USL Expansion Thread

sbrylski

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Apr 24, 2014
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First there was the Chicago announcement with a 20,000 seat stadium, now we have Oakland set to build a 15,000 seat stadium.

http://www.usl2eastbay.com/news_article/show/846419

Very exciting. In the short term, Oakland fits nicely with local rivals in Fresno and Reno. Long term, its another ambitious effort in a large market. USL is definitely going to put some upward pressure on the bottom rung of MLS (the Foxborough Revs and Bridgeview Fire, to name two.)
 
First there was the Chicago announcement with a 20,000 seat stadium, now we have Oakland set to build a 15,000 seat stadium.

http://www.usl2eastbay.com/news_article/show/846419

Very exciting. In the short term, Oakland fits nicely with local rivals in Fresno and Reno. Long term, its another ambitious effort in a large market. USL is definitely going to put some upward pressure on the bottom rung of MLS (the Foxborough Revs and Bridgeview Fire, to name two.)
They say "East Bay" enough that I'm worried it will be a disconnected suburban mess of a location.
 
should we have a USL thread? i feel like we should have a USL thread with all expansion and other news as well as ongoing season
 
Hm, road to second MLS team in the Bay Area? Think with Raiders departure its not the worst idea.
You seriously think Oakland would have a shot at being included in MLS expansion? Perhaps if they expanded to more than 28 teams, but no chance in hell at 28.
 
Oakland is FAR closer to San Francisco than San Jose.

And I don't think they can build a SSS in San Francisco. Real estate price is through the roof.
Not sure why the league would consider putting another team in the Bay Area. The upcoming 2 to be announced plus Miami gets us to 26. Then 2 from the remaining 10 markets gets us to 28. I don't see at all how or why Oakland would sneak in to the league.
 
Indy Eleven are USL bound: https://www.patreon.com/posts/16248962

USL is looking strong. I'm seeing more and more comments from Sacramento and Cincinnati fans that staying in USL is either (1) not so bad or (2) preferred.

MLS is going to stop growing at some point soon. USL is going to have independent teams in these major markets:

Sacramento (maybe)
Oakland
Los Angeles
Las Vegas
Phoenix
San Antonio
Oklahoma City
Memphis
St. Louis
Chicago
Tampa Bay
Charlotte
Raleigh
Cincinnati (maybe)
Pittsburgh

If you knew nothing about pro soccer in the US and I said those markets made up our first division, the only comment you'd probably make is "huh, no New York." Otherwise, super legit. I'm starting to believe USL's marketing that this might eventually become the best D2 league in the world. Could even be the league that pushes MLS to open it's doors.
 
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Bumping myself here..

Anyone here follow USL to any serious degree? How is the quality of play? Is it possible to significantly follow this and MLS concurrently ? Are they games usually played at the same time? Provided I'm still living here (There's a chance I'll be moving to Florida in the next year) Hartford is quite a bit less travel time for me than the Bronx but if I go to a lot of Hartford Athletic matches will that mean missing NYCFC?
 
Bumping myself here..

Anyone here follow USL to any serious degree? How is the quality of play? Is it possible to significantly follow this and MLS concurrently ? Are they games usually played at the same time? Provided I'm still living here (There's a chance I'll be moving to Florida in the next year) Hartford is quite a bit less travel time for me than the Bronx but if I go to a lot of Hartford Athletic matches will that mean missing NYCFC?
They seem to spread their games all over the week. Most on Saturday, but I see them on pretty much every other day as well.
https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-scores

Use the drop down and randomly check week 5, week 8, week 12, etc. They have a lot of games and while they don't play every day every week, I saw games on every day of the week at some point. But mostly Saturday.
 
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Thanks for that. Hartford is about 40 minutes to an hour from me depending on traffic so definitely plan to check this out provided I'm still here. Except for a odd cup game should be no real reason I can't support both Hartford and NYCFC