USL to vote on adopting promotion, relegation system: Sources

The USL is set for a milestone vote on the adoption of a promotion and relegation system in its lower-division men’s soccer structure, sources briefed on the plans tell The Athletic. The sources, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the vote before it takes place, are optimistic the vote will be passed, but it is not considered a certainty.

Owners will vote on whether to proceed toward the new competitive structure at the USL’s board of governors meetings, set to take place Aug. 9-10 in Colorado Springs, Colo. If enacted, the USL would be the first open professional league system in modern U.S. soccer history.

The vote will not be on a specific and finalized framework for promotion and relegation, the sources said. Rather, the topic up for a vote will confirm whether ownership at the leagues’ clubs has enough collective interest to merit further work toward implementing an open system among the USL’s professional competitions.

A USL spokesperson declined to comment when reached by The Athletic.

The upcoming vote culminates work that publicly began in earnest at the USL’s 2021 mid-year meetings, when the organization formally proposed working toward incorporating promotion and relegation between its second-division Championship and third-division League One.

A move to an open system is seen by those in favor as a way to boost interest, sustainability and growth potential in the lower-division landscape of American soccer given the format’s increased stakes at both ends of the table.

“If you somehow think continuing on our current trajectory will make us competitive and where we all want to be, you’re fooling yourself,” one USL owner told The Athletic. “The reality is MLS will destroy USL long-term (on our current trajectory). But if USL successfully adopts pro/rel and can get division one sanctioning (for the top level), it’ll be transformed.”

The USL was founded in 1986 and established the second-division sanctioned Championship in 2011 and third-division League One in 2019. Although it previously included MLS affiliate clubs among its ranks for nearly a decade, 2023 marks the first year without any “MLS 2” teams or a formal relation of any kind with the U.S. and Canada’s first-division men’s league.

While the specifics of the plan are still up for deliberation before being finalized, the league is exploring creating an additional tier between the Championship and League One’s current standing; expansion teams may step into this new middle tier pending payment of fees greater than those necessary for entry into League One. One source said the current asking fee for entry into League One is around $5 million.

Sporting merit would dictate some clubs dropping from the Championship to the new circuit. One source said they were not aware of any way in which a pre-existing club could move up or down the initial pyramid beyond on-field performance. This would eliminate the potential for an existing League One club to buy their way into the levels above them.

Creating a third tier for professional USL clubs is seen as a crucial step for a successful model.

“You can’t call this a true promotion and relegation model if only one league has promotion and the other league has relegation,” one source said. “There wouldn’t be enough at stake.”

Pending interest and the ensuing vote, the new three-level structure could be implemented as soon as 2024; alternatively, next season could be used to determine which clubs will be at which level of the newly split Championship.

“USL is in a great position because it can adopt promotion/relegation,” said one USL owner. “MLS have backed themselves into a corner because how do you tell San Diego that they’re going to pay $500 million dollars (for an expansion fee) and maybe will get relegated?”

There are questions about how the league would look to capitalize on a format that is more commonly used in global soccer. Specifically, one source wondered if they would see a shift to promotion and relegation as being “enough” to differentiate from MLS, rather than a springboard to boost the league’s prominence both domestically and abroad.

It could also be at odds with the USL’s increased focus on developing and selling young players if clubs have further incentive to prioritize winning over all else. In recent years, USL players have been sold to international clubs like Real Sociedad (Jonathan Gómez), Benfica (Joshua Wynder) and Reims (Kobi Henry). However, one ownership source believes it would increase the value of potential TV contracts as well as sports betting interest, which could add revenue. Another speculated that casual fans of the sport would have another incentive to begin following the USL if teams could rise and fall among the leagues for greater entertainment intrigue.

“Promotion/relegation is truly one of the best constructs in pro sports, full stop,” said one owner. “I believe that it would take USL to a completely new level.”

Any change to the competition would almost certainly need to be ratified by the USL Players Association following the landmark first collective-bargaining agreements in U.S. lower division soccer history in 2021 and 2022.

“Promotion/relegation is an original and inherent part of the professional soccer framework around the world, but given the different economic foundation and infrastructure of American professional sports leagues, implementing a promotion/relegation system in a rational manner in the U.S. has presented a conundrum,” the USLPA said in a statement provided to The Athletic. “Given that it is an ecosystem with multiple leagues and divisions, the USL is positioned to make history and introduce promotion/relegation to North American professional soccer. That said, there are many issues yet to be navigated and negotiated and we look forward to having the league approach and engage the USL Players Association in meaningful discussions.”

Those 2021 meetings in which league brass first pitched club owners on promotion and relegation also included a mention of exploring a calendar shift to an August-to-May format more customary in Europe. However, a source said they weren’t aware of any progress toward that change, and that it was unlikely to be voted on next month. A second source said they expect at least a preliminary design for a potential interleague cup competition to involve (at minimum) the soon-to-be three professional levels of the USL pyramid.

There are additional questions about how a change toward promotion and relegation would fit into the U.S. Soccer pyramid. Currently, professional soccer leagues (and their teams) are held to the USSF Professional League Standards. These baselines are composed of a host of factors, including the size of a majority of its markets, a primary club owner’s wealth and investment, stadium size, geographic spread, and base licensure requirements for coaches.

Those standards were last updated in February 2014; currently, no provision within the 12-page document spells out how a club that earns promotion (or relegation) on sporting merit can be eased into stricter requirements if they aren’t initially met. It’s unclear whether the USL would be looking to sanction its highest level as a competing first division or run two second- or third-division sanctioned leagues by launching this additional league.

“Pro/rel, on its own, isn’t a magic bullet,” one source said. “Pro/rel can be done effectively and ineffectively. We’re still in the throes of making sure we understand the minutiae of how it would work, and also what we should expect from a lift perspective. At the end of the day, these are all businesses and we’ve got to make sure we have an eye on what the opportunity is, if any, in growing the league and the clubs.”