On 18th March 2025 the USL owners voted to implement the globally accepted model of hierarchy of teams within the league system, shattering Eurosnobs’ ability to mock them.

‘Deeply unserious’ ‘closed league’ and ‘non competitive’ are all pejoratives that non-Americans can only level against the MLS as of yesterday, as the USL steps confidently into the 21st century with the historic move to promotion/relegation. 

No professional American sports league in history has implemented these globally adopted measures, with the decision preceding American soccer’s appearance on the world stage, in the 2026 World Cup. This adoption signals a willingness for the USA to be taken seriously as a footballing nation instead of a closed shop perceived only as a retirement destination. 

The move doubtless will have tangible benefits beyond the cessation of bullying from the rest of the world, potential new owners can now invest in the grass roots upwards with the hope of hard work and sensible capital investment paying dividends: The American Dream. 

Brett Johnson, part owner of Rhode Island FC has consistently advocated for Pro/Rel notably on the TideTalk Podcast available here : ‘I love the construct, every game is a must win.’ ‘ [it brings] a whole new level of energy and competitiveness to American Soccer’. Johnson, as reported in the Athletic (who broke the news of the announcement first), is quoted as saying that the Pro/Rel motion passed with ‘a very strong mandate’

The news follows the announcement of a new USL division 1 league, which is now expected to launch in 2027/2028 with a Promotion/Relegation format. It is difficult to predict what this will look like, however yesterday plans for a three tier pyramid were announced, with  multiple sports commentators predicting 12-16 teams in the top league. 

This is a shot across the bow of the MLS, announced just before the first game of the Open Cup, this development puts the USL in a position to (eventually) challenge for dominance in US soccer. It must be stressed that this would be a long way off, with the MLS drawing considerably higher commercial revenue than the USL, with more favourable (though not unreachable) viewership numbers. 

Pro/Rel is a much more attractive proposition for USL ownership groups, as the jeopardy for relegation is much less: most of the revenue for USL clubs comes from match day revenue, and not commercial sponsorship and broadcast fees (the latter two would be greatly diminished in the event of relegation). 

Rhode Island FC, unsurprisingly, have welcomed the announcement, and have plans to start the 2028 season in the Division 1 league. With their inaugural season being as successful as it was, there is little wonder why Pro/Rel is so attractive as a concept to such a competitive team.  

What we know:

• The USL owners managed a supermajority in voting for Pro/Rel.
• This will take effect in the new USL Division 1 league 
• Hartford Athletic would have been relegated 3 times in their 6 year history if Pro/Rel existed. 

What we do not know is what this new league format will look like, and how Pro/Rel will be implemented. There are many possibilities, though real journalists (again Paul Tenorio of The Athletic has done some excellent writing) have mooted the idea of the bottom teams of the top division facing the top teams of the lower league to see who plays in D1 the next season. Certainly nothing is in stone just yet.

These are exciting times for the USL, who are going through unprecedented expansion before the US hosts the World Cup, this announcement is the latest in a string of high profile announcements for the league, which further diverts attention away from the MLS, who are still riding on the ever diminishing returns of project Messi. 

This article has relied heavily on the hard work of real sports journalists, notably Paul Tenorio of The Athletic. To support real sports journalism, you can sign up for The Athletic today for as little as $1 a month via this link. 

(I do not benefit at all from you signing up to The Athletic, but I think it’s important to support real journalists doing real work in breaking news about the USL) 

Scott- Tide Talk Atlantic Correspondant