North American Pro Soccer 2015

[Gothamite]

The NASL is safe as the 2nd tier for one big reason. The have a hold of the strongest soccer hotbed in the US. The state of Florida.

And he's quick with a joke, or to light up a smoke...

[bosrs1]

The NASL is safe as the 2nd tier for one big reason. The have a hold of the strongest soccer hotbed in the US. The state of Florida. That hotbed is getting hotter. Until they lose those three successful teams, the other leagues below them will never touch them. Even if they have double the clubs of the NASL.

Except for you know the whole USSF minimum requirements to be rated D2 that they've yet to meet... But sure they're the Florida League... good for them.

[Island_Style]

Laugh all you want but I know im ahead on this one. 10 years from now you will see articles upon articles about how Florida runs soccer. And just like my Jags prediction, I'm going to be here years later telling you I told you so because I got nothing else better to do.

[Gothamite]

Gotta admit, you say the most bizarre , but I love your self-depricating sense of humor. You're a good egg.

Nevertheless, he's right - the NASL needs West Coast teams to hold on to D2. Even if the three Florida teams come to rival Real Madrid, it won't be enough to sustain their league.

[Island_Style]

What? You could not be more wrong. I'll give you a little lesson. There are two things that are really important for league stability. attendance and viewership. If you have 3 teams in any league in the US averaging over 70,000 fans a game, you are looking at your new tier 1 league. Those teams already making more money than any MLS team. They're going to afford to bring in the big stars. And if there are 70 thousand people going to 3 different teams a year, there is viewership interest there. And networks like ESPN will pounce. It doesn't matter if the closest team to California is in Alabama. If three teams are averaging over 70,000 a game, you are looking at your new number one league. That ridiculous that comment.

[Still MIGHTY]

What? You could not be more wrong. I'll give you a little lesson. There are two things that are really important for league stability. attendance and viewership. If you have 3 teams in any league in the US averaging over 70,000 fans a game, you are looking at your new tier 1 league. Those teams already making more money than any MLS team. They're going to afford to bring in the big stars. And if there are 70 thousand people going to 3 different teams a year, there is viewership interest there. And networks like ESPN will pounce. It doesn't matter if the closest team to California is in Alabama. If three teams are averaging over 70,000 a game, you are looking at your new number one league. That ridiculous that comment.

Except for you know the whole USSF minimum requirements to be rated D2 that they've yet to meet... But sure they're the Florida League... good for them.

[Gothamite]

What? You could not be more wrong. I'll give you a little lesson. There are two things that are really important for league stability. attendance and viewership. If you have 3 teams in any league in the US averaging over 70,000 fans a game, you are looking at your new tier 1 league. Those teams already making more money than any MLS team. They're going to afford to bring in the big stars. And if there are 70 thousand people going to 3 different teams a year, there is viewership interest there. And networks like ESPN will pounce. It doesn't matter if the closest team to California is in Alabama. If three teams are averaging over 70,000 a game, you are looking at your new number one league. That ridiculous that comment.

I'm glad you're now a soccer fan, but you really should learn a little more about the sport before making another post like this. This is not the "lesson" you perhaps intended to give.

I'd start with googling "US Soccer Pyramid" - leagues have to be sanctioned by the USSF. That's why West Coast teams are essential for the NASL; if they don't get at least one quickly, they'll lose their license to operate a Division 2 league. They've already received one extension from the governing body, which may not be inclined to grant another.

Even if your three teams become wildly successful (and I'll grant that Jacksonville is off to a great start, as is its MLS brother Orlando), the USSF isn't going to grant D1 status on that alone.

You can't have a scenario like the American Football League in the 60s or the American League in the early days of the 20th century, because neither of those sports had a governing body deciding who was major league and who wasn't. You could have upstart leagues forming and challenging for status based solely on the money they could make and the tickets they could sell. Soccer just isn't like that.

No, what's far more likely in your scenario is that the three Real Floridas would be encouraged to apply for MLS expansion franchises. They would be absorbed into the existing Division 1, as Orlando, Portland and Minnesota were before them. That's how it works; teams may show they belong in the top tier, but leagues don't just get to announce that means them.

[-kj]

Also, talk to me when Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale average seven thousand, never mind seventy.

[Gothamite]

I think he was riffing off my statement that even three Real Madrid-level teams in Florida wouldn't make the NASL a top-tier league.

But yeah, "the strongest soccer hotbed in the US" is just silly, even by the partisan standards on boards like this. And even were it true, it wouldn't be enough to hold on to D2 without the USSF's other conditions being met.

[crashcarson15]

Why, exactly, are we all convinced NASL is all concerned about meeting the USSF requirements to be a D2 league?

