The Soccer Business
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The Business of North American Soccer Decoded
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Hi Reader,
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This week's newsletter takes a look at the skirmish in Long Island between MLS Next Pro and USL after the latter announced they were awarded a franchise to a group in the exact same market that MLSNP will enter with The Island FC next year.
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Please do check out our two latest podcasts which launch new series within The Soccer Business Podcast. Our debut Women's Soccer Business Pod features Jennifer Levine, VP Communications and PR for the NWSL — who gives some real insight into the plans to reach out to new audiences as the league aims to continue its impressive growth.
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Earlier this week, we dropped the first episode of The Stack, our soccer tech focused series, and the first show features a fascinating discussion of the role of AI in recruitment and the transfer market with Dean Bracha of Marquee.
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We also have a nice discount code for any readers heading to the World Football Summit in Madrid next month — I'll be speaking at that event and hopefully will bump into a few of you in Spain.
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And of course we have our usual extensive round-up of the soccer industry news in North America. If you have some news, or you'd like to advertise, or just want to reach out — you can get me on simon@thesoccerbusiness.com.
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Enjoy the read and have a great weekend.
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Bests,
Simon
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So, does this mean (Soccer) War?
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The first showdown between USL and MLS Next Pro has been set and the outcome could have wide ramifications for how the lower leagues grow in the USA.
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This week USL announced a new franchise in Long Island. Their decision comes just over a year after MLS Next Pro team announced they were backing an independent club in Long Island.
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The Island FC are scheduled to start play in MLS Next Pro in 2027 and they play home games at a small, soccer-specific stadium to be built at the Mitchel Athletic Complex, in Uniondale, Long Island.
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The USL franchise will play at the James M. Shuart Stadium, Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island. The aim is to begin play in USL League One in 2028. The distance between the two stadiums is 1.2 miles.
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Having two clubs in the same locality is not uncommon around the world. Famously Dundee and Dundee United in Scotland share the same street. Everton and Liverpool spent a century looking out at each other across Stanley Park (until the Blues moved to their new home in the Docks) and PSG fans could toss a leftover baguette into the home of emerging rivals and neighbors Paris FC.
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But the difference is that in all those cases there are local rivalries given the teams compete in the same league structure. The only chance the USL Long Island team will face The Island FC is if by chance they were drawn together in the US Open Cup. The two clubs will be playing in two distinct leagues run by two rival businesses.
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The risk, of course, is that the two clubs will cannibalize the local soccer market, spread confusion among sponsors and supporters and give the general impression to the casual fan that there is something rather weird about American soccer.
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Logic suggests that the local business people backing both ventures should join forces and create one strong, united Long Island soccer club. But that would require one of the leagues backing down in favour of the other and at the moment there seems little appetite for such a compromise.
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Should something be done about it, for the good of the game? There are two schools of thought: 1. The US Soccer Federation should intervene to ensure there are no clashes like this in single markets. 2. It's a free market — let USL and MLSNP fight it out and may the best league/club win.
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I'm not a lawyer but I suspect there may be some legal exposure around anti-trust and competition law if US Soccer decided to act to restrict one club/league from operating in Long Island. The free market outcome may simply become the default position.
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Is that so bad? Maybe not. There will be confusion but the usual benefits of competition will also apply. MLS Next Pro and The Island FC now have even more incentive to make sure they make a huge impact next year and establish the club as the popular team of the area. USL and their club will likewise be motivated to make a huge splash and try to outshine The Island FC, 12 months later.
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But I can't help being concerned that local fans might just shrug their shoulders and decide they'll either travel into NYC for D1 soccer or watch the international game on TV, rather than invest their time and disposable income on one of two squabbling D3 properties.
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It is also a worry that this could start to happen across the country. The damage from a local skirmish such as Long Island is one thing but if these sort of conflicts appear in markets across the land, the sport risks serious reputational damage.
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Whenever you speak to anyone from USL or MLSNP about this risk, they always say that this is a big country, with room for everyone to do their thing. That's fine but it does require a degree of common sense and restraint. Yes, there are plenty of markets in the country that do not yet have professional soccer clubs, USL can provide in some and MLS Next Pro in others. But there are currently no signs that an informal, ‘conflict avoidance’ strategy is likely to be adopted. Which is a pity because, if there is a ‘Soccer War’ people will lose money, fans will be frustrated and the game as a whole will lose out.
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52.8% of the general population (122.5 million people) is now interested in women's sports.
- NWSL: over 30% of NWSL fans bought a brand after seeing an in-game sponsorship — outperforming several prominent men's leagues.
