United States soccer league system

Since 1996, Major League Soccer (MLS) has been the only sanctioned USSF Division I men's outdoor soccer league in the United States. MLS has grown from 10 teams in 1996 to 27 teams as of the 2021 season. It will further expand to 30 teams by the 2023 season.

• League must have a minimum of 12 teams to apply. By year three, the league must have a minimum of 14 teams
• US-based teams must participate in all representative U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF competitions for which they are eligible (ex. U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League.)
• The majority owner must have a net worth of US$40 million, and the total ownership group must have a net worth of US$70 million. Both of these net worth requirements must be independent of both the club and the individuals' primary residence.[6]

• Teams located in at least the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones in the continental United States. These three time zones are required because the majority of the large population centers are located in these time zones
• At least 75% of the league's teams must be based in markets with one million population
• All stadiums must be enclosed
• All league stadiums must have a minimum seating capacity of 15,000
• Not later than 180 days prior to the start of each season, each team shall have a lease for at least one full season with its home stadium

• The league must demonstrate adequate financial viability to ensure continued operation on a season-by-season basis either in the form of a performance bond or similar instrument for each team in the amount of US$1 million or readily available league funds representing US$1 million
• The maximum amount of readily available league funds for covering teams operations is US$20 million
• Any team whose performance bond is used during the season will be required to replenish it at least 120 days prior to the next season
• Each team ownership group must demonstrate the financial capacity to operate the team for five years. As part of the process of demonstrating financial capacity, each ownership group must provide detailed financial history (if applicable) and projections (including a detailed budget) for the team to the Federation in a form satisfactory to the Federation. In addition, each team must have and its governing legal documents must designate one principal owner with a controlling interest who owns at least 35% of the team and has authority to bind the team. Such principal owner must have an individual net worth of at least forty million US dollars (US$40,000,000) exclusive of the value of his/her ownership in the league or team and his/her primary personal residence. The principal owner, together with all other owners, must have a combined individual net worth of at least seventy million US dollars (US$70,000,000) exclusive of the value of ownership interests in the league or team and primary personal residences. Federation shall have the right to require an independent audit to establish that the team meets these net worth requirements; the cost of such audit shall be the responsibility of the team or league. The Federation will take reasonable steps to protect from disclosure and limit access to financial information provided under this section

• The league must have broadcast or cable television contracts that provide for the telecasting of all regular season games as well as the championship game/series. High-quality internet streaming of regular season games satisfies this requirement

• All required positions must be filled by full-time staff year-round
• Each US-based team must demonstrate a commitment to a player development program. This requirement may be satisfied by supporting either an amateur or professional reserve team competing in a USSF-sanctioned league or by the league itself
• Each US-based team must maintain teams and a program to develop players at the youth level. This requirement may be satisfied by fielding teams in a Federation academy program

In addition to the required positions filled by full-time staff, the league office must have full-time staff performing the functions of a chief operations officer, a chief financial officer and a director of marketing/public relations on a year-round basis

• Principal owner with at least $20,000,000 USD net worth, 35% ownership stake.[6]

• Year 1: Eight teams in at least 2 time zones[6]
• Year 3: At least 10 teams
• Year 6: at least 12 teams in Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones
• 75% of teams must be in metro areas of at least 750,000 population
• Stadiums must have 5,000 capacity

The USL Championship (USLC) is the only sanctioned Division II men's outdoor soccer league as of 2018. Formed in 2010 as a result of the merger of the former USL First Division and USL Second Division, the USL Championship was sanctioned as Division III league from 2011 to 2016 before becoming provisionally sanctioned as a Division II league for 2017,[7] and receiving full Division II sanctioning in 2018.[8]

The USL Championship expanded almost three-fold since its first season in 2011 to include 35 teams in the 2020 season, with the league divided into two conferences, Eastern and Western. After that season, held amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, five teams left the league. Two were withdrawn by their MLS parent sides, a third voluntarily dropped to USL League One, another folded entirely, and one other side chose to shut down in favor of a future MLS team in its city. One new team joined for the 2021 season. Even at its current membership, the USL Championship is the largest Division II professional league in the world, and alongside its clubs has invested almost $1 billion into new stadium projects over the past decade to provide greater infrastructure for its clubs and fans. Since 2014, valuation of USL Championship clubs have increased five-fold. In revenue, 2018 Championship clubs saw a 28% increase over 2017 numbers on an average of ticketing, sponsorship, merchandise, and ancillary revenue generation.

The USL Championship also holds a broadcast agreement with ESPN that sees 20 regular season games televised nationally on ESPN2, ESPNews and ESPN Deportes in addition to national broadcast of the USL Championship Final, which in 2019 was aired on both ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. The league's remaining regular season games are broadcast nationally on ESPN+, with 22 of the Championship's clubs also holding local broadcast agreements. The USL Championship's broadcast agreement was made possible in large part by a major investment by USL with league technology partner Vista Worldlink to establish a state-of-the-art USL Broadcast Center out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.. In 2018, the Championship produced more than 575 matches and became a key component of the launch of the ESPN+ streaming service – for which it produces more live professional soccer matches than any other professional soccer organization – when it became available in April 2018.

