This should be fun to watch:
Promotion and relegation is coming to American professional soccer for the first time, according to a report from The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. The United Soccer Leagues (USL), representing American professional soccer’s second and third tiers, voted to add promotion-relegation to their system. Currently, it is set up with the USL Championship featuring 24 teams and the third-tier USL League One featuring 14 teams.
Many teams are in non-MLS markets, allowing cities a cheaper point of entry for owners and a separate set-up to the 30-team top division. In February, the USL also applied to U.S. Soccer for first-division status, aiming to establish USL Premier, which would be classified as a first division alongside MLS.
If the USL Premier becomes a reality, it will likely have promotion and relegation through three divisions in the USL Championship and USL League 1. At the same time, MLS remains a separate single-entity structure.
The European soccer leagues have a lot – and I mean a LOT – to learn from the NFL. But the one thing they do right is promotion and relegation, which adds serious spice to the lower leagues and drives interest in them.
It wouldn’t hurt to apply it to the House and Senate, while we’re at it.