By FRANCO PANIZO
LAUDERHILL, Fla. — MLS plans to have 24 teams by the end of the decade. USL Pro might have more than double that.
USL Pro has been growing at a steady pace since 2012, but an influx of interest in the third-division league for professional soccer in the United States and Canada could see its numbers balloon by 2020. Currently, USL Pro stands at 24 teams – 13 of which are expansion clubs gearing up for their first season in the league – but it has no plans to stop growing in the coming years.
Not when so many MLS teams could still launch their own USL Pro sides, and not when other independent investors continue to look into the possibility of starting teams in untapped markets.
“I could see 45 teams, not a problem,” USL Pro vice president Jake Edwards recently told SBI. “If it trends that most MLS teams want to do a second team (and) I suspect it would trend that way just because of what they want to accomplish: four, five, six players on loan vs. a roster of 30 that you’re much more involved in. I think that’s your advantage to do that, but it won’t be for everybody.
“You factor in the number of MLS teams that might do that. We’re growing at a rate where for every MLS team that comes in there’s at least that or more kind of independent teams, so we have this balance all the time.”
With MLS continuing to grow, so must USL Pro, which has already gone from 11 teams in 2012 to 24 in 2015.
The two leagues entered a multi-year agreement back in 2013 that allowed MLS clubs to integrate their reserve teams into the USL Pro schedule. The LA Galaxy were the first to do so, launching LA Galaxy II last year, and now seven other clubs have followed suit ahead of the 2015 campaign.
More are expected to do the same in the coming years, though Edwards does envision all MLS teams creating their own third-division sides due to the number of requirements that need to be met. From stadium standards to needing dedicated marketing and ticket sales staff, a fair investment is needed to join USL Pro.
“The ones that are coming in now are doing it. They’re going to build an 8,000-seat stadium for the second team, so that’s great to see,” said Edwards. “It’s a bit organic. There’s no one-size-fits-all and where we are next year and the year after might not be where we are now in terms of who’s doing what. Some teams are looking at independent guys owning and operating the business, and the teams will just come and outfit the whole technical side.
“That’s more akin to the model that’s seen in some of the other U.S. sports, so we’ll see how it shakes up.”
What also remains to be seen is how USL Pro handles this sizable growth, though it is clearly welcoming more expansion – there’s even an ‘Expansion Opportunities’ tab on the league’s website – to help in its pursuit of Division II status.
The amount of games in the regular season and conference alignment are almost certain to change in USL Pro with the introduction of so many more MLS-owned teams, but handling that in a league that could be among the world’s largest in size would present plenty of challenges.
One possible solution could be the addition of another conference or two, and another could be the introduction of promotion and relegation within USL Pro. The latter would be interesting given that there is a loud chorus of soccer fans in the United States and Canada that want to see that system implemented throughout all the divisions, from MLS to NASL to USL Pro.
Regardless of which direction USL Pro ultimately takes, the league’s focus right now lies in trying to build local rivalries. That’s a page out of MLS’s book, and something that was made clear by the two-conference alignment that was unveiled on Wednesday for the 2015 season.
“We try to build a network here where our teams and our supporters can travel shorter distances and get to (games in) six hours or less on a bus and go watch their team,” said Edwards. “That makes sense for lower-league football. You don’t need to be flying all over the country. It doesn’t work. I could see a day where there’s maybe three conferences. We’re not far from that now if we wanted to do that. Whether there’s divisions – north, south, whatever – within each. We’ll see how it shakes out.”
While the ultimate goals are to not only grow USL Pro and help the development of players not yet ready to contribute at the MLS level, the benefits are already starting to be seen.
Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer is an example of a player who used games in the third division as a launching pad for bigger and better things in MLS. He finished second in MLS in scoring in 2014 with 22 goals, just a year after spending a chunk of the 2013 season playing on loan in USL Pro rather than rotting on the bench in Kansas City.
It’s that type of story that has USL Pro feeling good about itself. The league knows it is already contributing in regards to growing the game in the United States and Canada, and expects to do so even more in the coming years as more and more teams enter the fray.
“(We’re) just seeing the bar go higher and higher every year,” said Edwards. “The quality on the field’s great, the players coming into this league get better and better … the product on the field is going well, the coaching now we’re really working hard to bring the level of play up and the level of the coaches up. We’re getting a lot of guys with great experience in MLS, at the international level, that are looking for that opportunity as a head coach. There’s only so many head-coaching positions in the MLS, so these guys are seeing it as an opportunity.
“It’s just a real aspirational league and that’s what’s attracting a lot of players, coaches, owners into it. You can get in there and really make something of yourself. It’s for us now to keep the wheels on the bus. To go from 14 to 24 teams (is impressive) and we’ve got some great groups in the pipeline now for ’16 and beyond, so it’s going to keep growing.”
I just love the way the how the MLS and USL Pro are going about in expanding soccer here in the U.S.
usl pro is the de-facto second tier in us soccer pyramid imo.
nasl is third.
I don’t see pro/rel in this country, not in our sports psyche. MLB with the various A,AA,AAA minor league teams is where this going to be end up.
Plus the American version of pro/rel is the team moving to another city or just folding…
good stuff. looking forward to how this evolves. really like the idea of regional leagues with lower travel times.
45 teams is a great benchmark to shoot for. I can see a lot more if all 24 MLS teams enter an in-house reserve/u23 team, ie SKC2 and OKC Energy; Union2 and Harrisburg
its a big country and a lot of good soccer players.
