Taking it a step further, MLS originally put their reserves in USL because of the lack of competition in their own reserve league. With the arrival of development academies and 30 MLS reserve teams, they don't "need" USL anymore. Who says that they stay in USL if they were all forced to drop to L1? Given the strength of MLS and (some of) its reserve teams, it still looks like USL needs them (specifically their brand and credibility). Look at hockey, basketball, and football. The AAA and AA level leagues that did not affiliate with the major league died. The various independent A leagues are constantly fighting for survival.
I don't really think the brand and credibility are much of a factor, honestly. I do think the fact that MLS provided nearly half the teams in the western conference from 2015-2017 (and is still nearly a quarter) helped them out a lot. Not so sure about these examples: the potential player pools that you would see in lower divisions in other countries play on collegiate teams, which are extremely popular, in some cases more popular than some pro teams. Lower league hockey and football have a ton of things working against them. Hockey and football are super limited in who can play in the first place. Football also requires massive teams. And American style healthcare would make insuring a football team near impossible on a "minor league budget" (hockey, as well). Admittedly, basketball should be an easier sell, but I still think a promising, young player is going to pick a major college over a CBA/ABA type team. Or to put another way: the NCAA is more detrimental to independent leagues than their major league counterparts are. Soccer in the US isn't immune to this, but it does have the advantage of the academy system, the player pool being global, and the college game being a fairly piss-poor developmental system. Theoretically, there's also the ability to sell players, but I'm skeptical that has much of an impact on the USL.
Cleveland City Stars weren't "promoted" because they won USL 2nd division, they moved up because USL asked them and they accepted. But it sure seems like there were a hell of a lot of other reasons they folded than simply moving up to the 1st division.
I don't understand ... there was the USSDA prior, and now there's an MLS run system that replaces it, not sure how that effects the MLS2 teams. MLS2 teams are for those young players that are professional "ready" but not MLS "ready". Not everyone playing in the MLS Development academy teams are even USL "ready" and some may never get there (and go the college route). I fail to see this opinion, maybe I'm missing something.
The original reserve league was a hodgepodge of bench players, trialists, and fill-in. The MLS academy system wasn't really in place yet. Now teams have players to fill those roles if needed. I may be off base though.
------------------------------- Not really nonsense. Depends on what the priority is. Develop players or draw fans and have a stable franchise? If your a non-affiliated team, then you need fans to stay in business. If your MLS affiliated, you are managing your players, marketing seems very secondary. If we aren't really ever going to have pro/rel, then why not a shorter pyramid version of what baseball has? Baseball is having issues with its minor league systems and not much will translate to soccer other than possibly having too many teams fail or move etc. Crazy question. What if MLS supplied all the players and the owners/organization of the teams only had to worry about marketing, concessions, operations etc. in their market? (long shot I know) Even longer shot crazy question, why doesn't MLS just buy out or merge with USL and have an instant production line of players ? MLS is D1 and the top team USLC is your true full reserve team. Also where your D1 players come down to rehab after injury etc. USL1 is where your kids from the academy move up to, any kids you have scouted in other manners , walk on's, open try outs , players moving over from NPSL, UPSL etc.. Its your catch all. Also kids that have come over from any college setting NCAA-NAIA-JC (I would do away with USL2 and dealing with the NCAA, the playing time restriction do not help, short season, rules etc. There will always be some kids who will truly be STUDENT-Athletes- they play for fun or love of the game, but the college education still matters to them ) If they decide after they graduated they want to take a shot at playing pro, they still have options of trying out for USL1, or NPSL, UPSL and then try to make the move. Academy > USL1 > USLC > MLS is we really need. If MLS gets to 32 and then each MLS team has 32 in USLC and 32 in USL1, you basically have 96 pro level teams Of course, this ruins the US Open Cup. There are so many ways this could be set up. To me its one of the elephants in the room. If MLS wants to be a sellers league for a while, the pipeline just can't in my opinion rely on the academy. Some players just won't develop or break out at this point, but given some time in the next level, they will. .
I'm not sure the reserve league had anything to do with his comment. I agree with what you stated (you're not off base). It's obvious MLS wants and academy system as well as a place to put professionals that have developed past that academy but aren't ready for an ever increasing level of MLS first team minutes. His statement about the academy system doesn't really play into the USL/MLS2 conversation IMO.
All of that is certainly one path. I'm not sure I agree with it, but it doesn't doesn't really make his statement any less "nonsense" regarding ... why would an independent owner want to play in a league with MLS 2 teams ... which the mythical reasons for that have not been found to be proven out IMO.
