Loudoun can't be in NEXT PRO because it's D3 and the stadium was built with the requirement that the tenant play D2.
-------------- But now MLS-Next Pro is up to 5 expansion teams suddenly, on top of what was already .Has the league given any idea of how many teams this could go to? It is one this to put new teams in new markets, but overlap will occur, which in turn may drive a team out of a market. USL-1 is also growing quick, I just wonder where all this is heading..
Naples, FL is the newest place to announce a USL League One expansion side. https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/1297223
USL Championship expansion club Rhode Island FC has reportedly signed Cameroonian forward Albert Dikwa - the league’s reigning MVP and Golden Boot winner - to a multi-year contract. The signing of Dikwa, who played for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds the past three seasons , is expected to be formally announced tomorrow. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/sports/2024/01/18/rhode-island-fc-signs-usl-mvp/72269858007/
Full USL TV schedule: https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1302050 Louisville vs Indy Eleven is on CBS on April 6, the first ever network TV match in USL history.
15-year-old UWYNT defender Ramiz Hamouda signs with Birmingham. https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1302160 20-year-old Clemson defender Shawn Smart signs with Las Vegas. https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1301866
Interesting choice of wording. I would agree with Lalas that if USL wants to do it, they should apply for D1 status of either a new league above USLC, or for USLC. As evidence by them getting D1 status for their women's league, it is possible to have two D1 leagues in the US, so why not go for it if USL has enough teams that meet the requirements. I disagree with Lalas that MLS should buy USL. Competition is good, IMHO. An independent USL is better for US soccer than a consolidated pyramid.
There are only 2 teams in the USL Championship (Birmingham, Miami) with a stadium big enough to meet D1 standards. Next year Indy's new stadium gives them 3. The other teams coming in, and the new stadium for OKC, aren't close to the 15,000 capacity needed.
USL is a cash cow for a real estate company. MLS would have to pay a hell of a Premium. And in don't think minor league soccer is a business Garber and his longest serving owners want to get into.
I would also add in that owning USL would open up the pro/rel can of worms that MLS wants nothing to do with.
And MLS has benefitted from there being an external place for the model of Cincinnati/Nashville and others where the original startup and the demonstration of market strength all happens with no risk to MLS.
Which would get them to 4. Then maybe you get Sacramento building their Railyards site and possible someone like Phoenix adding on to their modular stadium that currently holds 10k. D1 status requires 12 teams in year 1 with the Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones represented, with 14 teams by year 3. They would also have to leave a few existing teams behind as 75% of the markets have to be in a metro area over 1 million people and the current setup is about 70% with the expansion and returning teams set to still keep it at that level. With that said, a group of Birmingham, Detroit, Indy, Loudoun, Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Las Vegas, Memphis, Oakland, Orange County, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, Tulsa, Jacksonville (2025), New Orleans (2025), Milwaukee (2026), and Palm Beach (2027) along with a couple of the stronger markets under 1 million would be an interesting league.
Too much analysis for some nonsensical engagement bait from a clown. USL should pretend to be a Division 1 competitor of MLS, but also completely submit to MLS by offering itself for sale? All in one tweet?
In fairness, USSF also seems to ignore PLS requirements. USSF has regularly handed out temporary waivers on a number of their PLS for every league. USSF has not shown an interest in preventing a league from being a certain level if they wanted to just because they didn't meet the PLS. What was important to USSF is that they showed progress to meeting the requirements and as long as they were making progress, USSF would continue to grant waivers.
I'm not aware of any, but the USL Super League got D1 status this fall as the minimum stadium capacity for women's D1 is 5k while the Fort Lauderdale team is set to play in a 2k stadium, so they've got to have a waver for now.
In large part because NASL didn't even meet the requirements for D2 at the time. After 7 seasons of being given waivers and because they not only weren't making advances in addressing the areas that required waivers, but were actually losing ground and requiring more exceptions. I don't believe this is publicly available information. The only reason USL's and MLS's waivers were made public is because of NASL being denied and NASL loyalists pointing to those waivers as examples of favoritism.
EPL stadiums run from huge to small and that seems ok when teams are in the top division. Should not matter here. The fact MLS is screwing with USL now after working together in the past, the USL should apply for D1 status. They can us the USL women's super league getting D1 like NWSL as the example. Since USSF has no backboard or lacks the legal methods to get our soccer pyramid in order, then heck, why not everyone be a D1.....just so stupid. Seems with the Open Cup fiasco, the MLS seems to be calling all the shots.
Stadium size requirements (and all D1 requirements) are set by the USSF. MLS isn't doing anything to USL. USL Super League getting D1 status is irrelevant to the MLS/USL situation because women's D1 requirements (stadium size, owner wealth, number of teams, market size, etc.) are equal to or less than men's D2 requirements.
The current stadium requirements were set by USSF in discussion with MLS, USL and NASL. NASL had big plans, remember? USL Super League doesn't seem like a D1 league considering what's happened with NWSL in the last 5 years. But it has been a rapid transition from suburban soccerplexes to downtown MLS stadiums.