An open system for soccer in the U.S. offers the kind of competition previously unavailable – and exactly the move the USL needed
So, it was always going to happen. At some point, American soccer was going to have to cave. Promotion-relegation has always been tied to the concept of legitimacy in the wider soccer consciousness. Closed systems, we are told, aren't the way that this sport works. Teams must have the jeopardy of failure – or potential glory of success – to truly compete. This is, after all, what football looks like.
And the USL was the first American soccer league to jump, announcing Wednesday that the league will move towards a fully-fledged promotion-relegation system concurrently with the start of their Division One league in either the 2027 or 2028 season.
It seems the right thing to do.
So much about the USL is based on concepts of disruption and innovation. This is not a setup supposed to compete with MLS – it doesn't have the clout or finances to do so. The natural solution, then, is to differentiate their product. Why not smack a big fat European label on this all? Surely, it's a way to separate themselves from the big-money, franchise model that has come to dominate MLS.
Right now, it's the absolute right thing to do. The USL is an interesting product that exists in a unique space. There are no massive pressures brought about by TV deals – although that might need to change as the league seeks increased revenues. And with a Division One league also on the way, it's a natural move that could pave the way to something bigger.
The "need" for Pro-Rel
It has been the thing that American soccer has tried to avoid for ages now – and the key point of dissenting evidence for the detractors. The OG NASL didn't have promotion and relegation and MLS has been consistently asked on whether or not the league will introduce promotion and relegation.
What is the point of this whole thing if there's no penalty for being bad? Of course, that is a simplistic argument. MLS has playoffs, and a trophy at the end of it all. There is no point pretending that it is anything like a European system. MLS is, effectively, a version of any other American sport, only played with a kicked ball rather than one tossed 50 yards, chucked into a hoop, or cracked with a wooden bat. That's the point.
But the skeptics – more accurately, the European snobs – have always viewed that with a sense of indignation. MLS isn't as good as the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, or Ligue 1, there's no punitive measure for a poor season? In the soccer traditionalist's view, what's the point?
AdvertisementAFPThe onus is on the owners
Well, the USL approaches that question in full. There is now jeopardy in the games that would otherwise be a summertime snooze. Teams can no longer afford to rot in mediocrity or accept losses. It is not as if professional athletes will suddenly wake up and start trying on a hot night in Charleston.
Instead, owners will now have to respond. Teams that were happy rotting are now forced to inject cash – or risk the drop. Smaller markets such as Hartford, Loudoun, Monterey, and El Paso will be forced to adjust.
That does present some problems for owners, though. This is not Europe, where the vast majority of owners are willing to do at least enough to avoid catastrophe. Nor is it MLS, where the average franchise is worth $721 million and the league has a model that ensures that teams have a safety net against financial ruin.
USL ownership groups might need to look elsewhere for cash. They might even been incentivized to sell. Would-be investors seem to benefit here, too, with the opportunity to buy low, take a risk, and spend their way to success in a league that seems to be on the rise.
Either way, more money will simply have to come in.
(C)Getty ImagesWhy clubs can still survive
And the beauty of this all lies in the fact that the USL isn't flush with cash like the rest of the footballing world. There is no over-arching television deal. Parachute payments – the astronomical injections of cash into English clubs to offset the massive hit of relegation, reported to be a package around $135 million – won't be needed here. As of now, the USL does not have a TV deal significant enough to bring about massive revenues (although the Championship game, broadcast on CBS, did draw 431,000 viewers.)
It's a major reason the league believes an open system is a real option.
"We don't have huge national revenues, so the local revenue is going to stay somewhat the same," USL President and Chief Soccer Operator Paul McDonough told GOAL. "Because what we find with our clubs, the fans support their local club. And we can have a team that finishes in towards the bottom of a league, and they're still getting five or 6,000 people."
Put more simply, there is no immediate fiscal consequence for relegation – not right now, at least. This is, in theory, all brought about by sporting merit alone. The only punishment for going down, at this point, is the shame that comes with it, and the likely loss of quality of players that will come as a result.
“We don’t have that type of jeopardy,” McDonough told Sports Business Journal. “It’s all still very much at this stage, early in our existence, dependent on local revenues.”
Owners were ultimately convinced that being relegated wouldn’t have a significant impact on gameday revenues. McDonough said it’s unclear for now what impact promotion and relegation would have on the league’s expansion process and fees to join USL.
ImagnThe feel good aspect
And among this all there remains the charm of the story. The best parts of European football are so often the feel-good bits. The top ends of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga are so far removed from their lower counterparts that it almost feels robotic, devoid of meaning. Manchester City won the English top flight again? So what?
The real stories that live long in the memory of fans are the one-offs, the times when odds were defied to go up from one division to another. Ipswich and Luton playing in the Premier League in recent years, for example, are some of the better narratives in sports. The same can be said for Leicester's improbable Premier League triumph in 2016.
Look further down the English football pyramid and similar moments stand out: Everton fans storming the pitch after avoiding relegation in 2023. Troy Deeney sent Vicarage Road into raptures with a stoppage-time winner to lift Watford into the Championship playoff final.
It is, partially, why the Americanized stories of Welcome to Wrexham and Ted Lasso stand out. Wrexham have been promoted in two straight seasons – with a third likely to come. Lasso tackled the realities of promotion and relegation in a humorous frame. It's what made everything so captivating.
