Begging ESPN+

If you’re like me, and watched the opening round of the US Open Cup these last couple of days, you had to be struck may the excellence of the matches. In just two nights of matches, we had:

1. 5 matches out 19 ended in penalty kicks. That’s almost 25% of the matches played were even for 120 minutes!

2. A second-year UPSL side beat the reigning champion of the NPSL and who will be going pro in just a few months.

3. A club from a tiny regional league in the Denver area knocked off a strong NPSL club with a winning shot by a defender in the last 2 minutes of the match.

4. A club get cheated out of a match-tying goal on a bogus off sides call.

5. Forward Madison, one of the most talked about expansion sides in recent memory, make their Open Cup debut.

And all of this was seen through the lens of ESPN+, an online channel available for single digit monthly costs, with announcers, multiple camera angles, and a level of professionalism rarely seen in the home-made broadcasts most of the clubs in the first round are typically viewed. It was glorious, top to bottom, every match had a storyline, a great ending, or some other element that made it worth watching. So after this first round is finally complete, I only have one question. Why didn’t ESPN+ air the qualifiers?

GOAL! 🚨@FC_Denver have their second goal and it's come in the 89th minute! What a time to get it. Sockers fail to clear a long ball and it falls to Kyle Crouse who shoots from outside of the box and finds the far post bottom corner. 2-1! #USOC2019 pic.twitter.com/mMIwoHJfan

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 9, 2019

If you missed seeing those matches, they were, in some instances broadcasted by the clubs themselves. But many were not, leaving interested fans scrambling to social media for updates on matches. The final round of qualifiers were actually banned from broadcasting, leaving the only option for updates to follow someone at the match online. I was one of the lucky ones to be at one of those matches and saw FC Denver come back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 over Southwest FC in extra time. So watching that same Denver club finish off the Laredo Heat had a tremendous amount of context. When that defender hit that swirling, curving game-winner, I recognized him from that 4th round qualifier. I knew his quality and the quality of his club so I watched their first round match against Laredo, knowing they were capable of coming back later in a match.

So please, ESPN+, make the investment and air the qualifying matches. Need a list of reasons? Allow me to offer mine.

1. The matches are entertaining and will bring viewers into the Cup proper because they will be rooting for the underdogs.

2. There’s an audience for those matches! People are fans of lower league soccer, they will watch the matches.

3. It’s good for the game. Maybe that’s not ESPN+ driving idea, but the more soccer matches there are, the better it is for the growth of the sport. It drives interest and sparks young fans to get involved in the game.

So that’s my plea, ESPN+, next year give us the qualifying rounds as well. We’ll be thankful forever.

- Dan Vaughn

Sometimes It's Just Smoke

This article sprang to life when a quick press release was issued by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). In the press release was the seemingly bland news about the election of two new members to the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors. The two new members, elected to a two-year term, were Mike Cullina and Alec Papadakis. This information in and of itself is not the type of news that brings traffic to the site and would probably be overlooked during playoff season. But many questions are lying there in the dirt if you simply swirl a stick in the dust. Who are these two men? What process took them into positions of power?

So let’s lay some groundwork. Mike Cullina, who was elected as the At-Large Representative, takes the place of John Collins. Collins had previously served as the general counsel for U.S. Soccer from 1997-2001, according to his CV. He had announced his withdrawal from re-election at the AGM in February. Cullina has a track record of actually working in soccer, which is certainly a departure from the previous candidate who held his position. According to the press release, “[Cullina] is currently the Executive Director of Prince William Soccer and Virginia Development Academy and President of the Virginia NPL. Additionally, he is a member of the U.S. Soccer Youth Task Force. Cullina holds a U.S. Soccer National A Coaching License.”

The other newly elected member of the board is Alec Papadakis. He was elected as one of two Pro Council Representatives. The previous holder of his seat was Steve Malik. Malik is the owner of USL Championship member North Carolina FC and 2018 NWSL Champion North Carolina Courage. Papadakis is the CEO of the USL and has served in that role since 2009. He’s a lawyer, which is no surprise, but also had a career playing the sport, playing in the old NASL for the Atlanta Chiefs and Boston Minutemen. This is the second time Papadakis has served on the board in this role.

