MAY 8, 2025 | SPORTS | By Obie King-Bagley
“Move over, Major League Soccer. A rival top-flight men’s league is coming to the U.S.,” read an article by The Athletic earlier this year, following United Soccer League (USL)’s announcement of a new Division I men’s soccer league. The article by The Athletic speculated that this new league could lead to the implementation of a promotion and relegation system, which was then confirmed by the league slightly over a month later.
These are two exciting steps forward for the league, and with so much imminent change, it’s an exciting time for soccer in America, and for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, the reigning USL Championship champions. While these new plans are promising, they don’t come without risk and represent a substantial gamble by the USL.
Firstly, what do these plans actually mean? USL, the organizer of the USL Championship (D2), USL League One (third division), USL Super League (women’s first division) and amateur men’s and women’s leagues, wants to implement a men’s first division league, putting themselves in direct competition with Major League Soccer (MLS). While there have been other Division One leagues in the past, none have managed to survive, such as perhaps the NASL, most notably, which drew massive crowds in the 1970s but eventually shut down in 1984 after financial trouble.
In an attempt to differentiate this new league from MLS, USL announced the implementation of a promotion and relegation system, a concept that is relatively foreign to American sports, but is widespread around the globe. Rather than a closed system, such as the NFL or NBA, promotion and relegation systems operate within a tiered league system where the worst performers get ‘relegated’ to the division below, replaced by the best performers from the lower tier.
This, in theory, means that any team can eventually compete against the biggest teams, no matter where they are from. In recent years, the momentum for a shift towards promotion and relegation has picked up in the U.S., as soccer has become more widespread, and “Welcome to Wrexham,” a docu-series about English third division club Wrexham (owned by Ryan Reynolds) rising through the leagues, has exploded in popularity.
Promotion and relegation may make for some captivating storylines, but it’s risky to implement and creates a host of problems for teams and owners. Closed systems provide a guaranteed amount of revenue year-over-year, something which has skyrocketed American team valuations. According to Forbes, only three of the top 20 most valuable sports teams worldwide are soccer, despite it being by far the most popular sport in the world.
The inherent risk that a team could get relegated, while exciting for viewers, can lead to catastrophic financial outcomes. It’s estimated that teams that get relegated from the Premier League in England lose more than $100 million in revenue, between broadcasting and sponsorship deals, reduced attendance and less money generated through transfer fees. USL is far from a stable league; teams regularly fold each year, so implementing a system known for its volatility could cause problems for some teams and owners.
That isn’t the only major hurdle that USL faces when trying to reshape its leagues. The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) has a strict set of requirements that must be adhered to when creating a first division league, and there are very few USL teams that currently meet the criteria. While this league isn’t likely to materialize until 2027 at the earliest, there is a lot of work to be done. Out of the 31 teams that are either playing in the USL Championship in 2025 or are entering the league in the next two years, only four have stadiums that meet the minimum capacity requirements. Right now, the Switchbacks aren’t one of them. While Weidner Apartment Homes, the majority owner, likely meets the ownership net worth requirement, the Switchbacks fall below the market size requirement and face several other roadblocks to meeting the D1 criteria.
This begs the question: if the Switchbacks, or any other team that doesn’t meet the criteria, gets promoted, will they be able to move up to a higher division? USL hasn’t been forthcoming about the answer, and the proposal still feels very work-in-progress. However, the potential is exciting, and it’s got people talking about USL. While they might never be able to financially rival MLS, people watch sports for the storylines, and USL promises to deliver on that front in the coming years.