Decision-makers for USL clubs believe that a European model could breathe new life into American soccer
Rob Salvatore has heard the noise for years. Promotion-relegation was, for some time, the worst kept secret in American soccer. Someone, somewhere, at some time, was going to implement it. And the Charleston Battery owner had been on the receiving end of questions ever since it was even rumored to be a possibility.
He was routinely pestered at home games, by both loyal regulars and European enthusiasts, as to when his team would be part of a grown up ecosystem, one that adapted the model found in global soccer.
“When it initially came up, there was this real desire from the fan base,” Salvatore told GOAL.
And now, those fans have their wish – at least, in some senses. The USL announced last week that it will implement promotion and relegation between three professional divisions by 2028, concurrent with launching a league with Division One status. Needless to say, this stands as a landmark moment in American soccer. And according to many owners, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of its implementation, pro-rel is the beginning of the second wind of a league that is properly starting to grow up.
“It's great for real soccer fans," Orange County Soccer Club President Dan Rutstein told GOAL. "It's great for the players and the future players. I know there's a long way to go, but this really does feel like day one of soccer in America reaching maturity."
Getty ImagesA long time coming
Pro-rel, conceptually, has been a part of the American soccer landscape for years now. MLS officials are routinely bugged about it – and regularly rebuff speculation that it can be put into place in the United States. The USL, complete with its Championship, League One and League Two seemed an ideal spot for implementation.
It helped, too, that USL operates in a separate universe from MLS. There is no $500 million buy in for a new franchise – the reported mark the ownership of new club San Diego FC had to pay.
This is cheaper and more agile. And Paul McDonough, when took over as USL President in May 2023, tried to cut through the noise and implement the system immediately. He chose an owners meeting in Colorado Springs that August for the spot, calling for a snap vote on promotion-relegation. It was dismissed almost immediately. McDonough was disheartened, he admitted.
But now, nearly two years later, the league is seemingly ready. At least, that’s what the system says. A month ago, owners passed a surprise vote to garner a new league with division one status. That paved the way for promotion and relegation. The vote came quickly, and was passed by a supermajority. Messaging is loud and clear: it is time to take the next step.
Advertisement'A real football team, for real football fans'
It has often been the gripe of soccer snobs and European skeptics that American soccer cannot be fully legitimized until promotion and relegation is implemented. It can be a thinly-veiled argument. Soccer has existed in the United States for a long time, and will continue to thrive in MLS. But some owners insist that this does give USL a specific sort of authenticity.
“We’ve always seen ourselves as a football team, for football fans, doing football properly," Rutstein said. "So the missing piece of that, which was never in our control, was promotion, relegation. We’ve wanted this all along."
Some have gone even further – casting off the former, and current, system as one that betrays the way the game is supposed to be played.
“I didn't think it would happen before we even kicked off," Matt Valentine, chairman and founder of Dallas’ incoming USL franchise, told GOAL. "So it's all coming a little quicker than we had anticipated. But I love it. It's anti-soccer that we haven't had pro-rel all this time. So it's, long, long, long overdue."
The Battery have heard something similar, with the type of fans who tend to watch European soccer – and occasionally come to their games – newly intrigued.
“I’m trying hard to get the European fans. They could be Americans, they could be ex-pats. You're trying to really bring them into the mix and get them to come to more and more games and pay more attention to us, watch the development pipeline.” Salvatore said. “There's a lot of people who I don't even think are sports fans, but they watch Wrexham, they watch Ted Lasso, they understand it – and they're really intrigued by the concept of it and the jeopardy.”
And then, there are the familiar touchpoints of a global soccer system. Some around the league have insisted that promotion and relegation will give dead-rubber contests meaning. There is no longer the option to simply drift through the dog days of the season – investment and continuous competitiveness will now be enforced.
“It’s going to bring the fans more of what they’re truly used to in big games, meaningful games – even when you’re at the bottom," Las Vegas Lights owner Jose Bautista said. "And for a team that is facing relegation – not that you ever want to be there – at least now it’s not just a race to the bottom."
Imagn'The significance is huge'
There is a marketing aspect to this, to be sure. Owners hope the relative novelty of pro-rel in American sports makes USL a more intriguing product as a result.
“The significance is huge," Phoenix Rising President Bobby Dulle said. "It’s unprecedented here. Those that follow the sport around the world know that it’s customary. So we’re not the norm here in the U.S."
And that has long been an issue for USL. MLS may only be 30 years old, but it has an established infrastructure. The league added its 30th franchise this season, and, despite hefty buy-ins, there will likely be more markets interested.
Some hope, though, that the implementation of promotion and relegation shows how USL’s relative youth can be an asset. If MLS is stuck in its ways, USL can be nimble.
“I don't want it ever to be XFL or some Savannah Bananas bullsh*t," Salvatore said. "I think we can challenge and innovate and but do it in a way that's pure."
MLS, for its part, insists that more soccer is always a good thing.
“I want more soccer,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in an interview with in early March. “I want more professional soccer. I want more jobs for people who can be in the business. I want more marketing, promotion. So if they’re able to pull it off, good for them.”
FC Naples'This helps them buy into the romance of the game'
USL League One welcomed five new clubs prior to the 2025 season. The range of their facilities differ massively. One of them plays at a fully-fleshed out, state of the art soccer complex. Another plays at a high school field. All of them will have to wait a few years for this to happen, but there’s a real chance that any of the five, with the right investment and shrewd recruitment, could be playing at a higher level.
That’s part of the dream of the global soccer scene: a small club having the chance to make it big. It’s something that will now be introduced to the game in the United States.
“For the casual fan, I think this helps them buy into the romance of the game, and the passion that people have for their clubs. I think that pro-rel helps that tremendously,” Valentine said.
Of course, that will bring about fierce competition. There is also the inevitable scenario that someone from the Championship will be relegated to League One. That, too, is its own kind of footballing journey.
“I assume no one’s going to want to be the owner of the first ever team to be relegated," Rutstein said. "The way these things work, someone’s more worried about being the first USL Championship team to go down to League One. The threat of relegation is very real."
