NASL/NPSL Relationship

The pro/reg supporters are really going to hate this. Regardless should be interesting to see this develop. I personally think this is the best way to approach player development.

 

It is just another step before pro/rel really takes over and makes the Soccer leeagues in the USA and Canada bigger then the NFL.

Well a few years back Montreal was demoted to MLS even when they only finished second to last in the NASL



The mysteries of Pro/rel North American style, you never know what is going to happen, this means every game matters.

 

It would be good if NASL teams sign enough guys and take full advantage of it. The Rowdies, for instance, haven't carried a full squad in the four years the have existed. I don't see them coming up with a reserve team any time soon, even though I believe that was one thing they did talk about doing back in 2009 or 2010.

It would be nice, though. We have an enthusiastic NPSL team here in Tampa, the Marauders. That would do nicely.

 

St.Louis was awarded an NPSL team. http://www.nationalpremiersoccerleague.com/home/769854.html#.UoaFMO8pp9M.twitter

 

In OKC FC's case, it's not Pro/rel... more like Pro/lit (Promotion/Litigation)

 

Which has nothing to do with this thread. You've posted the same meaningless news in at least two other places

 

I've also posted it on the news thread, but Minnesota United have announced they'll also field an NPSL reserve team. Looks like the relationship between the leagues is really filling out.

I know what many of us think of the pro/rel lot (no need to take another opportunity at potshots), but to be angry about this relationship you'd have to be pretty ill-informed and possibly a little nuts.

The NASL/NPSL relationship is nothing like the MLS/USL agreement--for one, because NPSL is not a professional league. There is no 4th professional division in US soccer, so there was never a chance of pro/rel with one anyway.

If anything, relationships like this one will strengthen 4th division amateur and semi-pro soccer, and that's only going to be better for the three professional divisions.

 

incorrect. The USSF has a provision to allow multiple 2nd and 3rd divisions. If the NASL and NPSL wanted to create another 3rd division between them for pro teams they would be considered for sanction.

 

You're saying "incorrect" to something bullsear actually said that actually was correct. There is no "fourth division" in this country. (I took that to mean "fourth division," not "fourth professional league, with MLS, the NASL and USL being the first three.") No matter how many times people say "fourth division" or "de facto" or put stuff in quotes, there isn't a fourth division.

As to whether or not the NASL and NPSL wanted to create a professional league, sure, I guess they could. If they wanted to.

But there's a reason the NPSL is where it is. These people have no money. They don't have the finances or vision or resources to create a third division professional league that would have to live up to the standards that have been set by USSF for professional leagues in this country. The long slog to create the various divisions in this country has come at a steep price, and the Matt Drivers of the world are going to find out how hard it actually is to do.

But they could, surely, if they wanted to...well, lose more money, I guess. Chattanooga and a couple of other teams could probably be professional. How long that would last, I don't know, given the historic failure rate of 3rd division clubs. But it would be an awful lot of work.

 

was reading it a different way. Well aware that the USSF will only formally recognize 3 division levels.

 

Well is not that they will only formally recognize 3, that is what they currently do, the USSF could if conditions came about, recognize a league as 4th division if they wanted to.

 

Why would they?

What would a fourth division pro league look like? Why would it be necessary? I don't have as much money as, say, the Charlotte Eagles? Really?

 

Not as fantastic as our current 3rd division?

USSF make the rules to sanction the leagues, if there was ever a need for a 4th division I am sure they would listen to the reasoning, does not mean they would approve it and sanction the league as 4th division, but is not like only having 3 leagues is set in stone.

But yes I am pretty sure getting 2nd and 3rd stable is a higher priority than sanctioning any type of lower budget USL to run a 4th division.

Edit: now if the argument is that any semi-pro level league below 3rd would be left to state or regional bodies and not be recognized as a National league, I can see the argument for that, at least now.

 

Nobody said our current third division is fantastic.

But a division with fewer safeguards and fewer barriers to entry than that division would be craptacular.

By that logic, nothing is set in stone and everything is.

And there is no need for a fourth pro division. You can argue about the necessity for a third, but the market seems to have spoken on that one, so, fine.

 

Why aren't we just talking about whether this relationship will or will not help strengthen player development? Does it matter if the NPSL is ever considered a 4th pro division league?

What will this relationship do for the NASL? How will it benefit the NPSL?

 

I can't see it doing anything for the NASL except as a brand extension. The NPSL gets to position itself as having a solid big brother, I guess.

But it's still (for the most part) second-tier college players and ex-MLSers who are playing in the NPSL. I don't think there are a bunch of stars who are going to graduate to the NASL because they played in the NPSL and for a team with the same name as a current NASL team.

 

You have a point. But if NASL teams are operating NPSL teams basically as a reserve team, that wouldn't eventually pay off?

Or is the expense of doing so something that just isn't needed for lower division teams right now? Our teams sign guys who have been developed, but who either can't make it in MLS, haven't gotten a chance yet to make it in MLS, or who have been MLS for a while and are looking for a pay check to finish their careers.

What players will fill these NPSL rosters? I guess I'm missing how it would benefit the NASL to spend precious resources on amateur teams. It isn't as if NASL teams are going to be making money any time soon from selling off players they developed in such a system. What is the pay off?

 

With an exception or two, it's largely going to provide positive window dressing for both leagues, at least for the foreseeable future.
NPSL and PDL are already ipso facto 4th division no matter what may be actually technically true.

Where this gets fun is if Hitchcock finds a way in the next few years to coax some of its more successful franchises into an NPSL Pro division loosely affiliated with the NASL... and make a play for 3rd division status...

 

I think that lower-division teams with wealthy ownership groups are beginning to see that losing money on youth development is just part of doing business. If they're in this for the long haul, then player development is in their best interest, regardless of whether they actually sign players from their reserves/academy. For soccer to grow, there need to be more people invested in it as a viable pro-caliber sport.

Building a reserve team or academy serves as a brand extension and shows that you believe you've got something worth watching and investing in. It's also an investment in future fans. Kids who come up through a club's youth system are arguably much more likely to be life-long fans. Create an artificial demand to get into your academy and you've got the start of a long-term marketing strategy.

Whether or not the club will actually be around when these kids grow up is a moot point; what matters is that fans perceive that the club will be around and that the club itself act like its owners believe it.

 

Not really ant different then the lifetime AAA baseball player that will never make it to the majors but helps the AAA team be competitive, just on lower level. Nowadays AA is just as likely to be the last stop before the majors AAA