We’re privileged to be joined by USL Senior VP for USL League One, Lee O’Neill to discuss the impact of the Promotion and Relegation announcement on USL League One, local derbies, rivalries, smaller markets and neighborhood clubs.
My understanding is that it is a very contentious issue internally with some of the clubs who voted for promotion & relegation doing so under the premise that they would continue to get protected originally not 100 miles or 75 miles but something like 15 or 20 miles - so this has to be worked out
I don't know how realistic it is. I was thinking a solution to the territory rights issue would be a double expansion fee. Basically if a new team was looking to move into what previously was a teams protected territory the new team would pay an expansion fee to the league and one to the existing team. That would make the price a little more prohibitive to keep teams from stacking up and also insure the existing team was remunerated in some fashion. There's a few other things I would add as well: population, brand location, unique culture of expansion location.
So that 15 to 20 mile radius limits it to one club per city/town in most cases. Sounds like they want pro/rel without local competition. I can see restricting locations if you're buying in, but what happens when pro/rel actually starts and you have two clubs that were in different divisions now being in the same division with an "across the bridge" derby?
fans should have the right to pick what teams they want to support and who they relate with the most. Imagine if Michigan Stars or whatever they are called joined. You with DCFC all the left-wing and them the right wings supporting them. lol that would be a great intense derby lol
but maybe I need to clarify that in the future because when I use the term division three I mean USL L1 when I use the term division 2 I mean USL championship
"Division 2" in college soccer is the NAIA, so that's another source of potential confusion.
And with NCAA Division 1 schools proposing to join the USL ecosystem --presumably at the USL League One level/ "division 3"-- as part of their hopes for year round soccer, that is going to further confuse people. It is probably less confusing for now to just refer to the USL level by name --USL Championship-- especially since USL Premier is a few years away for actuality....
All colleges should just team up with USL2 and their season can go from March up until October. Combine some regions so teams get more games in the year including Jaegermeister Cup.
I noticed Lee mentioned a concern about having too many East or West clubs in a division. Goes back to my suggestion of just splitting the country in half and having two separate pyramids. I can see his explanation of how regions would even work getting complicated if they hold on to having a "national" league. His travels across country should have told him that maybe something different is needed. Keep it simple...
I would like to know if they will eventually drop the territory rights or not.
My understanding is that it is a very contentious issue internally with some of the clubs who voted for promotion & relegation doing so under the premise that they would continue to get protected originally not 100 miles or 75 miles but something like 15 or 20 miles - so this has to be worked out
That still allows a twin city/big 'burb to potentially have a team which is interesting.
I don't know how realistic it is. I was thinking a solution to the territory rights issue would be a double expansion fee. Basically if a new team was looking to move into what previously was a teams protected territory the new team would pay an expansion fee to the league and one to the existing team. That would make the price a little more prohibitive to keep teams from stacking up and also insure the existing team was remunerated in some fashion. There's a few other things I would add as well: population, brand location, unique culture of expansion location.
So that 15 to 20 mile radius limits it to one club per city/town in most cases. Sounds like they want pro/rel without local competition. I can see restricting locations if you're buying in, but what happens when pro/rel actually starts and you have two clubs that were in different divisions now being in the same division with an "across the bridge" derby?
fans should have the right to pick what teams they want to support and who they relate with the most. Imagine if Michigan Stars or whatever they are called joined. You with DCFC all the left-wing and them the right wings supporting them. lol that would be a great intense derby lol
Ha. Getting Celtic/Rangers vibes. Just gotta keep the violence to a minimum...
hahaha you read my mind :D Their US Open Cup game last year was legendary. Especially with the smoke towards the end of the game :D
but maybe I need to clarify that in the future because when I use the term division three I mean USL L1 when I use the term division 2 I mean USL championship
"Division 2" in college soccer is the NAIA, so that's another source of potential confusion.
And with NCAA Division 1 schools proposing to join the USL ecosystem --presumably at the USL League One level/ "division 3"-- as part of their hopes for year round soccer, that is going to further confuse people. It is probably less confusing for now to just refer to the USL level by name --USL Championship-- especially since USL Premier is a few years away for actuality....
All colleges should just team up with USL2 and their season can go from March up until October. Combine some regions so teams get more games in the year including Jaegermeister Cup.
L2 is basically D4
I noticed Lee mentioned a concern about having too many East or West clubs in a division. Goes back to my suggestion of just splitting the country in half and having two separate pyramids. I can see his explanation of how regions would even work getting complicated if they hold on to having a "national" league. His travels across country should have told him that maybe something different is needed. Keep it simple...
Kartik correction! At the 2 min. mark, I think you meant "Omaha going to USL CHAMPIONSHIP" --not "League 2" !:
I said division two, which is the championship.