USL Overwhelming Votes “Yes” to Promotion / Relegation | OneFootball

So if you follow the social media you’d have seen a bunch of xeets, grams and skys screaming from on high this news. And it’s big news. The USL will formally adopt a three-tier pyramid of soccer that has promotion and relegation within the league structure.

Now let’s check the fine print.

First, this is NOT the first league to implement promotion and relegation up or down a league. The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) has been doing it for years, with teams moving up or down between their Premier and Division 1 tiers. What IS different, is that this is the first time a TOP tier professional league has agreed to support this structure.

Second, this structure does not take effect until the launch of the USL Tier 1 division in 2028. There’s still a LOT of time for the ownership elite to get cold feet and water it down, or render it toothless. That’s my cynical side talking.

Still, the fact that the owners themselves voted for it groundbreaking, at least here in the U.S. where the norm is still the closed league with ludicrously high costs to enter. Hell, San Diego FC owners had to pony up half a BILLION dollars for their MLS franchise.

What Does This Mean for U.S. Soccer?

The decision announced earlier this year to grant the USL a top tier, division one league ON PAR with the MLS did raise one big question, namely, how would the new league distinguish itself? Well, promotion and relegation goes a LONG way.

When you look at USL clubs like Sacramento Republic or Indy Eleven, both of whom tried and failed to secure MLS franchises, this new system is a sunburst from the clouds accompanied by angelic music. Finally they can EARN their way into the top through merit, not money.

For fans, it means there’s so much more on the line than a cup that gathers dust in some cabinet. They will have something at stake. Of course, some will get the highs and some will get the lows, but that’s all part of the love of the game. If you’re supporting a club just because they’re winners, that’s not fandom. It’s bandwagoning.

So I say huzzah to the USL oligarchs who have voted to not ensure the sanctity of their monied towers, and elected to put a proper soccer league in this country.