If you get that many teams you could still flirt w/ pro/reg. Keep Conferences for the lower division single table for 1st division. Playoff system for promotion. Maybe even a playoff for relegation. If you can’t financially handle promotion you deny it…
Lots of issues could arise though with denying promotion or needing to self relegate due to funds. Would be tricky but fun to see.
Best part of the conference system is it has already opened up funds for clubs. My club, Orange County, is already starting to up their marketing campaign and building up their front office. Wish we new all the details a bit earlier so they would have more time to prep for the season opener.
Nice to see soccer grow and earn power. For instance, I would love MLS to have 28 teams and if MLS magic number is 30 or 32 then have some sort of promotion and relegation, which I know there has to be a stable division 2 and owners have to agree BUT MLS can have a total different pro/rel in which MLS don’t go down.
Another very important thing, if uslpro keep expanding which to me they will always be division3, why doesn’t MLS buy out NASL or create their own MLS2 by inviting teams from NASL and uslpro and making new teams.
Now, how many teams can MLS handle I say 28 to 32. Uslpro, I say 30 to 45 and NASL or any division 24. The sad part, MLS doesn’t believe in division2 or wants one.
I think they do believe in division2 and they seem to be placing their bets on USL being that division. With their youngsters playing in USL, MLS fans are going to pay attention to USL as well to watch the up and comers. NASL is the forgotten division in my mind.
This would be a great step forward. 45 or more teams is definitely feasible if you eventually have 24 MLS reserve sides. Further regionalization can mitigate travel costs. This will fill a huge gap in our development system.
+1
Interesting development. Germany is allowing its clubs to no longer field U-23 teams. Usually attendance is very low for these reserve teams and I’m curious to see how MLS reserves will do. In my mind, Columbus should not have a second team (should they set up their own USL Pro side) in town but I could see them playing in Cleveland.
Not a fan of the promotion-relegation idea as travel costs need to be considered and regional leagues/divisions would allow fans to attend more road games.
Looks like Sacramento Republic FC is going to have to win this thing again. We’re also going “shatter”, yes shatter, the USL Pro attendance record again. We’re expanding from 8,000 seats to 11,500. And we have most of entire team still intact. And we already have a youth academy setting up so San Jose can claim Sacramento talent has homegrown players (cough Tommy Thompson).
Good luck, hope to see Sacramento in MLS soon. Would be well deserved.
Agreed! 4 MLS teams in CA seems overkill…. but logistics wise you could see San Jose-Sacramento and LAG-LA2 rivalries taking hold of norcal/socal fanbases pretty quickly.
how is 4 teams overkill? They have had up to 4 NFL (maybe again soon), 5 NBA, 5 MLB teams.
San Diego, LA, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland
Four MLS teams sounds great, the could probably support 5 or even 6.
NASL is almost becoming a rogue league if USL keeps pushing like this.
They should just merge. Not sure what the point is of remaining separate.
$$$
That’s what.
Given all the bad blood between the two leagues and all the history, I don’t see that merger thing being a realistic possibility anytime in the near future.
Not to mention the NASL and USL disagree on the what they want to be and how they view themselves and their respective futures.
I have been thinking this for several years now. I am not convinced that the NASL level of play is higher than USL. I just don’t know what is going on with the future of NASL so I find it hard to invest my time in a team. That is the reason I never got fully into San Antonio Scorpions even though they are near by. Luckily, my Austin Aztex are back in USL PRO this year.
But wasn’t the whole second versus third division bit arbitrary between competing leagues at the time. Someone with a rules bug up their *** said we had to establish a pyramid and a choice was made. But with competing leagues and no pro/rel qualitative distinctions basically boil down to who offers the better product and is more financially sustainable. USL has combined the wise MLS linkup with what I see as a more risky business strategy of rapid expansion.
I think the “II” teams are a good development choice but I am interested to see if it’s economically feasible. Teams abroad tend to treat it less like a ticket selling direct profit business and more like a loss leader that can contribute to the first team bottom line, and can make back some money if players are sold. Americans have moved away from sports teams as civic investment, or conglomerates where a money maker offsets a money loser that you just like to have…….a book publisher, a movie studio…..part of the reason everything is a sequel now, it’s expected to make its own money and not be an artistic offset against profits from the cable and internet divisions, so to speak. So I’ll be interested if after a few years we put up with the teams not making a profit for the greater good.
“to help in its pursuit of Division II status”
Interesting
Also interesting: “I could see 45 teams, not a problem,” USL Pro vice president Jake Edwards recently told SBI.”
I definitely think this is headed in a minor league baseball direction. There’s 200+ MiLB teams for example. There’s bound to be more people paying attention to USL when their teams’ prospects are growing and playing in USL. Not sure how it will work out, but I definitely have more interest in USL than NASL because I get to watch the MLS youngsters play before I then watch them in MLS.
I could definitely see some merging of NASL/USL or USL simply overtaking NASL in popularity and moving up the ladder. I’m still not sure pro-rel would work if one league is full of farm teams, do you really want your farm team moving up and down divisions? But I definitely like the path USL is on.
Spain and Germany have “farm teams” and pro/rel. Barca B can promote, just not to the top level.
“Reserve teams in Spain play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. They must play at least one level below their main side, however, so Barcelona B is ineligible for promotion to La Liga and cannot play in the Copa del Rey.” -wiki_