- NWSL sponsor valuation is up +82% (2024 vs. 2025, per Nielsen Sponsorship Media Valuation).
- Number of women's sports telecasts measured by Nielsen Sponsorship Media Valuation jumped from 621 (2023) to 1,021 (2024, +64%) to 3,363 (2025, +229%) — nearly a 5x increase in 3 years.
- Nielsen Ad Intel AI: dollars spent in women's sports up 120% since 2022.
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Source: Nielsen Women's Sport Report
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Subscribers to The Soccer Business Newsletter can receive a 15% discount on tickets to the World Football Summit in Madrid next month. Click below to activate your discount.
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The NWSL's plans for a new wave of growth — with Jennifer Levine, VP of PR & Comms
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How AI is changing the transfer market — with Dean Bracha, Marquee
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UEFA AND CONCACAF MOOT COMBINED NATIONS LEAGUE — AFC JOINING WOULD MAKE IT GLOBAL: UEFA and Concacaf have opened discussions on merging their Nations League competitions into a single, roughly 96-team cross-Atlantic tournament that could launch as soon as 2028, the Guardian reports. The proposed format would use September-November windows for league-phase matches, knockouts in March and a final-four in June, pooling revenue in a way that could be especially lucrative for smaller Concacaf associations paired against Europe's biggest federations. It would also allow the USMNT to have regular fixtures against European opposition — adding variety to what has become a predictable Concacaf-focused schedule.
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Discussions remain early with no formal agreement, and the proposal is also read as part of a broader political rift — both confederations are reportedly unhappy with FIFA president Gianni Infantino over his private-equity World Cup push. The Asian Football Confederation has reportedly expressed interest in a future global version, suggesting a UEFA-Concacaf tie-up could be a stepping stone toward a worldwide competition.
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Source: The Guardian
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HAMPTON ROADS WEIGHS BID FOR PRO SOCCER FRANCHISE: Civic and business leaders in Virginia's Hampton Roads region are studying a push for a top-flight professional soccer team, according to the Virginian-Pilot, weighing the economics of an MLS expansion bid against lower-tier league alternatives. The comparison point is stark: MLS's most recent expansion fee, paid by San Diego FC, ran to roughly $500 million, a bar that puts a first-division franchise well out of reach for many mid-sized markets and makes USL or other lower-tier options a more realistic entry route.
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The Hampton Roads market — anchored by Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Newport News — has flirted with professional soccer before without landing a lasting top-flight side, and this latest push is a live case study in how expansion-fee inflation across MLS is reshaping which US markets can realistically compete for a franchise versus settling for a lower-division club as a stepping stone.
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Source: The Virginian-Pilot
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GEORGIA WOMEN'S SOCCER SHATTERS COLLEGE SOCCER ATTENDANCE RECORD: The University of Georgia women's soccer team drew 25,433 fans to Sanford Stadium on Aug. 20 for a 6-0 win over James Madison, smashing the all-time college soccer attendance record for either gender — surpassing the previous women's mark of 14,410 (1999 NCAA final) and the men's record of 22,512 (1980).
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The turnout — achieved by moving a regular-season match into Georgia's roughly 92,000-capacity football stadium — is a striking data point for college soccer's growing commercial and attendance potential, particularly on the women's side.
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Source: Soccer America
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EDMONTON PETITION PUSHES NORTHERN SUPER LEAGUE FOR A PRO WOMEN'S TEAM: A group of Edmonton residents has launched a petition urging Canada's Northern Super League to bring a professional women's soccer franchise to the city, under the banner “Edmonton is Built for This,” asking fans to sign and share in hopes of demonstrating public demand to the league.
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The push comes as Edmonton has increasingly positioned itself as a host city for major women's sports events — including PWHL and WNBA games — without yet having a professional women's franchise to call its own.
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Source: CityNews Edmonton · X/@audricmoses
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CHARLOTTE FC NAMES MT. OLIVE PICKLE COMPANY OFFICIAL PARTNER: Charlotte FC has signed North Carolina-based Mt. Olive Pickle Company as an Official Partner, naming the brand the club's Official Pickle and Official Pickle Juicer — an unusual but genuine addition to the MLS side's roster of regional CPG sponsors, leaning on pickle juice's niche appeal among athletes for electrolyte replenishment. “Charlotte FC has built an incredibly passionate fan base, and we are excited to officially welcome the club and its supporters to the Mt. Olive family,” said Greg Smith, Mt. Olive's EVP of Sales and Marketing.
