I'll once again point out that these are just the ones that we know about, or Alex has been fed info about. There have been multiple teams that have joined L1 that were on basically no one's radar until some rumor popped up and like a week later USL1 announced that a new team was joining the league the next year. Excited to see if we have any more surprises or if Alex has enough agents in place to not get any surprises.
Westchester is my go to example. Not much talk at all, if any iirc, about a team in Westchester County. A report comes out late April saying a group is putting something together. USL announces Westchester SC like two weeks late in May. WSC kick a ball the following year. There were a few that were seemingly only early rumblings until baaiclly all the sudden they're a real team with multiple individuals in place already and stadium either ready or being built with a team like them in mind.
Pleasantly surprised to see more expansion possibilities west of The Rockies than there were in the State of Florida alone. It boggles the mind that we can’t get a L1 team in the SoCal IE… maybe Riverside. Admittedly there’s tons of politics involved between all those cities that make up the IE and they love to stab each other in the back.
The lack of a IE professional team is still crazy to me.
Then again in the airline industry I’ve said for like 20 years now Ontario Airport would become a major point of operations because of the populations in Riverside and San Bernardino County but it just hasn’t happened …
Great rundown as always. Have you heard anything about the Maryland Bobcats? Of all the teams from the last iteration of the NISA they seemed the most likely to go USL.
The Boise project is the most interesting to me, there are plenty of underutilized facilities like that around the country so success there could spur interest elsewhere.
For Apotheos FC to be successful they will need to step up their marketing in their region where they are at. It will be hard because of the Atlanta United fanbase. They will need to level up their community outreach to get the stadium filled up. I hope they can replace the turf with grass at one point.
You cant forget that Real Central NJ first team plays in the APSL. Their USL2 is basically their second team.
Apotheos was just added to the Hitchcock Cinematic Universe before the season started. I’m hoping he can spur them on and hopefully help them capture some hearts and minds over there
I like this list. Especially teams that aren't very far away from Peoria Illinois where I live. I'm hopeful that Peoria city does join League one in 2027. It would be very nice to have multiple Regional rivals
Some agent friends mentioned it as a rumor last year, but nothing came of it. This article spurred some more rumors today, so we will see. Keeping an eye on it.
I always thought it was too bad RGV dropped out, would be a great south Texas derby if an iteration of the team came back. Wishful thinking like my FC Tucson comeback
I know nothing about Jeff City except that it's the capital. However Columbia being the home of Mizzou certainly would have potential, especially given Springfield's ambitions alongside Missouri State's successful soccer program.
I'll once again point out that these are just the ones that we know about, or Alex has been fed info about. There have been multiple teams that have joined L1 that were on basically no one's radar until some rumor popped up and like a week later USL1 announced that a new team was joining the league the next year. Excited to see if we have any more surprises or if Alex has enough agents in place to not get any surprises.
Can you give some recent examples of teams that were in stealth mode until exploding onto USL1 ? Do you mean like Athletico Dallas or Boise?
Westchester is my go to example. Not much talk at all, if any iirc, about a team in Westchester County. A report comes out late April saying a group is putting something together. USL announces Westchester SC like two weeks late in May. WSC kick a ball the following year. There were a few that were seemingly only early rumblings until baaiclly all the sudden they're a real team with multiple individuals in place already and stadium either ready or being built with a team like them in mind.
Knoxville, Westchester
Pleasantly surprised to see more expansion possibilities west of The Rockies than there were in the State of Florida alone. It boggles the mind that we can’t get a L1 team in the SoCal IE… maybe Riverside. Admittedly there’s tons of politics involved between all those cities that make up the IE and they love to stab each other in the back.
The lack of a IE professional team is still crazy to me.
Then again in the airline industry I’ve said for like 20 years now Ontario Airport would become a major point of operations because of the populations in Riverside and San Bernardino County but it just hasn’t happened …
What does IE stand for?
Inland Empire, California
Great rundown as always. Have you heard anything about the Maryland Bobcats? Of all the teams from the last iteration of the NISA they seemed the most likely to go USL.
I’ve heard nothing. From my understanding they just don’t have the capital backing to join and I have not heard of any plans to do so at this time.
Personally I’d LOVE it if they did!
We would all love that tbh
Mike Steenstra is an excellent source of information regarding the Bobcats.
From my interpretation of the info that he and others have shared lines up with those of the author.
They would have find a way to overcome some incredibly daunting financial hurdles in order to make a jump to USL League One.
The NISA campaigns and dealing with that league has left that organization in shambles.
The Boise project is the most interesting to me, there are plenty of underutilized facilities like that around the country so success there could spur interest elsewhere.
For Apotheos FC to be successful they will need to step up their marketing in their region where they are at. It will be hard because of the Atlanta United fanbase. They will need to level up their community outreach to get the stadium filled up. I hope they can replace the turf with grass at one point.
You cant forget that Real Central NJ first team plays in the APSL. Their USL2 is basically their second team.
Apotheos was just added to the Hitchcock Cinematic Universe before the season started. I’m hoping he can spur them on and hopefully help them capture some hearts and minds over there
I like this list. Especially teams that aren't very far away from Peoria Illinois where I live. I'm hopeful that Peoria city does join League one in 2027. It would be very nice to have multiple Regional rivals
It looks like the only team here that may have gridiron lines is New York? 6 new teams with soccer-lines only sounds nice.
I don’t know they will, but they *may* have a baseball/soccer type setup like Knoxville, Omaha, etc
Has there been any communication about a possible Laredo Heat pro team?
Some agent friends mentioned it as a rumor last year, but nothing came of it. This article spurred some more rumors today, so we will see. Keeping an eye on it.
Laredo Heat, Corpus Christi, Texoma, and Athletico Dallas would form a fabulous Texas division alone!
Dallas is going championship to start I believe
I always thought it was too bad RGV dropped out, would be a great south Texas derby if an iteration of the team came back. Wishful thinking like my FC Tucson comeback
Is Columbia Missouri a soccer town? I drive through there for work every once in a while, and it's nice. Or Jefferson City, MO?
I know nothing about Jeff City except that it's the capital. However Columbia being the home of Mizzou certainly would have potential, especially given Springfield's ambitions alongside Missouri State's successful soccer program.