USL sticking to 2028 target for pro/rel transformation

There hasn’t been much news out of the United Soccer Leagues recently regarding their ambitious plans to launch promotion and relegation along with a new top tier USL Premier division, but my understanding is that clubs and the league as a whole remain very committed to the 2028 date.

No firm decision has been taken yet on the exact format for how pro/rel will work but the indications are that a pro/rel playoff is likely to be part of the set-up. That would mean that one of the teams finishing in the ‘relegation zone’ would face a club from the division below’ in a knockout tie to decide who gets the place in the top tier.

The recent agreement around a revenue-sharing system was part of the league getting it’s ducks in a row ahead of the transformation. Tony Scholes, the former Chief Football Officer of England’s Premier League, has recently taken up his role in Tampa as President of the new USL Premier and while he has been keeping a low profile, he has been busy working with league and club officials on the execution of the plans.

Meanwhile more Hometown moves on the horizon

While USL works on their transformation, MLS Next Pro, with the KKR-backed Hometown Soccer Holdings, continue to roll out their radical plan to move the reserve teams of MLS club in the third-tier league, into new markets.

While there remains a degree of flexibility offered to clubs, the overall thinking is that teams will move to markets roughly within driving distance of the main MLS market. The recent announcements that Toronto FC II will relocate to Barrie and NYCFC II will be based in Edison, NJ, both fit that model although it is not being ruled out that some clubs might move further afield.

Expect a drip-drip of announcements from MLS Next Pro over the coming months as clubs finalize their plans to create new rebranded affiliate teams complete with their own venues and local front office operations.

MLS expansion - the great disruptor?

While we have already seen some skirmishes between USL and MLSNP (see Long Island, NY), those would pale into insignificance compared to the potential impact of MLS expansion into existing USL Championship (Premier?) markets.

Outgoing MLS commissioner Don Garber recently held talks with the mayor of Indianapolis about a potential stadium plan which could open the door to an expansion slot. Local media coverage has focused on the lack of an agreed site (and indeed the absence to this point of a clearly identified ownership group) but the elephant in the room is the presence in the market of existing USL Championship club Indy Eleven.

It is a similar situation in other markets viewed as potential MLS targets — Las Vegas and Phoenix - both of which have existing USL Championship clubs (Las Vegas Lights and Phoenix Rising). MLS’s most recent expansion was San Diego — a move which resulted in the demise of the USL club San Diego Loyal just three months after MLS had announced their expansion plan.

Two podcasts released this week for your soccer business listening pleasure.

I recenty took the pod on the road and sat down by Lake Como in Italy with Mirwan Suwarso, President of Serie A club Como 1907. (Yes, I know, the sacrifices I make for my audience...) This is a pod about the rise of a club from Serie D to the Champions League but it also - more importantly to readers of this newsletter - a case study in how a small soccer club can maximize their revenues through an imaginative and expansion approach to brand-building and innovation - while remaining firmly rooted in the local community. I think there are tons of takeaways for club builders in North America from the chat with Mirwan. Click the image below for links to the show on all major platforms.

In the latest of our series on the business of women's soccer Kay Cossington MBE joined us for a wide-ranging discussion, Kay spent 20 years building women's football from the inside at England's FA — then moved into the private equity world. She is now. CEO of Bay Collective and Head of Global Women's Football at Sixth Street, running a multi-club ownership platform which includes the NWSL's Bay FC and English WSL 2 club Sunderland. Kay has frank and informed opinions on a ton of issues facing women's professional soccer. Again links to the episode on Spotify, Apple and You Tube from the image below.

There are plenty more episodes coming up in the pipeline and it really helps me build the platform if you are able to click subscribe on You Tube, follow on Spotify or subscribe on Apple.

HASLAM SPORTS GROUP NAMES MARY SHEPRO TO RUN BUSINESS OPERATIONS FOR BOTH COLUMBUS CREW AND ITS NEW NWSL FRANCHISE. Shepro, promoted to Crew president last year, will now oversee marketing, ticketing, sponsorship and facilities for both the MLS club and HSG's forthcoming NWSL expansion team — which paid a league-record $205 million expansion fee, will play at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, and debuts in 2028 alongside Atlanta. The shared-executive model puts Columbus in line with five existing markets — Houston, Orlando, Louisville, Seattle and Utah — where one business chief already runs both a market's men's and women's clubs. Source: Sports Business Journal.

UFL TO PLAY IN SOCCER STADIUMS ACROSS THREE NEW MARKETS AS IT EXPANDS PAST THE SOUTHEAST. The United Football League is placing 2027 and 2028 expansion teams inside existing soccer venues: a Colorado Springs franchise will share Weidner Field with USL's Colorado Springs Switchbacks, a Rhode Island club moves into Centreville Bank Stadium alongside USL side Rhode Island FC, and a 2028 Utah team will play at America First Field, home to MLS's Real Salt Lake and the NWSL's Utah Royals.

