I'd never have considered good teams like Montreal or Rochester falling to the bottom of the league if I hadn't seen Charleston do it this past season!
If relegation would have been the outcome...they would have found a way. Of course another team will suffer instead...maybe a Portland or a Minnesota or a Milwaukee..or a Vancouver. In a few years this will work...but not until the 2nd division is strong enough. No way this happens in a couple of years. Here's a question for you: What will we see first ? a) Promotion/Relegation inside the USL b) The Second division average attendance at 4,000+ c) 24 teams in the 2nd division
I see plenty of franchises dying under the current set-up. 4 from the A-League this off-season alone, 25% of the membership. So in that respect, I don't see what's so great about not having pro/rel. The argument makes more sense IMO when you're talking about relegating MLS teams, because those owners have sunk serious coin into their teams (not discounting how much USL owners shell out)
C There will always be people willing to take a chance at running a soccer team. Asking them to approve relegation is a bit like asking the turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving, so while I'm in favor of it I don't give it much of a chance to actually be approved. And given the teams making up the USL2, it will take years of putting down roots to get to 4,000 avg. attendance.
Pro/Rel Might work someday but not yet, first you have to set standards and hold every team to them for facilities, budgets, salaries etc. Actually I would love to see a set salary cap from mls to usl 1 and usl 2 where each lower league is a set fraction of the higher leagues total salary. So for example, MLS is like 1.7, USL1 is 1.2 and USL2 is 700k or something like that, of course then you also have a pool of funds where all sponsorship and television revenue is divided between all of the teams at a set %. And finally you include bonuses for winning the open cup, league titles and any international competitions (concacaf champions league). Pro/Rel may work someday but all the leagues have to be pretty healthy before you can consider it and you have to have a set up were teams dropping are not going to basicially go right to the edge of bankruptcy.
Calgary and Edmonton died to to their own ineptitude, not due to the leagues current set up. Edmontons idiot investors banked on averaging 11,000 fans per game. When that didn't happen they walked out on the team. Calgary had two sets of owners who thought they could run the team like they did in the PDL. Thast why they failed (plus other factors). Syracuse had their reasond for dying. Milwaukee hasn't died, they just found it hard to start the season so late because of their indoor franchises. Adding pro/rel in North America where teams aren't clubs but franchises, fans won't follow their teams to lower divisions and lower division teams can't afford and don't want to move up to the higher league is just adding MORE reasons for teams to fail. Why anyone would want to increase the chances of a team having trouble is beyond comprehension. The decent A-League teams have sunk a lot of coin into their teams. That is why they are successfull on the field and at the gate. Promotion and relegation is great if the cost increase and fan base would make it so there was very little difference to the promoted and relegated teams. If USL division 2 teams were all averaging 4,000 per game then I'd be all for it. Thats never going to happen, at least not in my lifetime.
I hate to be negative but none of this seems like such great news to me. This organization has gone from 67 professional teams in 1998 to 21 for 2005. That's a terrible track record. And how expanded travel costs at the same rate of revenue is going to be good for clubs' financial position is highly unclear to me. The name change is nice, but it's about the 40th for this organization and who knows how long it lasts. The oversight committees sound nice, but you're telling me they never had anything like this in place before??? I don't like being negative but it's hard not to be. Pro/rel is a total non-issue. I don't see this happening for a long, long time. The key to USL survival is regionalization. It's the only way teams at this level can come close to breaking even, much less making a profit.
I'm with you. Regionalization is the way to survival...but its not going to happen at this point. Maybe the Rothenberg sponsorship will help a lot...but if not...for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
Valid points. but obviously pro/rel didn't kill them because it doesn't exist. What killed them are, as you pointed out, Calgary and Edmonton having inept management, Syracuse citing the stadium situation (which is an issue up and down the US ladder), and Milwaukee may technically not have died but it's fair to say they're on life support with minimal brain activity. Also fair, but IMO that's where the new set up could be valuable. Make teams start at the bottom and build up a fan base that way. (IMO, they should all start at the PDL level to see what kind of market they're in, but that's probably why I'm not running things ) And if it's done with a salary cap (as cjschlos suggests) that could help prevent sinking too much money in with no chance of return. There's certainly ways you can structure it where it isn't automatic. You could set minimal standards to be promoted, or you could set up a system of election as the English leagues used to do at the Division 4/non-league boundary. And I'm not entirely adverse to letting teams say, "You know, we've looked at it and we don't think we can afford the costs of competing in a higher divison. So we decline promotion." I'm not saying pro/rel is the end-all and be-all and the magic road to successful soccer leagues here (while it's my preference, it doesn't cause me to give up on US soccer). I am saying it's just about the only format we haven't tried with our professional leagues. Obviously, being in a USL city you have a better grasp on the financial aspects than I do (hell, even the closest PDL team is 2 hours from me). So I agree it would have to be structured so there's not a chasm between the leagues. Whether that's accomplished with a salary cap or some other means, I don't have the answer.
Who cares about your stupid bush league? We'll be in the MLS soon! (sorry, had to do it) I'm pretty sure that the Rhinos assured the league that they would be in for next season. Otherwise, they couldn't have made the schedule. Is Richmond's newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch?
Going to take more than prayers. Owners who understand that you have to spend money to make money...advertising, tv deals. etc.
Travel costs and the MLS reserve league are going to kill the A-lea...oops I mean the USL 1 and USL 2. I just don't see the positives in this announcement.
Here's all you need to know about pro/rel in the good ol' US of A: Team owner (doesn't matter which league, be it MLS, or USL): "You mean that just because my team went 3-22-3 and finished last, I have to go down to (fill in the blank)?!!?? To hell with that, and to hell with you! I'm 'takin' my ball and goin' home' (translation: I'm foldin' my team!)!!!" (sound of footsteps and the slamming of a door) To sum it all up: ain't gonna happen. Too much money, and too many egos involved.
The First Division will begin play with 12 teams next year and will be limited to 16 teams. So what happens if 17 owners are interested? "Once the league reaches 16 teams, if a team is selected for promotion, the committee would also be responsible for relegating a USL First Division club based on the same criteria," said USL vice president Tim Holt in an e-mail interview. "Specific standards for promotion and relegation will be further developed in the months ahead." Holt said the rebranded Second Division will be an ideal place for owners to test the professional soccer waters, which will ultimately ensure a more stable First Division. The former A-League has dwindled in numbers over recent years, most recently losing teams in Syracuse, Edmonton, Calgary and Milwaukee. Holt also sees a promotion/relegation scheme boosting fan interest in the future. "This feature will not only appeal to the traditional soccer fan but also to the masses by offering a characteristic that no American or Canadian professional league can offer, thus helping to differentiate our product from other leagues," Holt said. Left unresolved at the moment is the league's relationship with Major League Soccer. A couple of MLS clubs have loose affiliations with teams in the USL's amateur league, the Premier Development League, under the names Chicago Fire Reserves and Boulder Rapids Reserves. These are not "reserve teams" as seen in other world leagues, where players who aren't currently in their club's starting lineup play other teams' reserves to keep fit and catch coaches' eyes. But with MLS preparing to create actual reserve teams, Holt left open the possibility that those teams could compete in the USL ranks. "We have repeatedly expressed to both MLS and USSF (U.S. Soccer Federation) our desire to discuss how wecould incorporate MLS reserve teams into the USL structure," Holt said. "It seems to usadding MLS reserve teams to the USL Second Division and/or the USL PDL wouldbe a natural and economically sensible fit for both organizations." http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2004-11-11-usl-divisions_x.htm