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The deal gives Mt. Olive a presence around matchdays at Bank of America Stadium and continues Charlotte FC's pattern — also seen in its recent Frigidaire back-of-kit deal — of pairing with established regional brands to deepen local ties.
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Source: OurSports Central
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NORTH LITTLE ROCK BETS ON YOUTH SOCCER TOURISM WITH SNAP SOCCER PARTNERSHIP: North Little Rock Tourism has partnered with tournament operator Snap Soccer and Arkansas Rising Soccer Club to pull more youth soccer tournaments into the city, aiming to turn the sport into a bigger driver of hotel and hospitality revenue. Snap Soccer, a Pensacola-based tournament management company, will handle event operations and marketing while tapping its existing network of southeastern soccer clubs to bring in multi-division tournaments spanning U9 through U19 age groups.
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The tournaments will be staged at Burns Park Soccer Complex, a 17-field venue with lighting on one quadrant and parking for 1,500 vehicles. “This partnership also gives us direct access to a network of clubs and teams we haven't had a strong pipeline into,” said Shelbey Morris, North Little Rock Tourism's senior manager of sales and partnership.
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Source: AY Magazine
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AUSTIN FC SET TO HIRE MINNESOTA UNITED'S KHALED EL-AHMAD AS CHIEF SOCCER OFFICER: Austin FC are poised to name Khaled El-Ahmad, Minnesota United's sporting director since late 2023, as the club's new chief soccer officer, according to sources cited by The Athletic. The 45-year-old Swede led Minnesota to the playoffs in each of his two full seasons and previously served as sporting director for English club Barnsley, giving Austin a hire with experience both inside MLS and abroad as Jim Curtin prepares to take over as head coach.
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El-Ahmad joins a front office already featuring Dean Costalas, who worked with Curtin in Philadelphia — a sign Austin is assembling a leadership group with existing ties. Minnesota United will promote head of recruitment Hank Stebbins to interim chief soccer officer.
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Source: The Athletic
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PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS' F.N.B. STADIUM EXPANSION STILL LACKS A TIMELINE: The Pittsburgh Riverhounds' plan to expand F.N.B. Stadium from roughly 5,000 to 15,000 seats remains on the books, but the club has yet to announce a construction start date, finalize a public financing breakdown or release a revised schedule for the roughly $125 million project. It's meant to help the USL club meet U.S. Soccer's Division One facility standard as the league pursues a new top-tier competition targeted for 2028.
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Owner Tuffy Shallenberger has pitched the project as more than a soccer venue, projecting nearly 500,000 annual visitors once expanded — but for now it remains a long-term plan rather than an active build.
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Source: USA Today
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RSL'S ZAVIER GOZO JOINS CRYSTAL PALACE IN PERMANENT DEAL: Real Salt Lake winger Zavier Gozo has completed a permanent move to Crystal Palace on a five-year contract, the latest MLS-developed talent to jump to the Premier League after posting six goals and five assists in 16 appearances this season and earning a 2026 MLS All-Star Game nod. “It's the dream of any footballer,” Gozo said. “I'm excited by the people and the project they have going on here.”
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The move has a national-team dimension too: Gozo has 27 caps across U.S. youth national teams and is considered a top USMNT prospect under Mauricio Pochettino, and at Palace he'll link up with USMNT defender Chris Richards under new manager Pierre Sage.
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Source: SB Soccer / Americans Abroad
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GOTHAM FC PARTNERS WITH RMA OF NEW YORK AS OFFICIAL FERTILITY PROVIDER: NWSL champions Gotham FC have named Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York (RMA of New York) the club's official fertility and reproductive endocrinology provider, giving players, coaches and staff access to fertility assessments, egg freezing, IVF and other reproductive health services. “Partnering with Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York reflects Gotham FC's commitment to supporting the long-term health, well-being, and personal goals of our players and staff,” said Gotham FC chief revenue officer Alex Chang.
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The tie-up will extend into Gotham FC's matchday and fan experience through Fan Fest presence, in-stadium exposure and educational content — part of a broader push, the club said, to help elite athletes balance competitive careers with future family-building goals.
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Source: Front Row Soccer
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NIKE AND RAJ SPORTS PARTNER TO BACK PORTLAND'S WOMEN'S TEAMS: Nike and RAJ Sports have announced a partnership supporting the Portland Thorns (NWSL) and Portland Fire (WNBA), unveiled during Epicenter Week at Nike's Philip H. Knight Campus. Nike will provide product, performance insights and design assistance for RAJ Sports' upcoming 100,000-square-foot Kaiser Permanente Performance Center, a joint training headquarters for both franchises set to open in late 2026.
