley and Colorado Springs and Charlotte are Division II-ish. We can live with that for a year. There have been far, far worse-run clubs in the second flight, historically. "What's best for the game" is a longer-term picture that often doesn't shake itself out for a while. The TOA split was messy at the time. There will be those who say it was a net positive, those who say a net negative, and those who say that since we're back here six years later, it didn't have an impact. I don't know which is true. But this puts a very real sense of urgency on both leagues and teams to actually be viable, and not just appear to be viable. If the rumored pop-up clubs in Atlanta, San Diego and Orange County show up in July, I'll be skeptical until they prove they can be sustainable and they're not just a sign of someone trying to gain weight quickly to look more robust than they are.
The USL is not a single-entity structure. Investors in USL teams do not own a piece of the collective as they do in MLS. USL does not hold players' cards and decide whether they get sold on or not. USL teams do not tithe revenue to Tampa. Single-entity was absolutely the way to keep MLS from dying in the crib and to get them to survive that nasty cold they caught 15 years ago tomorrow. It has been relaxed in various little ways over time, but it is still the linchpin of the operation. And it's hard to argue that it has not been successful. USL runs the league, but it's not at all a single-entity situation.
Seeing double: Both NASL and USL get Div. 2 sanctions - the11.ca Just another article about the league sanctioning - mostly from the FC Edmonton point of view
Sanctioning both leagues as D2 on a provisional basis is kind of what I expected. USL got what they want and at the end of the day the USSF can walk away and say that they don't have the blood of NASL on their hands. Going forward I think it creates an arms race between the two leagues as they both maneuver to try to gain a permanent D2 sanction. I think it creates a war to claim unserved markets. I'm not entirely positive that this decision saves the NASL--what appeal do they really have when courting new ownership groups now that USL is at their level?
I honestly believe now, that this decision was to basically avoid litigation by the Fath brothers. As even D3 sanctioning both leagues would still cost Fath Brothers millions as NASL exit fees that would suddenly fall to almost zero and teams could jump ship without financial penalty. You can almost pretty much guess that it's the Faths that are bankrolling keeping Jacksonville alive in hopes of finding a new buyer. They were probably fearful of a exodus if the league "officially" dropped to 7 teams.
I totally see why they both got the provisional sanctioning--USL's claim to it was just as strong as the 6-8 team NASL's. The Federation gets to walk away not being the bad guy for killing a league that's grasping to life and they can kick the can down the road and make more concrete ruling next year after ll of this has time to sort itself out. As you described, it's a cop out move. I'm curious what this does for 2-3 clubs/markets that USL was interested in relieving NASL of--Indy, Carolina, And Jacksonville. Do they still stick it out in NASL or do they take this year as their swan song and jump in 17 after Wilt or whoever fails to secure all of these rumored expansion sides. You have me a little confused about you pro-rel cmoments. Are those for another poster because I'm not a pro-rel person. I full heartedly believe the model can't work ion this side of the pond. There's no incentive to invest if you can be relegated and there are 4 other pro sports (and major college FB and BB) to compete with.
Hopefully this is a turning point for the better for all. Less stupidity and rhetoric and more club building please.
No it wasn't directed at you. It's just an inevitable blanket pre-rebuttal to Pro/Rel advocates that keep popping up in these type of threads. They continually ignore the logistics a league like MLS takes when they set themselves up in a closed system for various valid reasons.
I think - at least in the short term - it creates a sense of urgency that you'd better be doubly sure about the people and markets you let into your league, because another Ray OKC situation damages your chances of being the sole survivor in 2018. USL doesn't really have to add anything, unserved markets or no unserved markets. They have to figure out what happens with the MLS 2 teams and with a handful of their independent teams, but as long as they continue on their trajectory (or even maintain), they're obviously close enough to D2 worthy to gain provisional sanctioning. This is really Double Secret Probation for the NASL, which has to ( a ) move fairly quickly to shore up what it has and ( b ) be extra sure that if it brings in Atlanta and San Diego and Orange County that they are solid and get off to good starts.
The worst that can reasonably be said about this is that the USSF (who, shocking though it may be for many of the posters here, are not in the business of killing leagues), have given NASL enough rope to hang themselves unless NASL starts getting its act together, and at the same time, are sending a message to USL that D-2 status will not be conferred simply by default to fill a vacuum. The upside for all fanbases is that both leagues have incentive to be in a better position a year from now individually, and potentially a mechanism for ridding themselves of underperforming participants. USL gets any stigma of being deemed a "lower division" deservedly removed, while NASL survives to permit the influx of new/different ownership groups. It doesn't make for splashy headlines, but it's likely the only compromise that didn't result in a major blow to the development of the sport below the D-1 level...and, not coincidentally, that IS the USSF's mandate. Anybody who was around and/or affected by the demise of NASL 1.0 doesn't have to be reminded of what THAT was like; its impact was felt for more than a decade, at the very least.
This post is not a repeat from 1997, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010 or any other time, but it might as well be.
While your conclusion is correct, that's not at all accurate. MLS is the only major sports league that runs as a single-entity. Even their own single-entity status, though still asserted, is probably more questionable since the last time it was questioned.
Not to mention adds to the historical course of conduct by USSF towards NASL that Kenntomasch referenced earlier, that would likely result in such a future suit by NASL having the life expectancy of a B-17 waist gunner (too soon?).
Agreed about MLS' need for single entity to ensure it's survival. I would like to see that relaxed a bit more, but it is what it is - and it has worked. I stand corrected on the USL structure - it has me wondering about the ToA split though. I thought it was about independence of teams and objection to the whole league being purchased by Nike. Not being snarky, just wondering what the motivation of the breakaway group was.
It was not objection to the whole league being purchased by Nike. Nike owned the league. They sold it to NuRock and not to Jeff Cooper. That was the last straw for the TOA folks, who felt they were already not being taken care of by the Marcos regime and did not feel optimistic about the NuRock regime. And when asked, Selby Wellman (who did not actually, you know, stick around for the NASL to kick off) could not come up with much more than websites and a rental van deal. Again, he did not actually stick around for the coming together and operating like a league part. And of all the things you can say about the NASL since then, "coming together" and "operating like a league" would not be at the very top of the list.
A retconned version of the NASL release confirms the deaths of Rayo OKC and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers without naming them.
Everyone knew the grim reaper was camping out on Rayo's doorstep...but the Ft. Lauderdale thing is interesting. I see the tweets that the club is about to be bought out - Bob Williams' latest mentioned the 12th as the date - by a group that would keep them in the NASL...but for when? 2018?
Well both teams are still featured at the top of the NASL website. So death may be a bit premature. They may come back for the Fall season, and if the tweets are to be believed Rayo plans on coming back for 2018. So it seems there are still 10 teams, just only 8 are playing in the 2017 Spring season. When/if FTL and Rayo return is TBD. I hope FTL returns, I really don't care about Rayo though. I'm not a fan of domestic teams being owned by foreign teams.
Considering San Diego, Orange County and Atlanta have 177 days to get themselves announced, a staff in place, players, marketing, etc... it doesn't matter how solid they are in theory. They're already dead. I mean you'd have to be a moron to launch under those kind of constraints. Particularly OC going into a market with that amount of competition.
Peter Wilt & the NASL better be hard at work on those expansion sites as well as shoring up PDL clubs that want to upgrade, like Detroit City. I do not want to be in this mess again this time next year.