How Ted Lasso and Wrexham helped bring promotion-relegation to American soccer

Analysis

Tom Weber | Writer

The United Soccer League (USL) has doubled down on its plan to become the first professional sports organization with promotion and relegation in the United States.

Last year, USL dropped a bombshell when it unveiled its proposal to implement a promotion and relegation system between its fully professional USL League One (third division), USL Championship (second division) and a yet-to-be-created first tier, to be called USL Premier.

This plan was met in equal measure with excitement and skepticism. A notoriously vocal section of soccer fans in the US has been calling for pro-rel for decades. It always seemed far-fetched until USL started building a coherent ecosystem of leagues in the late 2010s.

Yet the history of soccer in the US has shown that getting too excited about grand designs like this means setting yourself up for disappointment. Clubs and leagues have come and gone with little stability to speak of beyond post-2005 Major League Soccer.

In fact, the vagaries of American soccer still plague USL. Clubs fold on an annual basis, and at the time of the announcement, the organization still had to agree a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union. The new CBA was only ratified last month after more than a year of tense talks.

USL's new branding

The skepticism, then, was well-founded - and, to some extent, it still is. Following USL's announcement of its pro-rel intentions and the creation of a new Division I league in February 2025, there was mostly radio silence.

In November 2025, it was announced that Premier League executive Tony Scholes would head USL Premier. That would be pretty much the only major update for the best part of a year. Understandably, supporters of the project started getting antsy.

Now, though, it is clear that USL really is committed to doing this thing. During a recent podcast appearance, president Paul McDonough confirmed that the plans are not dead. Moreover, the new CBA specifically contains provisions for USL Premier, and an MLS-style revenue-sharing agreement has also been announced.

That was followed this week by the organisation's announcement of a wholesale rebrand for January 2027. USL has created a new, unified identity for all of its leagues, complete with a "stair-step" element meant to represent promotion and relegation (which admittedly seems like a stretch).

Things are - finally - happening. The organization reiterated that it intends to launch pro-rel in 2028. Dan Rutstein, president of USL Championship club Orange County SC, believes that America is ready for this new way of doing sports.

Citing the success of TV series Ted Lasso and Welcome to Wrexham, with the latter documenting the real-life rise of a Welsh club from the English fifth tier to the second division, Rutstein told GOAL that pro-rel is no longer an alien concept to the average American.

"I am as bullish as I've ever been on it," he insisted. "It feels incredibly real, and with Ted Lasso and Wrexham, just the number of people in this country who understand promotion-relegation as a concept, and you speak to sponsors, and they're excited about promotion-relegation, and you know the fact that there could be games of jeopardy and games of consequence that run a lot longer into the season."

Question marks over D1 status

The largest hurdle that USL still needs to clear to honor its promises is the actual creation of USL Premier. Getting a Division I league off the ground isn't easy - especially since one (MLS) already exists.

There are stringent criteria that must be fulfilled in order to receive D1 sanctioning. Critics believe that the current requirements' sole purpose is to protect MLS's status as the only top division in the US.

The league can't have fewer than 12 teams, the majority (75%) of which have to play in a metropolitan area with a population of one million or more. The principal owners of these clubs need to have a net worth of at least $40 million, while the minimum stadium capacity is 15,000.

There are currently only a handful of USL clubs that fulfil more than one requirement, let alone all of them. USL Premier will therefore require sweeping waivers, or US Soccer will have to amend its regulations.

It was recently speculated that MLS's decision to fully return to the US Open Cup for 2027 (a D1 requirement) is a way of pressuring US Soccer into upholding the status quo with regards to its rules. MLS is now fully compliant again and could try to protect its unique D1 standing by arguing that USL shouldn't be allowed to get waivers for Premier.

Clubs like the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Detroit City and the Sacramento Republic are working on stadium projects that would meet D1 requirements, but there are still major concerns over USL's ability to assemble enough teams for a top flight.

A spokesperson told GOAL that "constructive" discussions are taking place with US Soccer in order to launch USL Premier. "We're working closely with U.S. Soccer and other stakeholders as we prepare to launch USL Premier and introduce promotion and relegation in 2028," they explained.

"Our conversations remain constructive, and we appreciate their collaboration as American soccer evolves and we look toward the future of the professional game. We're taking a disciplined approach to building Premier, with a focus on strong ownership groups and the long-term success of our clubs and the league."

Of course, USL doesn't need Premier to implement pro-rel between League One and the Championship, but it would undermine trust in the organization if it failed to deliver on the D1 promise. It will be fascinating to see how the discussions with US Soccer develop.

Written by

Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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