Promotion-Relegation Coming to American Professional Soccer, per Report | OneFootball

Promotion and Relegation is coming to American professional soccer for the first time, according to a report from The Athletic's Paul Tenorio.

The United Soccer Leagues (USL), representing American professional soccer's second and third tiers, voted to add promotion-relegation to their system. Currently, it is set up with the USL Championship featuring 24 teams and the third-tier USL League One featuring 14 teams.

Many teams are in non-MLS markets, allowing cities a cheaper point of entry for owners and a separate set-up to the 30-team top division. In February, the USL also applied to U.S. Soccer for first-division status, aiming to establish USL Premier, which would be classified as a first division alongside MLS.

If the USL Premier becomes a reality, it will likely have promotion and relegation through three divisions in the USL Championship and USL League 1. At the same time, MLS remains a separate single-entity structure.

As things currently stand, the USSF has strict requirements for professional club standards at each tier, with the top tier needing 12 teams across more than one time zone and stadiums above 15,000. 75% of clubs must also be located within a city with over 1,000,000 people.

It is unclear when promotion and relegation may be introduced to the USL. Still, the vote clearly indicates the desire to continue shaping the American soccer system beyond MLS, which is structured like other top North American professional leagues without fluid divisions.

While the system may come to the U.S. soon, don’t expect to see Inter Miami or other MLS clubs sent down to the second division. Given lofty expansion fees, franchise values, and ownership structure, MLS is extremely unlikely to adopt another system.

However, the league and its owners will be watching closely, especially after recently dealing with a lawsuit with the North American Soccer League, a previous professional circuit with first-division status, which accused MLS and U.S. Soccer of colluding against them.

The USL Championship and League 1 schedules began on March 8 and continue through their regular seasons until late October.