Amazing potential here. How USL performs long term against the MLS may be on the upward trend by this move. Relegation/promotion may be a way that FCS/G6 separate themselves from P2 long term as well.
Also, pretty cool that the local Louisiana Krewe FC has a chance to get promoted to larger league. Wonder if that will eventually help with their attendance. Would have been nice to make sure the renovated Cajun Field could accommodate pro soccer.
Since Maggard is desperate for “alternative” revenue streams, maybe it’s time to heavily support Krewe. Help them sell their games to the public and get butts in seats at the complex.
I’m so pumped about this. I think this will boost the USL big time. I don’t think the MLS will go away, but I do think this will eventually force them to merge with the USL somehow down the line.
The Krewe is in USL 2. As of now, it is still a developmental league and will not participate in the Pro/Rel. That could change in the future though.
They finished last in USL 1 last season. They play ina 4000 seat municipal football stadium. Their attendance is about what we have for baseball. All we would need is a few local sponsors to make investments and start promoting the Krewe more. If the USL governing body sees a developmental club growing and making an effort, they would likely be favorable to expansion. They only have 14 clubs in USL 1.
Since I’m a season ticket holder for FC Cincinnati I am fully immersed within the MLS/US soccer community… and one of the biggest reason the American Euro Snob MLS haters are against trying to support their own country’s league(s) is because there is no Pro/Rel. Would love nothing more than to remember the story Louisiana Krew to rising from a grassroots campaign into pure domination.
However, in my opinion, I love the Pro/Rel concept as it prevents tanking and good drama for bad teams. Unfortunately Practically…I don’t think it will work in the US for to many reasons.
The MLS has a foothold in just about every major city/large market with a rapidly growing fan base by the year with some excepting it to pass the NHL in the coming years in terms of popularity as they are seeing around 30% viewership growth YoY and 11 million in attendance. The USL is mostly made up of small to medium sized markets and while their philosophy is based more around community and wanting be more like a European ran systems they simply cannot compete with MLS are they are already decades behind with the significant amount of investments MLS has made as mostly recently with San Diego FC spending over HALF A BILLION to join MLS. It is essentially like the USL/XFL/AFL trying to compete with the NFL. MLS will do everything in their power to stop USL from growing to a point where they directly compete with MLS.
“Well, why doesn’t USL merge/Partner with MLS? - Since MLS operates as a single entity meaning all teams are owned by MLS and each franchisee really is just an investor into MLS as all revenue is owned by MLS. Essentially investors wanting a team in their city just give MLS more money for them to add a team in their city vs Creating a team and then paying a fee to join the League and the team still controls the revenue if that makes sense?.. If it came to a vote to merge the USL with MLS it will never be approved because there literally would be no financial benefit from it from a financial standpoint for the current investors to add the possibly of a team being relegated. If a team got demoted it would be a significant revenue loss for MLS with the investors feeling their investment was undermined a club or program but also would result in waisted capitol and infrastructure (Like UL did with the south EZ project) or their funds going to support a lower-level club with significantly less financial stability. In Europe hundreds of teams either fold or reform a year because their team could get out of a lower level or a higher level team dropped down too many divisions to fast. I personally think most US investors would be scared of that level of risk.
Lastly, this is not Europe. Every other league in America is a closed system league. MLB, NHL and the NBA all have a minor league system and essentially have the infrastructure already in place to be able to do Pro/Rel but no one ever says that they should implement a pro/rel system into their leagues nor has it every been voted on , so what makes soccer different? Additionally, sports culture is different in the US compared to Europe. In the US when their teams start to suck attendance and support falls off a cliff while teams in the second and third divisions of European leagues will continue to be near or at MAX capacity which would still drive a lot of revenue for the programs…. that just simply doesn’t happen in the US as most fans are accustomed to being to fair weather. It would be like UL football getting demoted to FCS and then Division 2 and still expect the attendance they have in FCS (which is already bad lol).
In My opinion PRO/Rel was just an excuse for people not to watch soccer in America. USL I think will continue to have it’s struggles with the small clubs constantly folding and joining. Certainly, a massive risk for the league but could pay off but I believe it will be a very long time before they can catch up to MLS IF it’s even possible as MLS is also in a period of rapid growth.
Idea! What would it cost for RR to be the logo on the kit sponsor for Louisiana Krew !? Willing to up my patreon for it. I would 100% buy one since I’m not allowed to buy ones from the University.