From the resumes of both candidates, they seem like qualified candidates for the role, having coached and played the game for extended periods of their lives. But the question remained, how were these candidates determined and by what process were they elected?

As far as Papadakis’s election is concerned, U.S. Soccer responded, “We would refer you to the Professional Council for more information, as U.S. Soccer staff was not involved in that process.” At this time, we haven’t reached out to the Professional Council for that information as the second part of the response indicates the process. U.S. had more information regarding the election of Mr. Cullina. “This year there were three nominees:  Mike Cullina (winner with more than a majority of votes cast), Craig Scriven, and Rishi Sehgal. Mr. Cullina received 70.58% of the vote, Mr. Scriven received 17.6% of the vote, and Mr. Sehgal received 11.7% of the vote.” The candidates, according to U.S. Soccer, were nominated by the Council they would represent.

When we started digging into this story we had a particular view in mind, that there was something ominous and overly secretive going on in US Soccer and that these elections were part of a broader conspiracy to rob us of our control of soccer. The reality is much more bland and boring. U.S. Soccer is nothing more than massive corporation (I’m aware it’s technically a non-profit, but when you’re turning 100 million dollar surpluses, I can’t pretend) doing what massive corporations do - electing those that are connected into positions of power and recycling friends of friends. That’s how all corporations (and apparently, some non-profits) work. It’s sad and disappointing, but it is what it is.

There is a lot of reasonable complaints about U.S. Soccer. This election doesn’t appear to be anything to complain about.

- Dan Vaughn

Godspeed, All of Us

Sometimes a back story isn’t needed, but a writer can’t help himself, so here goes.

Unlike so many other leagues, MLS has a very modern and recent history. In 1988, when USSF was attempting to win its bid for the 1994 World Cup, it pledged to designate a division one professional soccer league. That came to fruition in 1996, when MLS kicked off with the founding 10 franchises. Of course, readers of this site probably know what I’m about to write, but I can’t help myself. I say “franchises” because they are not “clubs” - clubs imply independence and individuality - MLS, of course, is single-entity. Every team in MLS is owned by MLS. Every match, from preseason to MLS Cup isn’t much more than intrasquad scrimmages. This was done for the purpose of stability, and, considering the history of leagues coming and going in the United States, maybe there is some logic in that decision. However, the shaky beginnings of MLS are far in the past and the usefulness of the current practice is debatable at best. For fans of MLS, I know you’re tired of us poking at your league, but it’s got to be done. Aside from the single entity issue, there is another issue, the reason for this article. Yup, you already know, pro/rel.

Promotion/Relegation is a big deal for many reasons, but at its core -

• It rewards good management.

• It penalizes mismanagement.

• It aligns the pyramid with the international (FIFA) standard.

“There’s no economic rationality to promotion/relegation whatsoever in the era that we’re in today.”

— Don Garber

While the first two are common sense based arguments (which many poo-poo), they are still good arguments. Fans of other sports may look at the monopolized version of soccer and assume that’s normal, but the reality is that the closed MLS/USSF system is rare in the world sport. Extremely rare. The Cleveland Browns and LA Clippers and their woeful performances are accepted within their respective leagues (and yes, I know both are better now than they’ve been in the past), but in soccer that won’t play. If you continue to underperform, you fall out of your league. If you succeed, you move up to take their place. That is the norm in the soccer world. Except in the United States, where the Colorado Rapids (or whichever underperforming franchise you’d like to fill in the blank with) continue to struggle and play in division one. And it’s probably safe to say that if it wasn’t happening in the United States, it wouldn’t be allowed. That’s because FIFA, the governing body of international soccer (football), has rules about how its member nations are expected to run their domestic leagues.

A plan for Pro/Rel from day one. Image courtesy of FourFourTwo.

When MLS was formed there were long-term plans to transition to a pro/rel system, but those long-term plans kept stretching forward in time. And now, it seems that timeline has transitioned to never, or at least if Don Garber, MLS commissioner, gets his way. In a widely-quoted interview with the Kansas City Star, he seemed to be attempting to put the issue to bed. “Just because there is promotion/relegation in other leagues that were founded on different principles doesn’t mean that it would make sense in Major League Soccer. We have a vibrant No. 2 league in the USL. We have (Sporting KC principal owner) Cliff (Illig) and his partners that have just put $60 million of capital, along with the public, into this building. If all of a sudden they’re playing in a different division that doesn’t have national revenues — because the USL doesn’t have that — how does that make any sense? There’s no economic rationality to promotion/relegation whatsoever in the era that we’re in today.”