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“Partnering with Nike allows us to deepen that commitment by innovating together for women athletes, expanding access to sport for young girls, and supporting our community through joint initiatives,” said Lisa Bhathal Merage, RAJ Sports managing partner and governor of both franchises. The two organizations will also run youth sports programming in Portland aimed at reducing barriers to girls' sports participation; financial terms were not disclosed.
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Source: KPTV/FOX 12 Oregon
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TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY AND DALLAS TRINITY FC LAUNCH PARTNERSHIP: Texas Woman's University's Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship has partnered with USL Super League side Dallas Trinity FC to support both students and players. The deal creates nine internships for sports management majors alongside career-development support for Trinity FC players preparing for life after playing.
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“Great partnerships, like great teams, are built on shared goals… this partnership brings that belief to life,” said TWU executive dean Rama Yelkur. Dallas Trinity FC president Charlie Neil said the tie-up is about “giving students hands-on experience within a professional sports organization while helping our players prepare for life beyond the pitch.”
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Source: Texas Woman's University
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MANCHESTER CITY AND CHARLOTTE SOCCER ACADEMY PARTNER ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: Manchester City has partnered with Charlotte Soccer Academy (CSA) and PUMA to bring City's youth development methodology to the United States starting with the 2026-27 season. Two full-time Manchester City coaches will relocate to Charlotte to embed City's Play Model into CSA's Foundation Phase (ages 10-12) before extending across the full U9-U12 competitive pathway.
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CSA players will get annual opportunities to travel to Manchester for matches and Academy access, and PUMA — a CSA King Club partner since 2019 — is backing the collaboration, extending the trend of top European clubs investing directly in US youth academy infrastructure.
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Source: Soccerscene
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CANADIAN SPONSORSHIP SPENDING HITS $4.7B AS 2026 WORLD CUP FUELS ACTIVATIONS: A new industry study marking its 20th year found Canadian sponsorship spending has reached $4.7 billion, with brands planning a further 12% increase next year; the 2026 FIFA World Cup was flagged as a specific driver, with “numerous activations planned around the tournament,” even as sponsorship's overall share of marketing budgets has slipped from 25% to 21% over five years.
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“Sponsorship succeeds when it earns a real place in people's lives, not just visibility on a logo board,” said Dr. Norm O'Reilly.
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Source: Retail Insider · CBC Sports
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CHELSEA OWNERS BOEHLY AND WALTER IN TALKS TO SELL STAKE TO CLEARLAKE: Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and co-owner Mark Walter are negotiating the sale of their combined 25.6% stake to Clearlake Capital, the club's majority shareholder, according to the Financial Times; talks have gained momentum in recent weeks, though no deal is finalized. Boehly and Walter reportedly value the club at £5bn ($6.8bn), up from the £2.5bn the American-led consortium paid Roman Abramovich in 2022, and the exit follows a long-running rift with Clearlake co-founder Behdad Eghbali over club direction, including Boehly's sidelining on recruitment decisions.
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Walter's exit push comes days after he agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $12.5bn, and coincides with a federal investigation into his business empire — U.S. prosecutors and the SEC are examining whether Walter or his companies committed fraud by concealing financial ties while raising billions from insurers he controls. Boehly is expected to step down as chairman at season's end and exit the ownership group entirely in 2027, leaving Clearlake — itself a US private equity firm — in full command of the club.
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Source: Insider Sport
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WREXHAM AFC NAMES ROYAL BANK OF CANADA OFFICIAL BANK PARTNER AND BACK-OF-KIT SPONSOR: Wrexham AFC has signed Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as its new Back-of-Kit Sponsor, Official Bank Partner and Official Wealth Management Partner for the 2026/27 season, with the deal debuting at the club's EFL Championship opener against Cardiff City on Aug. 17. RBC's shield will sit on the back of the men's and women's shirts, and the bank — a top-10 global bank by market cap and a 20-year fixture on the world's 100 most valuable brands — will also support the Wrexham AFC Foundation's community work across Wrexham and North Wales.
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“What started as a bold idea has grown into one of the most remarkable stories in sport,” said RBC president and CEO Dave McKay, referencing Wrexham's three straight promotions since Hollywood co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds took over. The deal deepens RBC's investment in European sport as Wrexham continues converting its global media profile into blue-chip commercial partnerships.
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Source: RBC Newsroom
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