America’s largest professional soccer organisation, the United Soccer League (USL), has announced plans to launch a new league to rival MLS.
The new league will begin at the start of the 2027/28 season and be on the same professional tier as Major League Soccer, but there will be no crossover. There is a possibility that teams from both leagues could eventually end up in the same competitions, such as the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and they already sometimes meet in the US Open Cup, but the leagues will remain independent of each other.
It will be the first time the USA has been home to more than one D-I status league, and it’s great news for soccer clubs and fans who are not located in the biggest urban areas in the country.
Here’s a run down of what is happening.
What is D-I Status?
D-I stands for Division 1 status, which refers to the highest level of professional soccer sanctioned by a governing body.
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is the governing body of soccer in America. They have the power to grant a league D-I status, but in order to be considered, leagues have to meet certain criteria.
The USSF needs any potential D-I league to meet the following conditions:
- Market Size: At least 75% of teams must be in metropolitan areas with at least 1 million people. The remaining 25% can be from less densely populated areas.
- Stadium Size: Must meet minimum seating capacity requirements of 15,000.
- Financial Viability: Teams must have strong ownership with minimum net worth thresholds. A principal owner with a minimum of a 35% stake needs a net worth of at least $40m, while a group of owners need a combined net worth of $70m or more. You would need a heck of a lot more than that to form an MLS expansion club.
- Geographic Distribution: Teams must be spread across the country to ensure national representation.
- Minimum Number of Teams: The league must have at least 12 teams to start, expanding to 14 within 3 years.
It is expected that most teams currently playing in the USL Championship will want to step up to the new Division 1. There might be a bit of jostling in terms of who meets the requirements and who doesn’t, but this will be ironed out on a case by case basis, and USL will be inviting applications from new clubs too. I can’t imagine them struggling to fill the 12 spots required to satisfy the USSF.
Currently, only MLS has D-I status, but there is nothing to stop another league obtaining it. It’s an important symbol of legitimacy because the likes of FIFA recognise D-I status, and it helps leagues to attract more commercial sponsorship and better players.
How the New League Structure Will Work
The proposed league structure is as follows:
- USL Division 1 – The new league and top tier
- USL Championship – The current top tier of USL which will become the second tier
- USL League 1 – The current second tier of USL which will become the third tier
Plus, in a major coup for American soccer, the USL will implement a promotion and relegation system. This will create an interconnected, three-tier professional pathway for clubs and players alike. It will also make the league more exciting for fans by introducing drama at the bottom of the table as well as the top, not to mention bringing USL in line with global soccer norms.
I have written about the chances of MLS introducing promotion and relegation before, but it’s highly unlikely to happen there. It’s just not a concept that American sports ever embraced, and franchise owners who have paid hundreds of millions to join MLS would never agree to the possibility of being relegated.
However, an important difference between MLS and USL is the clubs playing within the USL structure are all independently owned, whereas MLS runs as a single entity model.
This allows each USL club to have their own business model based on their individual goals and ambitions, so relegation and promotion has been welcomed by all existing USL clubs. Around 90% of them voted in favour of it because they know it is what fans want, and happy fans are good for business.
Players will be able to move between leagues as they can now, which could be another interesting dynamic.
Why a New League?
The USL was founded in 1986, pre-dating MLS by a decade, so it’s a completely different organization.
However, they have always played second fiddle to Major League Soccer, and despite stating that they aren’t attempting to compete with MLS, there must be an element of that in this decision.
Officially, USL have said they want to create a league with the same status as MLS in order to give more clubs and communities the chance to play at the top level. It would allow more mid-sized markets to compete, which could see more clubs forming in some of the states with sparser populations.
That’s the other aim, they want to promote soccer across America. The whole of it, not just in the most populated areas, in order to broaden the sport’s reach. Towns and cities with fewer potential fans and ticket buyers, and owners who don’t have the money to pay the astronomical MLS expansion fees, will now get a look in.
A step forward.
➡️ https://t.co/JIsvhD5Ezg pic.twitter.com/PkqxtIFnIg
— United Soccer League (@USL_HQ) February 13, 2025
The demand from fans is certainly there.
The popularity of soccer is skyrocketing in the US. Many MLS games regularly sell out and soccer is attracting more new fans than any other sport in the country. Perhaps even more encouraging, is the fact youth participation is increasing exponentially. This is something else USL are keen to promote. They want this new league to create a pathway for more youngsters to go from youth teams to the highest level of professional soccer, which will benefit the national game too.
This boom in popularity is not all down to MLS either. The USL is contributing to this too. There are more than 300 clubs playing as part of USL, and in 2024, the USL Championship final enjoyed a league-record 431,000 TV viewers. Creating a top division in the USL will only increase interest in the USL leagues.
The future of soccer in America certainly seems secure.
Impact on MLS
Initially, MLS probably don’t have anything to worry about here. However, if USL’s new league is a success, it could become the more popular of the two as time goes on.
The drama associated with relegation battles is sure to hold the attention of supporters, and the independent club ownership model allows for a deeper community connection than the corporate feel of MLS clubs under the single entity. This is what creates multi-generational support from a fan base. Real club loyalty.
The big test will come when players begin to choose USL teams over MLS teams. If that happens, of course. MLS clubs will likely have more money to throw around than USL clubs, and players will usually follow the money. However, it only takes one USL club to get the finance together to bring in the next David Beckham or Lionel Messi, and the floodgates will be opened.
If and when this happens, MLS could have a battle for dominance on their hands. Sponsorship money could divert to USL, youth talent may opt for non MLS clubs and dilute the talent pool, fans may choose to buy tickets for USL matches of MLS ones if they are played at the same time. There would be a lot to fight for.
If USL does start to win market share over Major League Soccer, they may even be forced into changing their structure in order to compete. In an extreme version of events, we could see the two organisation merge. It would take an awful lot for that to happen though.
Of course, it’s perfectly plausible that both leagues run alongside one another very happily. After all, European leagues with D-I status do just fine. There are around 400 European D-I clubs in a geographical area not dissimilar in size to America, which currently only has the 30 MLS teams at D-I level. The population in Europe is double that of America, but even then, you would need 200 D-I teams in the US for that to be a fair comparison.
USL’s new league could even make for some interesting rivalries with MLS clubs in trophy competitions. They would be representing their league as well as their club, city/town, and fans, adding another layer to fixtures.
The impact on MLS might be big, it might be small, but this new league will have an impact nonetheless.