What United Soccer League changes mean for Phoenix Rising
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Phoenix Rising lifts the USL Championship Cup. Photo: Courtesy of Eryn Nicholson with Phoenix Rising
The United Soccer League is making moves to compete more directly with Major League Soccer, giving Phoenix Rising a chance to level up Arizona's professional soccer scene.
The big picture: USL owners voted this week to introduce promotion and relegation by 2028 as they prepare to launch a new top-tier soccer league.
Why it matters: This is a huge move in the U.S. soccer landscape, with the potential to "raise the stakes" of every match and provide clear growth pathways for clubs, Phoenix Rising president Bobby Dulle said in a press release.
- It also incentivizes long-term investment in clubs, he said.
How it works: The new system will reward teams that perform well with promotion to a higher league.
- Teams that perform poorly will face relegation to a lower league.
Context: The USL last month announced plans to launch a Division One league in 2027-28. It is intended to rival Major League Soccer as the top tier for the men's game in the U.S.
- With the existing second-division USL Championship (the Rising's current league) and third-division USL League One, USL Division One would create a pyramid structure for promotions and relegations.
- It is unclear what the exact layout for promotion and relegation will look like, such as the number of teams that will move up or down each season, or if there will be financial incentives for promotion.
The intrigue: The Rising would have qualified for promotion two years ago when they won the United Soccer League Championship had the new system been in place then.
Between the lines: Promotion and relegation is common outside the U.S., including in England's Premier League.
- In the Premier League, the bottom three teams are relegated to the Championship. The Championship's top two teams are automatically promoted, and the winner of playoffs between teams finishing third to sixth gets the third promotion spot.
- If you're among the millions of people who watched "Ted Lasso" on Apple TV+, you've already been exposed to the concept.
What they're saying: "Now, just as it is in the global game, more communities in America can aspire to compete at the highest level of soccer," Alec Papadakis, CEO of the United Soccer League, said in a statement. "It's time."