Portland Maine is on the verge of getting a USL League 1 club https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2020/08/portland-group-advances-on-usl-league-one-team/ In fact they have a name{ Portland United } crest and website in waitinghttps://usltoportland.com/
"On the verge" might be overselling it at this stage, since the entire thing is dependent on building a stadium. That's not to say that it won't happen, but we've seen plenty of potential teams dashed to bits on the rocks of "just needing a suitable stadium location".
Lemme get that team in Toledo plz n thx. Our minor league baseball and hockey teams both do well, both averaging over 7k a game. Our NPSL team, Toledo Villa, doesnt get much attendance but it's also completely unknown in the city besides to a very very few diehard soccer fans and the families of kids in the youth club that the team is associated with. With some marketing, a team here could easily attract the League 1 average which is like in the 2000s, quite possibly more. Villas owners have said they're interested in moving up before and USL exec's have visited here more than once in the past. I'm hoping theres something to it! I could totally see Portland Maine being a hit. They obviously didnt even try on the name but the badge is class.
Oakland Roots ditching NISA and joining the USL. https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/It-s-official-Oakland-Roots-moving-to-USL-15568518.php
----------- They have been filling Laney Stadium to 5,000 and slightly over. What was the USL-C stadium requirements again? Also, if they are averaging 5,000, love to see the attendance chart for USL-C, because at 5,000, they are easily beating out many teams who have been in USL-C longer Roots will have a lot of teams on the West Coast now, maybe gain some rivals, longer schedule, but hopefully travel balances out. ----- Although it will never happen, Detroit would be a cool jump up as similar set up community organized. I just think Detroit will soon run out of viable leagues to play in. Miami left the league and NYCosmos are a hold out with a historic name
Can't wait for this. In a world without covid I could see them hitting upwards to 10k after securing USL-C. Who knows what the post-covid soccer landscape will look like though.
NISA is working with a few regional sides to get a pro/rel and will probably continue but as a div 4 between league 1 and league 2. Personally I wish they would work with USL League 1 if possible but continue the connection with lower leagues. The remaining NISA sides and League 1 sides are about the same level by the looks of it. With more teams, they could regionalize a lot.
It's even less likely than moving to USL for Detroit.....but I would suspect Detroit is very much still an option for MLS. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but back when Gilbert and Gores were pushing to get a stadium built downtown, they were interested in acquiring Detroit City FC. I dont need the grassroots/DIY/community element explained to me. I know it's a no-go for the fans. But I also think professional soccer in that market is pretty much assured. But I would imagine worse case scenario, DCFC would just drop back down to NPSL or whatever if necessary and fans would still be all in.
Also, MLS seems less set on "SSS or bust" than they were when they rejected Detroit's bid over playing in Ford Field.
Exactly. Were seeing this league now accept teams like Atlanta and coming soon, Charlotte, who it seems like will probably do quite well. And obviously Seattle has been and continues to be a major success in an NFL stadium. I thought when G&G scrapped the plans for an SSS and hooked up with the Fords to use the Lions stadium....that they intended to make improvements / alterations to the stadium to better house soccer as well. As a Crew fan, I personally still want to see it happen as it would be a super easy road trip against a natural rival, more so than Cincy even (Michigan)....and I only live an hour away! I'm gonna stop talking about it here though since this is a USL thread and I dont believe Detroit has a future in the league.
I'm not sure this is the right interpretation. I don't think MLS's concern is around using multi-use stadiums, it's around the sorts owners who would expect to use an existing stadium. That is to say, the appetite to build a SSS distinguishes an ownership group from those that would expect to use an existing stadium. The latter isn't in and of itself a disqualifying attribute, but the bidder probably needs to needs to otherwise show their commitment to the goals of the league. In other words: more Blanks, fewer Krafts. I'm not so sure about this. I think there's a decent chance DCFC would jump to USL-C if NISA was to fold rather than go back to an amateur league and there were no other alternatives. The Northern Guard would throw a strop about it, but if they really mean it when they say club > league, then they'll eventually get over it. That said, I don't see them pulling a Roots/Miami FC heel turn as long as NISA is viable and USL would be moronic to put a franchise there.
New Hampshire to League 1 in 2022 https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...9n9Ms-4zyQ9fXrLgFOvRmPg2OTaw0oHl_DzOPMgPxjUAY
*pending stadium Always feels like the same old refrain. Honestly, "getting a team in Boise" is probably the worst case scenario unless at the same time you're getting teams in Spokane, Ogden, Reno, Eugene, etc. since there will be no regional connection and the travel costs make it pretty untenable over time. Tucson is currently the very real world example of this.