USL

About

The United Soccer League is the largest professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, and the world with 29 teams in 19 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. The USL has more than doubled in size since 2014 and built a stable, highly competitive professional soccer league on a national footprint with strong local ownership groups in major markets positioned for long-term success.

The 2016 season marks the introduction of six teams – Bethlehem Steel FC, FC Cincinnati, Orlando City B, Rio Grande Valley FC, San Antonio FC and Swope Park Rangers KC. In addition to league play, USL teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as various domestic and international exhibitions. The USL is the longest-standing professional affiliate member of U.S. Soccer.

Teams & Schedule 

The USL’s 2016 regular season schedule features a 435-game slate kicking off on March 25. The league’s footprint is national but its schedule is highlighted by a regional approach designed to build rivalries. The 2016 USL Regular Season will be staged over 27 weeks, with the final day of the season set for September 25. The USL’s 29 teams are divided into two conferences — Eastern and Western – with each team playing 30 games.

 

MLS Partnership

Major League Soccer and the USL announced a groundbreaking, multi-year partnership in early 2013 designed to enhance the development of professional players in North America.

Three years later, the partnership between the two leagues cannot be viewed as anything other than a resounding success. With the 2015 season seeing full integration between the two leagues – with MLS clubs either partnering with current USL clubs or entering their own side in the USL – both leagues have seen positives on and off the field.

2014 saw the addition of the LA Galaxy II to the USL, the first team in league history to be owned and operated by an MLS club.

The Galaxy II’s success prompted seven additional MLS clubs to enter their own sides for 2015. For 2016, the Philadelphia Union have announced a club in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, and the Houston Dynamo are partnering with newly-announced Rio Grande Valley FC, which is constructing its own 10,000-seat soccer-specific stadium. Sporting Kansas City and Orlando City SC will also enter teams in the 2016 season, as the Swope Park Rangers and Orlando City B take to the field for the first time.

Overall, there will be 11 USL teams owned and operated by MLS clubs and nine USL-MLS affiliations among the 29 USL clubs.