USL builds better mousetrap for US soccer with plans for new D1
As Alexi Lalas once said, “There is nothing stopping others from trying to build a better mousetrap.” Based on preliminary details announced Thursday, the United Soccer League (USL) may have unlocked that mousetrap with a plan to launch a USL Premier League division in 2027 as a Division I league, pending approval from the US Soccer Federation.
If USL can pull it off and implement a system of promotion and relegation between its leagues, it’ll give the majority of soccer fans in the United States something it has been craving for decades: A logical organizational structure for the sport, i.e. a pyramid.
No Major League Soccer (MLS) teams would be part of the pyramid. Besides, MLS owners would never agree to a system of promotion and relegation despite Commissioner Don Garber’s history of moving the goalposts on the topic. Major League Soccer’s game plan is to continue operating as a closed super league of North American teams.
USL’s announcement opens the door to a brighter future for the sport in the U.S.
USL’s announcement, while not yet agreeing to adopt promotion and relegation, gives hope to soccer fans in the United States that it can be included.
“I think I speak for every true soccer fan in the United States that we would hope and pray for promotion and relegation in this country,” said Sporting JAX Chief Community Officer Tony Allegretti on The Sporting Pod. “When it finally does happen, it thrills me that somewhere we will be in that system.”
Sporting JAX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, plans to launch a men’s team in USL during 2026.
If a team has no opportunity to reach the top tier, what’s the point of existence?
And if a team can join the top tier like MLS with an investment of $500 million or more, does it no longer become a sport but purely a business decision? Where’s the fun in that?
USL D1 announcement is the kick up the backside MLS needed
If USL can pull off its plan to launch the new top-tier division in 2027, it’ll give MLS a much-needed kick up the backside. Monopolies often prevent innovation, so if USL can become a stronger competitor to MLS, that’s to the benefit of soccer across the entire United States.
It gives hope to smaller cities across the United States that a team could move up the leagues to the top tier. Currently, that dream doesn’t exist, which prevents investment at the local level. It also limits player growth, which certainly hurts the US Men’s National Team.
Looking at MLS from a 50,000-foot view, the top-flight American league is thriving with record attendances, the 2025 launch of MLS’ 30th team, as well as signing well-known stars such as Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Marco Reus.
Therefore, if you live in a MLS city, you’ll enjoy the benefits of seeing your local team play against decent opposition. With MLS only in 27 cities in the United States, that means the rest of us, i.e. the vast majority of people in this country, have no local MLS to support.
Without a local MLS team, soccer fans are then faced with a choice of figuring out which league to watch on TV and/or streaming, or supporting a local team — if you have one — in USL or a different lower league. With dozens of leagues from around the world to choose from that are more accessible to viewers in the United States across television and streaming options, this is where MLS and club soccer in the United States fall flat.
It’s not necessarily the quality of these other foreign leagues that’s the reason why they’re more popular than MLS. Instead, MLS’ major flaw is that it doesn’t give viewers enough reasons to watch the league.
What’s missing from MLS
In almost every other soccer league around the world, the key components that keep fans enthralled for the majority of the season are missing from MLS:
– A system where every game matters
– A league season that has suspense from game one through the last match
– Sporting merit, and
– Jeopardy, i.e. promotion and relegation
USL’s plans, while preliminary, have a lot of key ingredients in place to be a success, and to give soccer fans in the United States a reason to believe as well as hopefully a local team to support. A fan of Liverpool FC living in any town in the United States would be open to supporting his local team if there was a pyramid where that team could rise to the top.
That is enticing not only to local US soccer fans but also to foreign investors who are looking for an opportunity to invest in a market where the cost of entry isn’t half a billion dollars.