The USL picks up Tampa Bay and Ottawa at the NASL’s expense

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The USL picks up Tampa Bay and Ottawa at the NASL’s expense

By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Oct 21, 2016) US Soccer Players - Needless to say, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury timing could be a bit better. Certainly if you’re running a professional soccer league with ambitions of reaching the top of the game in North America.

Tuesday’s announcement that both the Rowdies and Fury will be moving to the United Soccer League in 2017 is a significant blow the the competition they’re exiting, the North American Soccer League. It comes just ahead of the final weekend of the NASL regular season. At a time when focus should be on the field in the NASL, attention shifts to the drama off it. This comes at a time when the league would prefer to have the focus on several success stories and a high quality of play,

The reasons for the dual exodus are economic and pragmatic. The USL represents a chance to continue operating at lower costs in a league with a clearer future in front of it. Rowdies owner Bill Edwards was, once upon a time, happy to help prop up some of the more financially destitute teams in the NASL. Now, with the winds of change blowing in the wrong direction, even a league stalwart like Edwards decided self-relegation was the correct choice.

That’s what it is, self-relegation. A supremely unique phenomenon to American and Canadian soccer, self-relegation is almost always driven by financial concerns. In this case, the level distinctions between lower divisions in this part of the world should have very little bearing on the popularity of a clubs opting to drop down. Logic suggests it would be more difficult to sell soccer fans on supporting a team if they’re in the third division rather than the second. However, the current state of the NASL and the rise of USL is blurring those lines.