USL moves toward PRO/REL ideas - some thoughts on club failure rate and how this could solve it

An important first step

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We have had lots of back-and-forth the last 18 hours since the leak of USL’s potential PRO/REL plans were revealed. I can confirm The Athletic’s reporting based on my own sourcing last night and this morning. USL does intend to hold a vote among its owners on moving forward with a plan for PRO/REL within its men’s PROFESSIONAL ranks (this is important as USL’s ecosystem includes many amateur clubs) . This is by no means a perfect plan but it is an important initial step to stabilizing the current situation which resembles the wild west.

The failure rate of clubs and leagues across the US soccer landscape since 1995 vastly exceeds any other country in the world.  Particularly among major industrialized countries, the fail rate of clubs in the US is remarkable. USL’s plan might not open the system completely but what I believe it will do is help struggling clubs outside the MLS single-entity that in past and present have struggled to find investors after a few seasons of existence, find new ones.

While it won’t help the clubs outside the USL ecosystem it will in my opinion absolutely curtail the current high fail rate within USL - giving clubs a real community anchor instead of being tied permanently to the fortunes and whims of initial investors.

It also may provide incentives for leagues outside MLS to work together and give clubs a bargaining chip within the leagues they are currently trapped in.