AC GRAND RAPIDS TAPS VIVENU AS TICKETING PARTNER AHEAD OF 2027 MLS NEXT PRO DEBUT. The West Michigan independent MLS Next Pro club has signed a multi-year deal with ticketing platform vivenu to power sales for its inaugural season at the new 8,500-seat Amway Stadium, opening March 19, 2027, with club president Darrius Barnes citing full control over ticketing data and branding as the draw. AC Grand Rapids is currently taking season-ticket deposits ahead of an on-sale phase expected in mid-October. Sources: AC Grand Rapids​

STANFORD SOCCER PROGRAMS HEADLINE DOORDASH'S BIGGEST-EVER COLLEGE SPONSORSHIP. Stanford's men's and women's soccer teams are among the headline beneficiaries of the largest sponsorship in Stanford Athletics history, as the university and DoorDash — co-founded by Stanford alumni Tony Xu, Andy Fang and Stanley Tang as a 2013 class project — launch a multi-year, department-wide partnership including DoorDash's first-ever collegiate jersey patch. At least 15 varsity programs, soccer among them, will wear the patch (football debuts it first, Saturday vs. Georgia Tech), Source: Stanford Athletics​

DAYNA SPIRING NAMED FIRST PRESIDENT OF WINNIPEG'S NORTHERN SUPER LEAGUE CLUB, TAKING AN OWNERSHIP STAKE. The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers board chair and ex-Economic Development Winnipeg CEO will run the business and hold equity in the NSL's seventh franchise alongside co-founders Desiree Scott and Rob Gale. City, provincial and federal governments have combined with the league on an $8.5m investment for a 4,500-seat modular stadium at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex ahead of the club's spring 2027 debut, which has already logged over 830 season-ticket deposits.

MLS EXPANSION TALK REVIVES IN INDIANAPOLIS — BUT INDY AND THREE OTHER CANDIDATE MARKETS ARE STILL SHORT OF A DEAL. Mayor Joe Hogsett has shifted Indianapolis's stadium proposal to a site near Lucas Oil Stadium, abandoning the long-stalled Downtown Heliport plan, and met with outgoing commissioner Don Garber this month to revive talks — though Garber remains noncommittal (“I don't see us going beyond 32, and I'm not sure 32 is coming anytime soon”) and the city still lacks a cleared funding mechanism (its taxing-district bill has sat off the State Budget Committee's agenda for two years) and a named ownership group willing to cover an expansion fee running up to half a billion dollars before stadium costs.

Indianapolis isn't alone in that limbo: Sacramento has the strongest venue story of the candidate markets, with its 20,000-plus-seat Railyards stadium under construction for a 2028 target, though the USL club's owners haven't committed to an MLS bid; Las Vegas is furthest along procedurally, with an investor group led by Grant Gustavson already before the league but no long-term venue plan; and Phoenix — seen as an obvious gap in MLS's map given its demographics — still lacks a confirmed ownership-and-stadium package (although we hear that might be about to change). MLS's own framing has shifted from picking by market size to weighing capitalized ownership, stadium revenue control and strategic fit, and none of the four has cleared that bar yet. Sources: Axios Indianapolis | Simon Evans, LinkedIn​

AKRON CITY FC AND LORAIN COUNTY LEVIATHAN FC OWNERSHIP GROUPS ACQUIRE THE NORTHERN OHIO SOCCER LEAGUE. A six-party group — including Akron City FC's Nick Turchan, Lorain County Leviathan FC's Andrew McDonnell, Rockport Wealth Advisors CEO Adam Stalnaker and the Lake Erie Crushers' ownership team — bought the 28-team amateur NOSL (20 men's, 8 women's clubs) in a deal reportedly exceeding six figures paid out over 24 months, and plans to professionalize league operations and create entry-level sports-business roles ahead of the 2027 season.

PREMIER LEAGUE SHIRT-SPONSORSHIP REVENUE CLIMBS TO £444M DESPITE THE GAMBLING BAN — LED BY LIVERPOOL'S RECORD TURKISH AIRLINES DEAL. Ampere Analysis puts front-of-shirt sponsorship revenue across the league up 8% to £444 million this season, with the “Big Six” capturing roughly £45m of the growth as Arsenal and Chelsea both upgraded deals; the voluntary gambling-sponsor ban cost clubs £67m but £75m in replacement sponsorship more than covered it, even as total betting-brand spend across the league fell by over 20%. The standout deal: Liverpool has signed Turkish Airlines as its new front-of-shirt partner from 2027-28 in a five-year, £300m agreement (about £60m a year), ending Standard Chartered's 17-year run as shirt sponsor — Standard Chartered moves to a global-partner role rather than departing outright.Sources: City AM | Goal.com | Liverpool FC​

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SWITCHES BEER SPONSOR TO STELLA ARTOIS, ENDING HEINEKEN'S 30-YEAR RUN. AB InBev's Stella Artois will replace Heineken as UEFA's official beer partner across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League from 2027/28, in a six-season deal reported at roughly €200m annually (about €1.2bn total) — a jump of around 67% on Heineken's reported €120m-a-year terms. The switch lands alongside broader changes to UEFA's commercial operations, including new agency Relevent replacing TEAM Marketing as the rights cycle resets. Sources: Yahoo Sports​

SERVICEPLAN CULTURE PARTNERS WITH MONARCH COLLECTIVE TO ADVISE BRANDS ON WOMEN'S FOOTBALL. The tie-up pairs the creative agency with Monarch Collective, the $100m women's-sports investment fund, to help brands build more credible women's football strategies as sponsor interest in the category keeps growing. Source: Campaign Germany​

WREXHAM OWNERS BUY THE TURF PUB NEXT TO RACECOURSE GROUND. Wrexham Holdings — the Ryan Reynolds/Rob McElhenney ownership vehicle — purchased the Turf from Admiral Taverns for an undisclosed sum, aiming to bring the club, Racecourse Ground and the pub (Wrexham's 1864 founding meeting place and a former matchday changing room) under one ownership and fund further fan-experience investment. The deal lands as the club, promoted three times since the pair's 2021 takeover, competes in the Championship — its highest tier since 1982. Source: Yahoo Sports​