American Soccer Below MLS, How Important Is The USL?
How important is the United Soccer Leagues, the two-division tier below MLS? Without promotion/relegation to MLS, one is tempted to say “not very”. But tell that to the fans of those teams, and you might get a smack in the chops for your trouble. Moreover, the level of soccer in the USL, as this year’s Open Cup showed at times, is hardly something MLS fans should sneer at.
Furthermore, in the U.S. and Canada as a whole, it’s hard to see soccer becoming a truly nationwide game over such a massive continent without the broad and deep structure provided by a strong base beyond the “major league”.
In other sports, such as the NFL and NBA, there isn’t a deep professional pyramid, but there’s a massive college base across the country that develops players and a love for football and basketball, even if not all college fans follow the professional leagues closely as well. In baseball, there is the wide-ranging minor league system to supplement weaker college ball than football and basketball have.
Though there isn’t promotion/relegation between MLS and the USL, the latter can lose cities to the former as we’ll see with the Seattle Sounders in 2009. Vancouver is another club often mooted for MLS expansion, especially given the success of Toronto F.C., but they seem to be making slow progress in advancing towards a planned 15,000 capacity waterfront stadium.
Still, the USL is planning to expand itself by a couple of teams (though it also lost the California Victory this year) and owners such as Vancouver’s Bob Lenarduzzi are trying to sound upbeat about the prospects for the league.
“I’m actually quite positive about the future of our league,” said Lenarduzzi. “Existing ownership is quite stable. There does seem to be a commitment by USL ownership to stay the course. The MLS option is always going to be there, but that’s something we can’t control.”
What are your thoughts about the USL? Can it thrive without promotion/relegation to MLS? Is it patronising to fans of those teams to always even assume they want to be in MLS?
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a relegation/promotion system between the two leagues could be something which would help give the sport its own identity in america and canada and is probably the best way to unify football fans at all levels.
No matter what, there will always be a need for a USL type organization in the United States. MLS (unless it becomes an all encompassing “League”) won’t be able to fill all of the gaps in the North American professional system. MLS seems to want to do what it knows it can do very well, so I think these gaps will continue to exist.
For example, the failure of the women’s game with the WUSA gave room to the USL’s W-League. Where the WUSA failed, the W-League picked up and has done a pretty good job in a semi-pro fashion.
What I’d like to see eventually, when MLS gets settled with the number of teams they want, is an agreement between the two leagues (and possibly all of the leagues in NA) to formalize the soccer pyramid. This would allow for promotion/relegation between levels. With some sort of Welsh style requirements for minimum facilities, a Rochester or Montreal (with next year’s stadium) could go up, while a Atlanta or Charleston would need to build up their parks.
Sean, I agree though I doubt relegation/promotion will happen for quite a few years, until MLS has completed expansion. I think Emmett’s comment outlines really well how that could be done sensibly.
It’s amazing the number of people holding out hope for a pro/rel system in American soccer. Folks, it won’t happen. MLS and USL are too different as organizations to make it work properly, and quite frankly, MLS is terrified of the possibility that the Red Bulls or Galaxy get sent down, only to get replaced by someone like Rochester, Charleston, Puerto Rico, or the woefully undersupported Miami FC. No MLS owner or commissioner will accept that possibility.
Perhaps it’s more realistic to envision a pro/rel system between USL-1 and USL-2. However, you run into a situation where clubs can’t make travel costs on their own. The Richmond Kickers literally relegated themselves to USL-2 so that they could avoid any expensive West Coast trips. If they won and came up, could they even afford it?
I think it’s good to have a USL around, just to keep MLS on its toes and give American soccer fans more local clubs to support. Anyone hoping for the possibility of the USL-1 winner getting promoted to MLS, though, should cool their heels and stick to cheering for their clubs when they play MLS sides in U.S. Open Cup action. (And really, we gotta make that cup mean something. Champions Cup bid? SuperLiga bid? Either way, nobody’s going to care otherwise.)
i know very little about the technical and econmical aspects of this, but can it not be agreed that eventually, the system of competition should operate this way?
certainly the business aspects of stadiums and travle come into play, and of course all levels have to be on the same page, but this is what is best for us and best for the game.
soccer will not be an overnight success in the country, but if it is to succeed, it will only be if it is done properly.
As Dave’s Blog said, relegation/promotion will probably never happen (or won’t happen for a long long time). I guess the USL does serve a purpose, though, in that it provides local teams in markets where MLS hasn’t/can’t/won’t go, and can feed players to MLS (some, like Galindo, can be successes, while others, like Taylor Graham, will be failures).
I also never believe we’ll see pro/rel, or even a promotion only model . . . but back to the topic . . .
I believe the USL can be comercially relevant as a niche market because the desire of MLS to be mass market (and efforts to be family friendly) means a less exciting product for some.
A USL owner that had the cajones to create an adult friendly atmosphere where language and fan displays are not policed and where efforts are made to generally court young adults. Brewery sponsorships, terracing . . . oh the opportunities.
Interesting perspective, Eckstoss. In England, lower league and non-league football have both done well attendance-wise in recent years, as some fans have been turned off by the “Premiership product” and prices.
In MLS, we’ve already seen that Toronto’s more adult-orientated marketing can work in North America, albeit it’s not exactly what you suggest.
I like your idea very much, and I’d be fascinated to see how well such a venture would do in the right city here.
On the topic of promotion/relegation, I believe it is true that the MLS owners and the CEO are afraid of seeing the big clubs get relegated (NY, LA). But this would be good for soccer as a whole in the US. NY and LA probably would not get relegatd because the owners would do everything in their power ($$$) to make sure it didnt happen. IE) David Beckham.
I believe that promotion relegation between MLS and USL 1 is neccesary for the MLS to grow. They simply can not compete with the NFL, MLB and NBA if they operate the same way they do. The MLS needs to stand out as a different form of sport. Interest will catch on once USL fans believe that their team has a shot to get promoted at the end of the year. Perhaps they could then get to see their home teams stadium sold out to watch Becks, or Ronaldo or Shevchenko when they come.
For those MLS teams that get relegated, tough shit. The system would be for the good of the sport in this country. Just make sure you get the best players and coaches to get you back up to teh MLS the next season. NOW GAMES AND SEASONS ARE STARTING TO MEAN SOMETHING! GET ME!