Interesting how they're hoping this will keep their teams from getting poached or crowded out by MLS.

I watch a bit of USL but not a ton. I guess they've run the numbers and think this will help generate more revenue for the league and teams.

If a League is going to make this move and be successful, I would think the USL is set up for it. They already have 3 divisions, no? Adding Pro/Rel to the operation should create added interest at all 3 levels of competition.

They have two, Championship and League One. They would add a third if this passes.

10-4, thanks for the correction. I thought they had 3 levels already (Championship, League 1 & League 2).

carl spacklers hat said:

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10-4, thanks for the correction. I thought they had 3 levels already (Championship, League 1 & League 2).

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It's confusing. I thought the same thing initially. They have 3 tiers, but League 2 is pre-professional. The pro-rel discussion is among the Championship and League 1 professional tiers. Padhz is correct though that they would add a 3rd professional tier.

That's right, forgot about USL2.

Why they can't just figure out a way to make that part of the professional platform I don't know.

College kids play in USL2. It's more like a summer league. They'd lose their amateur status even in the NIL days if USL2 went professional.

Pahdz said:

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https://theathletic.com/4684339/2023/07/11/usl-promotion-relegation-system/?source=user_shared_article

Love it, would definitely differentiate themselves

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Ha, Louisville just built $100 million stadium for the men's and women's team (NWSL). I'm sure they have hopes of being recognized for moving to MLS at some point. Imagine if they spent all that money and then got relegated to USL1. That'd be a disaster for them AND the USL. Insane they're considering promotion/relegation with all this soccer expansion going on.

If I were USL, I'd be trying to dominate all the lower levels of pro and semi-pro soccer in the USSF system and build from the bottom up by collecting transfer fees for it's clubs as kids move up the pyramid to make money all around.