USL Expansion General discussion

Is it crazy to think that Milwaukee never gets a pro outdoor team?

 

I looked it up and Cleveland, Milwaukee, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Baltimore are the only cities with multiple Big 4 teams not in MLS or USLC

 

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Sometimes I wish no announcements were made only to see projects die

 

Right now it appears that Brooklyn, Jacksonville, and Santa Barbara join in 2026 with Buffalo, Dallas, Ozark, and the return of OKC slated for 2027. Milwaukee, Iowa, and Palm Beach don't have dates attached to them at the moment, though Iowa in 2028 is definitely gaining traction.

I could see Buffalo getting pushed back another year or two.

 

Anyone think the Cleveland team happens? I think it would take massive delays or failure of the planned Next Pro team here.

 

I don't really believe any team will happen until the shovels are in the ground and the funding is secured. Even then it's still questionable until they take the field.

 

In that case, my assumption is that soccer in Cleveland (as well as Baltimore and Milwaukee) dies forever when the indoor game does.

EDIT: With things being this shaky, how does any new team ever get the $$$ to get going? The minors being this iffy seems like a recipe for developing an American Football-style "only the big league should exist" culture in US soccer.

 

USL wants to go back to the Rio Grande Valley with a team in Brownsville. Yes, the old soccer stadium is now a college football field, why do you ask?

 

Any schmuck can announce something but you need investors to get it off the ground. These failed projects scream "we hoped somebody else would pitch in but nobody fell for it".

 

This is literally the most stable second division and below soccer has ever been in the US.

 

Bringing pro soccer to one of the youngest, most dynamic regions in the country ⚽️

The USL and the City of Brownsville have entered exclusive negotiations to bring men's and women's pro soccer to Brownsville, Texas.

➡️ https://t.co/B2TEX75NSY pic.twitter.com/lD1C5BhPAh

— United Soccer League (@USL_HQ) September 17, 2025

 

Fascinating. It feels like the RGV team folded as part of a combination of things, especially Covid and then the formation of Next Pro. Hopefully this new entity does a better stadium design and keeps it in the 5000-5500 range, if they actually get it off the ground.

 

Sorry for the ill-informed rant, guess living in a city that likely saw its final pro season ever 16 years ago makes me frustrated to the point of being stupid.

 

Santa Barbara Sky will not start play in 2026, instead they will plan to start in 2027 with a pending finalization of an ownership group.
This expansion team was announced in 2022 and has delayed their launch to play since then.

Unless Sporting Jacksonville actually plans to start in 2026, that will leave USL Championship with zero additional teams in 2026 (implying all current USL Championship teams will return in 2026)

 

Isn't Brooklyn putting their men's team out there next year?

 

Nope.

 

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I had been having worries about Santa Barbara and it seems its coming true.
Only positive news had been moving from the turf field at the SBJC to the grass field of UCSB.
Beyond that, radio silence.
Lancaster got off to a go start- stadium, etc.
Now we have an announcement for Riverside- that I feel could be a good market done right.
The huge Inland Empire area of Southern California growing like crazy

As I posted elsewhere, I wish the league would sometimes not announce teams only for the project to not make it.
It makes the league look bad.

 

I don't remember that happening at all.