If the federation strips the league of the moniker, what’s going to change?

[pcgd]

As Gothamite said in another thread:

Sing it with me, kids - Rules are made to be broken.

The USL's west coast presence once the Republic go to MLS consists of Arizona United, Orange County and 4 reserve squads. The USSF is dumb and in MLS's pocket, but to elevate that at the expense of the stronger NASL markets, seems pretty silly. All for an arguably arbitrary requirement. Far more important is the financial requirements IMO, which can Orange County or the AZ United meet?

If all the NASL needs is an Orange County level franchise then put a league owned team in Stockton at a high school, average 500 fans a game and be done with it.

[pcgd]

Why, exactly, are we all convinced NASL is all concerned about meeting the USSF requirements to be a D2 league?

If the federation strips the league of the moniker, whats going to change?

Could change their standing in the U.S. Open Cup, or their participation in general.

[Gothamite]

Why, exactly, are we all convinced NASL is all concerned about meeting the USSF requirements to be a D2 league?

If the federation strips the league of the moniker, whats going to change?

Could change their standing in the U.S. Open Cup, or their participation in general.

More than just that - it would cut the NASL off from all levels of global soccer. They go rogue, and they lose all connections with the USSF and FIFA.

That would affect the players themselves, as every one on an NASL roster would lose his national team eligibility. The clubs wouldn't be able to participate in the larger soccer world either, as friendlies with MLS, USL or international clubs would be out.

This would also kill their ability to sign European players, even those without a national team spot to lose. They won't come to the States to play for an outlaw league - they'll stay in Europe and play in the lower divisions or if they come to America it'll be for the bigger USL clubs.

Losing USSF sanction would be the end of the NASL. There's no way to sugar-coat or spin it. If they're stripped of their sanction, the bigger clubs will break away to the USL and the smaller clubs will disappear, the NASL relegated to history books for the same time.

[Nyk33]

I think the NASL should try to put a team in the Inland Empire and be done with it. Some people from California keep on saying how the Inland Empire has the potential to be a big sports market so I say the league should give the fine folks of the Inland Empire an opportunity.

[crashcarson15]

Why, exactly, are we all convinced NASL is all concerned about meeting the USSF requirements to be a D2 league?

If the federation strips the league of the moniker, whats going to change?

Could change their standing in the U.S. Open Cup, or their participation in general.

More than just that - it would cut the NASL off from all levels of global soccer. They go rogue, and they lose all connections with the USSF and FIFA.

That would affect the players themselves, as every one on an NASL roster would lose his national team eligibility. The clubs wouldn't be able to participate in the larger soccer world either, as friendlies with MLS, USL or international clubs would be out.

This would also kill their ability to sign European players, even those without a national team spot to lose. They won't come to the States to play for an outlaw league - they'll stay in Europe and play in the lower divisions or if they come to America it'll be for the bigger USL clubs.

Losing USSF sanction would be the end of the NASL. There's no way to sugar-coat or spin it. If they're stripped of their sanction, the bigger clubs will break away to the USL and the smaller clubs will disappear, the NASL relegated to history books for the same time.

I’m not talking about losing USSF sanction. I’m talking about the league losing the D2 moniker and, I guess, being classified as D3. What does it really change?

[Gothamite]

Sorry, didn't understand your question.

That will definitely impact their positioning in the U.S. Open Cup. Higher divisions get byes to later rounds, so any NASL team will have to play more games.

I would expect that being a third division league will make it harder to bring in foreign talent. It's one thing to be a strong D2, another altogether to be D3 with no chance of promotion. It will also hurt their ability to not only lure additional ownership groups, but keep the ones they have. Whoever ends up in the third division will be playing against MLS reserve sides, which is hardly what teams like the Cosmos signed up for.

[Breakwood]

I don't really follow the whole debate between USL and NASL and I don't really get why the argument exists but it's pretty clear to me that the NASL is a much better league than the USL. Everything about it is better from players to owners to attendance. There's a pretty clear gulf between the 2, just as there is between MLS and NASL.

I'd say the USA has a pretty clear pyramid:

1. MLS

2.NASL

3. USL

4. PDL

[Geoff]

No one's debating that. Except the 4th, 5th, and 6th tiers have multiple leagues.

[Breakwood]

No one's debating that. Except the 4th, 5th, and 6th tiers have multiple leagues.

As does every country in the world.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, the pyramid is very clear at the moment.

The only things in play are:

1) that the NASL hasn't added West Coast teams, as they are required to in order to maintain their D2 status, and;

2) that the USL has announced its intention to eventually apply for D2 status, but the exact shape of that remains unknown. All teams? Some teams? They haven't said.