Stunner: Benno Nagel teams with MLS to challenge Oakland Roots and USL
The Soccerwarz comes to the East Bay
MLS Next Pro made a big move on Monday with The Town FC making an agreement with the San Jose Earthquakes to manage the commercial operations of its MLS NEXT Pro affiliate, effective immediately for the soon-to-be-begin 2024 season. Under the arrangement, the team will compete under the new name “The Town FC” and will play its home games at Saint Mary’s College which is located in Moraga, California (yes they play more than just basketball there!).
This move effectively puts a MLS Next Pro club on top of the USL Championship’s Oakland Roots SC. The Town FC is run by CEO Benno Nagel, who was a co-founder of the Roots. Nagel is a pretty big name in the world of independent soccer and full of ideas. His stamp and DNA are a big part of why the Roots always had a cool vibe and fairly deep community connections.
“We’re excited to enter this partnership with The Town FC,” said Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee. “We see this arrangement as beneficial to our overall player development strategy and a great way to grow the sport in Moraga and Northern California. I’m looking forward to seeing head coach Dan DeGeer and his staff build on last year’s playoff success, while playing at a great home venue.”
On the surface this looks like a great move for MLS. Challenge a USL Championship club whose future has never been that financially secure despite cool merchandise and celebrity investors. It’s also done at a more limited cost to the Earthquakes.
However, where I am dubious about this is the idea of Nagel as the driver of this deal. Nagel rightly fancies himself as a disrupter in the soccer space and while he has plenty of good ideas, and lives and bleeds the sport, he’s been notoriously tough to work with both within the Roots organization as well as at the NPSL, NISA and USL levels in the past. How will Nagel conform to the conservative MLS culture?
This question is similar to how we view the challenges of fiercely independent Chattanooga FC or one-time “blow-it all up” Jacksonville Armada owner Robert Palmer absorbing into MLS Next Pro.
Nagel and board member Min Park said about the deal “We’re thrilled to announce this innovative partnership with the San Jose Earthquakes and look forward to bringing the beautiful game to even more fans and players in the East Bay. This partnership will allow us to grow and nurture local talent while providing our devoted fans with even more opportunities to come together in support of our community’s shared passion for soccer.”
In fairness, given my above critique, I don’t think the Roots get off the ground and into NPSL, NISA or eventually USL without him. But freethinkers and innovators like him seem to be a bad mix with MLS. But we’ll see.
As far as the Roots are concerned, this is very clearly a challenge to them at a time where the club is feeling a little stale and has recently had to change venues.
On the subject of venues, getting the optimum permanent venue will be the next battle. MLS signaled its intent in summer 2022 when the LA Galaxy tried to take the soccer stadium at Great Park away from Orange County SC. That however, was the wrong USL Championship team to target, because while OCSC’s attendance may not be near the top of the league, its supporters are fanatical and used their collective power to influence local officials.
The strong local support OCSC boasts was augmented by the cries of lower division fans across the country which made it politically unpalatable to turn the stadium over to the Galaxy.
The battle in Orange County was a huge win for USL. But much like Jacksonville which we’ve chronicled closely and several other current or potential focal points of MLS NP v USL, the East Bay area will prove to be an important battleground going forward.
Overall, it's an interesting move. Separating the Roots from the conversation, this is the kind of move I would expect to see more and more from MLS for NextPro teams. Similar to the Huntsville/Nashville model. But the NP in another market, and don't just call it NP squad 2. But, of course, the Roots can't just be separated from it.
It will be "game over" for The Town, once the Roots build their soccer-specific stadium on the hallowed grounds of the Oakland Coliseum, (from which the A's are vacating in their flight to Las Vegas riches). The Oakland city council has already awarded the Roots an exclusive license to build that stadium!
https://www.ktvu.com/news/this-stadium-is-for-oakland-oakland-roots-and-soul-ask-public-for-input-on-new-stadium-design