League Homeowners Approve Historic Transfer to Align with International Requirements and Elevate Competitors Nationwide
TAMPA, Fla. (March 19, 2025) – The United Soccer League (USL) introduced at present {that a} supermajority of membership homeowners voted to implement a promotion and relegation system, marking a groundbreaking determination that can reshape the way forward for skilled soccer in the USA.
The USL turns into the primary skilled sports activities league within the U.S. to undertake this world mannequin, creating an interconnected three-tiered males’s skilled soccer system, the place groups earn promotion to a better division or face relegation to a decrease division primarily based on their efficiency in the course of the season. With this historic step, the USL aligns with the world’s prime leagues—together with the English Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga—the place promotion and relegation raises the stakes of each match, drives fan engagement, and elevates the general competitors of the sport.
“A brand new chapter in American soccer begins. The choice by our homeowners to approve and transfer ahead with this daring path is a testomony to their dedication to the long-term progress of soccer in the USA,” mentioned Alec Papadakis, CEO of the United Soccer League. “This can be a important milestone for the USL and highlights our shared imaginative and prescient with our group possession to construct a league that not solely supplies top-tier competitors but in addition champions neighborhood engagement. Now, simply as it’s within the world sport, extra communities in America can aspire to compete on the highest stage of soccer. It’s time.”
Final month, the USL introduced plans to launch a brand new Division One league in 2027-28, a pivotal step in its imaginative and prescient to ascertain a totally built-in three-tier skilled system. As outlined by U.S. Soccer Federation sanctioning requirements, Division One is the best stage {of professional} soccer in the USA. With the USL Championship (Division Two) and USL League One (Division Three) already offering a robust basis for participant growth and competitors, the addition of a Division One league completes the construction. All three leagues will likely be interconnected by way of a structured promotion and relegation system, the place extra matches matter, rewarding efficiency and unlocking new alternatives for golf equipment, gamers, and followers.
“Promotion and relegation transforms the aggressive panorama of American soccer,” mentioned Paul McDonough, President and Chief Soccer Officer of the USL. “With the 2026 World Cup and different main worldwide occasions approaching, we now have a singular alternative to construct on that momentum and create a sustainable future for the game within the U.S. Followers and stakeholders have been clear—they need one thing totally different. They’re drawn to the depth of high-stakes competitors, the place extra matches have actual penalties—identical to we see in European leagues. This shift challenges the established order and brings a stage of pleasure and relevance that may elevate the sport throughout the nation.”
Extra particulars concerning the implementation and construction of promotion and relegation will likely be shared within the coming months. For updates, please go to uslsoccer.com.
About United Soccer League
Based in 1986, the United Soccer League (USL) is the most important and fastest-growing soccer group in the USA, impacting greater than 200 communities nationwide. The USL is the primary and solely group to supply a complete youth-to-professional pathway for each women and men beneath one ecosystem. This construction consists of 4 males’s leagues: the newly introduced, top-tier skilled Division I league, the USL Championship (Division II), USL League One (Division III), and USL League Two (pre-professional). The ladies’s pathway consists of the top-tier USL Tremendous League (Division I), which debuted in 2024, and USL W League, the nation’s main pre-professional ladies’s league. The USL additionally oversees USL Academy, a progressive expertise growth platform, and USL Youth, a premier nationwide youth platform.
With multi-year nationwide and worldwide media rights agreements throughout numerous platforms together with CBS Sports activities, ESPN and Peacock, the USL is essentially the most extensively accessible soccer league within the nation.
