In the 2024 summer, the USL began the USL Super League, a new women’s competition that was awarded division one sanctioning by U.S. Soccer alongside the NWSL. Yesterday, the USL made a bold move to do the same on the men’s side. 

They announced plans to launch a new division one men’s professional league in 2027, with the aim of expanding its presence in the U.S.

“Today is a defining moment for the USL and the future of soccer in the United States,” said Alec Papadakis, CEO of the USL. 

“Creating a Division One league is a bold step forward, expanding access to top-tier competition, deepening the connection between our communities and taking another step in aligning with the structure of the global game. By uniting people through soccer and bringing Division One to more cities, we’re not just growing the sport—we’re creating lasting opportunities while building a more sustainable and vibrant soccer ecosystem in the U.S.”

For division one status, U.S. Soccer requires a league to have at least 12 teams spread out across the Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones, with 75% of clubs in metropolitan markets that have a population of one million, and stadium capacities of at least 15,000.

So far, the USL has not announced which teams will be in their new top league. It is safe to assume cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Raleigh, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Tampa will have teams there, especially since all of them lack MLS teams at the moment.

They all currently have teams in the USL Championship though, which is a division two league. There is also the USL League One, a division three league. We could see a promotion and relegation between the leagues in the future, which is the longterm goal for the USL president Paul McDonough.

“It’s a key moment for soccer in this country, and as we see where this game is going, we want to be a part of it,” McDonough said in an interview with The Athletic. 

“Taking this big initiative allows for the growth of the game throughout the country. We’ve been very public about trying to get there with (pro-rel). We’re not there yet, but we’ll continue to push forward with it.”

This is a big attractive factor for many people to start caring about the USL. Currently, there is a big number of American soccer fans who openly criticize MLS for its lack of promotion and relegation. So if the USL can implement that, it will be a huge hit with those fans.

Especially with the Club World Cup this summer and the World Cup next summer, soccer’s popularity will explode and the USL will also have an opportunity to gain the attention of new fans.

When the 1994 World Cup happened, the launch of MLS followed afterwards and many new soccer fans remained fans of the sport by following this new league. The same scenario could repeat with the launch of the USL’s top division league a year after the World Cup.

One thing though, it won’t be easy competing with MLS. The league is constantly expanding with San Diego being added this year to be the 30th team. 

Many MLS teams are worth nearly a billion dollars, with investors constantly coming into MLS as they see it as a growing league with massive potential. So for the USL to compete with MLS, they will need people with deep pockets willing to invest into the league and also get a huge TV deal with a big network.

Regardless, it is just amazing to see soccer growing more and more in this country. McDonough believes in the potential of the sport in the U.S., which is why he is going ahead with this launch.

“If soccer in the country is truly going to grow, it’s going to grow outside of 30 or 32 markets,” McDonough said.

“When you look at the size of the country, and you look at what can happen in a place like Louisville or Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they’re doing so well with attendance and growing the game, our feeling is that if we can execute this well, with the size of our country, this can help soccer by providing more top-tier soccer in markets that traditionally wouldn’t see it.”