It’s a groundbreaking moment in American soccer. The United Soccer League has voted to adopt a promotion and relegation system. This will make the USL the first American professional sports league to work on implementing the global tiered model, which is the standard for top leagues around the world like the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga. This will debut when the new previously announced Division One league launches for the 2027-28 season.
That league was announced a month ago and will complete the tiers with the USL Championship (Division Two) and USL League One (Division Three). With the sport of soccer growing in America ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the USL sees this ass a perfect jumping off point for the league to align with something more familiar with enjoyers of the European system. It’s something that will need to be fleshed out, but the league has plans to share more information about the structure in the coming months.
“A new chapter in American soccer begins. The decision by our owners to approve and move forward with this bold direction is a testament to their commitment to the long-term growth of soccer in the United States,” said Alec Papadakis, CEO of the United Soccer League. “This is a significant milestone for the USL and highlights our shared vision with our team ownership to build a league that not only provides top-tier competition but also champions community engagement. Now, just as it is in the global game, more communities in America can aspire to compete at the highest level of soccer. It’s time.”
The USL was initially founded in 1986 and has been preparing for this step for years, with talent improving across all of its divisions. There won’t be shortages of players to flesh out rosters if new teams are added. In leagues like England, relegated teams receive parachute payments in order to cope with the drops in income in falling out of the top flight and protections like that will also be needed in America, but if they get details like that right, this still is an exciting time for soccer if done right.
Promotion and relegation has been something that a section of American fandom has been clamoring for and now the road to making it happen is in progress. With USL ownership voting for promotion and relegation, it’s already an improvement form 2023 when this was a possibility but didn’t have the support to pass a vote. Now it’s about laying the infrastructure to make it a success.
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