“We as a federation aren’t going to legislate that.”

— Sunil Gulati

Garber’s job is to speak for his franchise owners, I get it. They have all bought into this closed system with the understanding that they will see a return on their investment, without the risk of losing their money. The cost of a franchise is now over 100 million dollars and has been rising since day one, I can understand and appreciate their concern. The vast majority of soccer fans respond: “they should be owning franchises in some other sport then.”

Attempts have been made to get MLS to open up the doors to pro/rel and nothing has worked so far. Calls for the Federation to get involved have to this point have been unsuccessful, leading many to question the desire of the USSF to change the state of play. Consider the words of then outgoing Federation president, Sunil Gulati (booo, hiss) - “there's a whole bunch of people that came in under one set of rules, and some have paid $150 million and built a stadium for another $250 million under a certain set of rules. If they sit down and start this other league and say, 'We want to do promotion/relegation,' for all the reasons that people think are positive, fantastic. We as a federation aren't going to legislate that.” Carlos Cordiero, the current Federation president, has done nothing but dodge the question of pro/rel - I'm not in position to comment on anything related to that, or remotely related to that, without getting myself into hot water [due to litigation]. So I do not want to, and cannot, comment on anything that may be related to one or the other of those pending situations. I'm a vice president of the Federation and the Federation is part of all of this. Unlike the other candidates, who can speak their minds on this, I'm not in a position to talk to any of those points.”

While it is difficult to read minds (ok, impossible), it isn’t difficult to look at the actions and words of people and figure out where they stand. While USSF may not WANT to legislate promotion/relegation, they could threaten MLS with removal of division one status and force the matter. If MLS refused, USSF could easily designate another league, an open league, at tier one. But USSF seems to be comfortable in the bed they share with MLS and SUM (Soccer United Marketing), ignoring the rest of the Federation for the most part. Consider that Don Garber is on the USSF board of directors. The commissioner of a league is on the board of directors of the regulating body for the league he represents. How is that not a massive conflict of interest? And how can change ever come if he remains in place?

Last year, Kingston Stockade’s Dennis Crowely and Miamia FC’s Riccardo Silva filed a suit in the Court of Arbitration for Sport alleging that USSF (and MLS) are not living up to their FIFA obligations - specifically Article 9 which states that member nations’ clubs’ right “to take part in a domestic league championship shall depend principally on sporting merit” and that “a club shall qualify for a domestic league championship by remaining in a certain division or by being promoted or relegated to another at the end of a season.” It is obvious that MLS is not in line with these requirements and USSF is ignoring their responsibility to regulate their domestic leagues. The challenge brought is still being considered and, with the FIFA council meeting in Miami, another wrinkle has been added to the fight for pro/rel.

“This letter is an opening salvo, and not the end.”

— Daniel Workman

Organized by two key figures in lower league soccer in this country, Daniel Workman and Chris Kessell, a letter was delivered to FIFA President Gianni Infantino (as well as other council members and USSF leadership) begging for USSF to engage on the issue of non-compliance with Article 9. Because that is the real issue. Rail against MLS for not wanting pro/rel, but USSF is the muscle that can make this change, even if that means removing division one designation from MLS.

Courtesy of Chris Kessell.

The letter sent was signed by Kessell, as a representative of his local soccer club, West Side Soccer Club. Along with his were over 100 signatures of club representatives from all over the United States. That number has grown to over 150 and is being added to every day since it was announced (if you’d like to add your club, go here). What happens now remains to be seen. FIFA has not made an official response, nor a private one that Kessell is aware of.

