IIRC, with the Bermuda Hogges, the travel expenses for visiting team are part-subsidised by the Bermudan govt./tourism authority as a part of raising the profile & standard of Bermudan sport. Having Shaun Goater as owner would help swing such a deal. I guess the same deal with Atigua would be necessary, if USL is thinking about the well-being of the League. . . Oh
With the new combined leauge (or really a renamed USL 2) I wonder how many games they will play. I'm guessing that they will probably stick with the 20 games that USL 2 currently has. Especially with the goal to have a regional set up.
20 matches worked well enough with the six teams this year. I imagine they will keep a similar schedule next year. I would think that there will be an increase in post season matches I also dont think we will see Antigua playing in USLpro next season, unless it is a Carribean region.
Here are the list of teams for next years USL Pro League and I am not counting the Caribbean side. Austin Aztex Harrisburg City Islanders FC New York Richmond Kickers Pittsburgh Riverhounds Charleston Battery Charlotte Eagles Orlando Real Maryland Monarchs Dayton Dutch Lions: Some might have forgotten that they are promoting themselves from PDL to the Pro league for next season. Hope this will help some of you guys out.
Nice find. Let's play the game for 2011. USL2 (6): Charleston Charlotte Pittsburgh Richmond Real Maryland Harrisburg USL expansion/promotion (3): NYC Dayton Orlando Western Conference (5): Phoenix San Diego LA San Jose Sacramento That looks a lot like 14 to me. However, with the history of the USL, I think it's far more likely to end up just 12. If I was to make a bet, I'd say no NY or Orlando.
I would not be surprised to see more PDL teams move up. Michigan Bucks and Des Moines Menace are two likely central candidates. Possibly St Louis Lions, especially if AC StL is truly dead. There are a ton of great minor league markets out there that the USL would be wise to tap into with their "new" league concept. Indy, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Omaha, Milwaukee and Sioux Falls quickly spring to mind in my region. Possibly Thunder Bay and Winnipeg up north. San Antonio, Tulsa, Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham are a couple that look possible down south. I am focused on the midwest because A. I live here and B. with the current teams are all on the East Coast and the projected West Coast expansion, there is a mega gap in the midwest. They want to be a nation-wide league that is broken up into geographic divisions (almost like mini-leagues) skipping over the midwest is not the way to do it. The same with the south.
at this point NY is ahead of Orlando IMO. Holt also says “It is probable that the 2011 USL PRO alignment will include certain teams which competed in the PDL in 2010,” I started a list of PDL clubs that might make the jump up but that probably should be in another thread. there are a few good teams that have expressed the move in the past, but the geography keeps them back. In my imaginary world, I think I might have a regional division based in Texas, Lousiana and Oklahoma for you Violet
Sorta like the USISL, 15 years ago? Man. That's crazy. There were 55 teams in the pro league back then. I don't think we'll see many PDL teams jump up to USL PRO. Yes, there are a lot of cities that we'd like to see teams in. And there are some PDL teams that are close to being good enough to go pro. If that Western group does make, it seems like it would be a pretty natural fit for Fresno to finally make the jump up. But that's really about the only one that I would seriously consider.
If they're sensible 'being a nation-wide league' will be the least of their concerns. As far as I'm concerned, their one and only concern should be having owners and teams that can survive long-term. As much as I'd love to see Des Moines go pro, until there are 4 other teams within bus distance, or Des Moines gets a sugar daddy that can build them a stadium and afford to fly them all over the country, it would be really dumb to move up. The problem is the one that we now have for all teams west of the Mississippi (and Austin's right in there with y'all). Too few teams too far between. So if it means that teams like Des Moines, West Texas and Victoria need to keep playing PDL for another ten years while some other nearby teams finally grow up, then that's what we have to deal with.
Yeah, I agree. It's one of those things where what Minnesota and StL end up doing will ultimately affect Des Moines. If those two teams/cities join USL Pro, then the likelihood of Des Moines increases significantly. Throw a Milwaukee or Rockford in there as well and it looks even better. We go to Thunder Bay and Colorado now and those are looooong trips... But if MLS reserve teams were included in USL Pro (by some act of imaginary genius I suppose), then we would have KC & Chicago as well. But this scenario is pretty doubtful given the leagues' history of not working together.
I agree with you but I dont think you'll ever see anything quite like USISL that but IF USL can keep it regional (bus ride) and stablize the teams coming in I could see it expanding to 18-24 teams in three to five years. Fresno would be a good fit and I think the Hollywood United Hitman were reported as interested in moving up ( their attendence isnt that great and I im pretty sure they are the LA area team with the monsoon group) as well.
Adding Cleveland and Cincinnati would certainly be interesting. You could have Cleveland-Cincy-Dayton-Pittsburgh all in one group. The rivalries would be great.
We don't have anything to do with the Monsoon Group - that's a completely different set of people. We are owned by a partnership comprising Ali and Maryam Mansouri (who own the Pali Blues women's team), local businessman Rudi Bianchi, and the owners of the original Hollywood United amateur team which includes the actor Anthony LaPaglia and former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook. And, yes, we are still planning to move to USL2 in 2011, but there are still some things to be ironed out before we make a formal announcement either way.
Well to be honest, it is. Because only Portland is going to MLS next year. You have to count the USL-2nd clubs, the two expansion sides and of course from USL's website and the streamed press conference from Dayton. And like I said, I'm not counting that Caribbean country at the moment.
sorry I meant to say you guys are NOT the LA team. My bad (well really my piss poor typing and editing skills) The next couple months are goin to be a fun ride! Good luck to you guys
Thanks for the information, SheffWedFan! Adding Hollywood United into that 5 team Monsoon group, and the West would be as big a group as USL2 had this past season. Not bad. Plus, there'd be a 'close' rivalry. 'Close' in Western terms. Who knows exactly where that Monsoon 'LA' group is. Looking forward to seeing what happens. Here's hoping the numbers work out for y'all. And now I can see why the Holt gave that range of 14-18.
I think he means where in LA the team is going to be that is a member of the Phoenix group. That group includes, LA, San Deigo, Phoenix, San Jose and Sacramento, with the possiblity of Las Vegas in 2011 Fresno would be a good match in that group as would. What about Ventura County Fusion?
Thank you for clarifying my shorthand. That's exactly what I meant. I was wanting to put a tag other than saying 'the Western Conference that the Phoenix Monsoon are Putting Together' all the time. I didn't like saying Western Conference because that's easy to get confused with the USL2 West that's been talked about for a couple years. Don't know about VC Fusion. They have very good connections in England and have been very good on the field. Kenn's last numbers have them drawing under 1k, and I personally think that a team shouldn't be stepping up to pro if they're not already drawing above 1,000. Looks like their stadium is at least wider than ours, even though it is a HS football stadium.
Has here been any news as to how long this new USL Pro season will last? I'd have to imagine that would play a big part in some team's decision making. Longer season (for USL-2 and possible PDL teams) means longer contracts and expenses in general. Hopefully, that would mean more revenue, but that's obviously not a given.
I would imagine that it will be similar to USL2 season about 20 regular season matches. there might be an extra couple weeks of post season play but I dont imagine we'll hear too much on the details until Nov or Dec timeframe.