The evolution of USL has seen the organization voluntarily recognize of the USL Player’s Association as the exclusive bargaining representative of the USL Championship's players, which will help to continue to raise the standards across the board.

The previously Division II North American Soccer League (NASL) was formed in 2009, but did not debut until 2011 following the controversial 2010 season that saw neither the USL First Division nor the NASL receive Division II sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League. NASL was sanctioned as a Division II league from 2011 to 2016; when it fielded 8 teams for the 2017 season, U.S. Soccer only granted the league provisional sanctioning as it fell under the 12-team requirement.[9] The USSF rejected the NASL's application to maintain provisional Division II status for the 2018 season as the NASL did not present a plan[10] on how it would meet the Division II criteria.[11] In response, the NASL filed "a federal antitrust suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation"[12] in an attempt to force USSF to drop all Division designations. Due to the continuing litigation against U.S. Soccer, the NASL then had to postpone its season to August 2018 and lost four more teams in the process.

• Principal owner with at least $10,000,000 USD net worth, 35% ownership stake.[6]

• Year 1: Eight teams[6]
• Stadiums must have 1,000 capacity

In March 2017, United Soccer League, administrator of the USL Championship and USL League Two, announced following the successful sanctioning of the USL Championship as a Division II league it would start a new tier in its professional structure, which became USL League One, and seek Division III certification for the 2019 season.[13] The league received sanctioning in December 2018 and conducted a successful first season in 2019 that saw 10 teams compete in a single-table format and North Texas SC claim its inaugural league title. The seven independent clubs averaged 2,496 fans per match in 2019, placing League One in the top three of Division III leagues globally, and the league expanded to include 12 teams for its second season in 2020. Further expansion had been planned prior to the 2021 season, but was delayed until 2022 or later by COVID-19.

With its arrival, League One has become a foundation of professional soccer in America, providing new communities with local clubs as well as opportunities for players and coaches to move into the professional ranks. In the league's first season in 2019, 108 of the 331 players under contract were competing at the professional level for the first time, while players that competed in the league also featured at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In addition, four of the league's 10 head coaches in its inaugural season took the sidelines at the helm of a professional team for the first time in 2019, with each of the league's expansion clubs in 2020 also set to be led by first-time head coaches in the professional ranks.

The strong growth of USL has led to the recognition by the organization of the USL Player's Association, which will help raise standards across the board. In 2020, League One clubs followed the lead of the USL Championship in recognizing the USLPA as the exclusive bargaining representative of League One players.

A second league, National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) led by former Chicago Fire general manager Peter Wilt, planned on fielding 8 to 10 teams in 2019 and has stated that it would seek Division III certification.[14] Unlike MLS, the USLC, and USL1, the NISA plays a fall-to-spring season spanning two calendar years and split into halves.

In September 2015, it was reported that the USSF was proposing the addition of eligibility requirements for sanctioned Division I soccer leagues, including that they must have at least 16 teams, stadiums with a capacity of at least 15,000, and at least 75% of the teams must be in cities that have a population of at least 2 million.[15]

In 2018, the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a nationwide semi-professional league announced the intention to set up a professional division, NPSL Pro. As part of the announcement, NPSL initiated a single season competition, the NPSL Founders Cup, involving 11 teams that will form the new professional league in 2020. Although explicitly a professional league, there has been no confirmation that NPSL intend to apply for DIII status.[16]

Below is a list of the number of teams[17] sanctioned by the USSF in the so-called "modern era" under the division sanctioning scheme described above.

Notes

The USSF does not officially recognize distinctions beyond the three professional divisions above. Currently, all other leagues are sanctioned by USASA which is a national association member of the USSF and the only[18] member of the Adult Council. Among leagues sanctioned by USASA, USL League Two (USL2) and National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) are recognized in practical terms as playing at a higher level as both are considered national leagues and receive more automatic berths to the US Open Cup than the total given to all the regional leagues and the USASA state association leagues combined.[19] Additionally, USL2 and NPSL pay some of their players and are more accurately described as semi-professional leagues.

USL League Two takes place during the summer months, and has age restrictions.[20] Thus, the player pool is drawn mainly from NCAA college soccer players seeking to continue playing high level soccer during their summer break, while still maintaining their college eligibility.[21] The National Premier Soccer League is similar to USL2 and also attracts top amateur talent from around the United States. However, unlike USL2, the NPSL does not have any age limits or restrictions, thus incorporating both college players and former professional players.

The table below shows the current structure of the system. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name, number of clubs and conferences/divisions are given. The United States Soccer Federation regulates the standards for a league or division to be recognized as professional, while also determining the level of division for each league.[3]

The system is only defined as far as Division 3. What follows is a representation of Open Division structure, should the structure be defined further.

• U.S. Open Cup – open to all USSF-sanctioned amateur and professional leagues, though professional teams that are owned by, or whose playing staffs are managed by, higher-level outdoor professional teams are barred from entry
• USASA National Amateur Cup – amateur-only cup tournament
• Hank Steinbrecher Cup – contested between the league winners of NPSL, League Two, USASA Open Cup and USASA Amateur Cup

• NWSL Challenge Cup – open to NWSL teams
• USASA National Women's Open – open to WPSL and UWS teams
• USASA National Women's Amateur – open to all USASA-affiliated women's teams