For Kessell, his expectation and hope is movement - “As the number of clubs and organizations signing on continue to rise since the news broke, we expect US Soccer to enter into a meaningful dialogue about FIFA Article 9 and US Soccer Bylaw 103 compliance. This project is step one, but there is a lot more we can and should do going forward. Waiting on US Soccer generally doesn't work, so as the movement continues to scale we need to continue to work on connecting independent leagues and clubs across the country. Unity is a powerful thing. We believe that combined with action we can achieve substantial progress.” Workman also sees this letter as only the beginning - “This letter is an opening salvo, and not the end. We are just getting started and as the movement continues to grow, we expect that US Soccer will begin a real, meaningful dialogue with these clubs and organizations.”

For now, the names of the clubs signed on is being kept secret, out of concerns, at least partially, that there may be retribution from the Federation (see tweet below). But Kessell is thrilled with the response so far - “The reception has been amazing, just as we expected. Clubs nationwide want the opportunity to grow and compete. Having passionate dialogue with clubs from all over the country has done nothing but made us redouble our efforts to bring everyone to the table and find a solution.”

Discretion is the better part of valor in this case. We are seeing clubs signing up daily. Publishing would hurt that endeavor. We’re not at a tipping point where there are enough clubs involved to provide those who have voiced support protection from USSF retribution.

— Daniel Workman (@danielworkman) March 20, 2019

The chorus of voices calling for change has been non-stop for the last 20 years. Sometimes more quiet, sometimes louder. USSF has always managed to ignore the calls. Will this letter and the movement it begins bring the change that MLS is fighting against? It’s hard to tell, but what definitely feels different is the amount of coverage from the mainstream media. Even Mr. Better Mousetrap (Alexi Lalas) himself tweeted a post about the letter. Outlets like The18.com, The Independent, The Guardian, have all run stories in the last couple of weeks discussing the matter. Sadly, because most of American media ignores soccer, we aren’t seeing the same level of interest in our own country, but that may change as this story progresses.

The questions that remain (from my perspective anyway):

• Does FIFA have the will to force USSF to comply?

• Does USSF have the ability to disentangle themselves from MLS?

• What does Cordiero do?

• Can MLS be cracked open and how would that be done?

• What would an open pyramid look like in the United States?

• How would the lower leagues organize themselves and would they do it willingly?
  

There are no simple answers to any of those questions, but I, for one, am thrilled at what Chris and Daniel are doing (please visit Workman’s site). Not to mention the 150+ clubs who are risking their reputation and will have to deal with a potential backlash. Bravery doesn’t always mean success, but nothing great has ever been accomplished without it. I cannot and will not speak for every member of Protagonist staff, but I, for one, am 100% behind the push for promotion and relegation. It is right, just, and should be demanded by all fans of the sport in this country. Godspeed, all of us.

“Unity is a powerful thing. We believe that combined with action we can achieve substantial progress.”

— Chris Kessell

- Dan Vaughn

The New NPSL League: Skepticism, Optimism, Reality

What if I said there’s a new thing in the lower leagues that’s like cotton candy, Jesus, and a new Star Wars film? Ephemeral, difficult to define, full of hope and promise, thrilling in theory, troubling in its potential to fail, hard to understand, easy to poke holes in, far enough in the future to remain fuzzy, near enough to find the fuzziness worrisome, attacked by purists, elites, true believers, non-believers, skeptics, and the faithful. All of these things are true of the words on every lower league soccer fan’s lips - Founders Cup and the professional league to follow.

The Facts

NPSL Founder’s Cup is the still-developing professional league emerging from the NPSL. Set to kick off a full season in 2020, the clubs involved will play in a kick-off tournament called the NPSL Founders Cup in the Fall of 2019. In November, NPSL Chairman Joe Barone described the situation - “Beginning with the Founders Cup, fans will be able to enjoy watching authentic clubs compete with professional players and staff. This new venture will build upon the success and experience of NPSL and its nationwide network of local soccer club members.” Barone has since been replaced as Chair, but the plans for the new league continue to move forward.

I should be upfront in saying that Protagonist Soccer is a media partner of the NPSL and, while that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t criticize the league, that relationship may color the way some of my stated views might be received. So there it is - there’s the elephant in the room. Moving on.

The list of clubs involved so far are ASC San Diego, Cal FC, California United Strikers FC, Chattanooga FC, Detroit City FC, FC Arizona, Miami FC, Miami United FC, Milwaukee Torrent, New York Cosmos, and Oakland Roots - some of the strongest sides in the NPSL, depending on how you measure strength. DCFC and Chattanooga FC are two of the best attended and supported clubs in the lower leagues, even if you bunched USL into “lower leagues” (Against USL attendance numbers this year, DCFC would rank 7th and Chatta would be 19th). If you are measuring strength with financial backing, obviously the two old NASL sides, New York Cosmos and Miami FC, have two of the richest owners in the lower leagues, Rocco Commisso and Riccardo Silva. The rest of the clubs are not quite to the level of the four I mentioned, but more on that to come.

The Reception

As I discussed on a recent episode of the Lower League Soccer Show, the announcement of this league has brought the hot takes from both sides of the argument. And, by definition, hot takes are meant to stir up controversy and spur reactions, but dear God, the unbridled optimism of some has only been matched by the sheer negativity of the other side.

For some, the coming of a professional expansion of NPSL is seen as a lower league response to the “encroachment” by USL into areas with established NPSL and UPSL sides. Those same people despise MLS for all the reasons that people despise MLS, most importantly the lack of pro/rel. And while pro/rel hasn’t been discussed publicly yet, many are hopeful that NPSL Pro will eventually open up the gates for promotion from the NPSL.

On the other side, scepticism is out of control. Some is coming from the old guard in the NPSL who see this upcoming professional league as nothing more than catering to the ex-NASL teams. Other criticism is coming from the other lower leagues’ supporters NPSL has competed against, mainly UPSL. That criticism seems to be more in the vein of “stay in your lane, who do you think you are,” which feels more like jealousy than actual criticism. The last camp of criticism is from the MLS types, who seem convinced that this league will fail and deserves mockery. I will never understand an American soccer fan rooting for a club or league to fail. But they exist, I assure you, just look for the side eye trolling online.

The Issues

While the loudest voices get the most attention online, there’s a segment of the soccer world who have concerns but aren’t burning down the house to make their point. I like to think of these types as the cautiously optimistic. They aren’t wishing for the league to fail, but they are worried about some issues that might arise. I’d like to compile a quick list of these issues and offer my takes as well.

Photo from reddit u/DomeyDion.

Attendance - When listing the strengths of the league earlier, I highlighted the drawing power of Detroit City and Chattanooga. Let’s look at the other teams we have information on. According to Kenn Tomasch’s site, Kenn.com, ASC San Diego drew around 1,000 people for home games (large aside: 1. Massive thanks to Tomasch, who is the only person online I could find trying to track this information. 2. Tomasch is the first to admit his information is severely limited. He begs for more information on his site. Teams should be lining up to help him.). The worst part about this is that ASC San Diego is the only other NPSL Pro club Tomasch has attendance information on. So who knows about the other 8 clubs, leaving a gap in the information leads me to speculate, but I’ll leave it be.

So with only three clubs with information, our data is short on attendance. What I would expect is that NPSL will bring some buzz around the clubs that are in the league. So all should expect a bump, at least in year one. After that, it will all depend on marketing and connecting with fans. Unlike MLS, who uses expansion fees to drive league growth, this NPSL professional league will have to focus on bringing fans through the doors. And if the newcomers can follow the model of DCFC or Chattanooga, maybe that can happen. My concern on that is TIME.

Unlike Detroit City, founded in 2012, and Chattanooga FC, founded in 2009, the newer clubs don’t have 6-10 years to get attendance, they have a year or three to escalate attendance and excitement. Maybe that’s too short of a window for the optimists, but I’m trying to be realistic. I think to get to where they need to be, they need a media deal.

Media Deal - Consider the model of MLS, even if it hurts you for a minute. While clearly expansion fees are funding their organization. According to wikipedia, “ESPN and Fox Sports pay a combined $75 million per season, and Univision pays $15 million per-season.” That’s 90 million a season. That’s aside from local broadcasting deals that some clubs have managed to negotiate. If you’re struggling to fill the seats, media money can help a lot. Or if you’re a brand new league who’s trying to get a foothold into local markets across the country.

“If creating a pro league was easy, we’d be overrun with pro soccer leagues.”

I’m only working with the information I have here, but several NPSL owners have voiced concerns in private about the lack of a media deal. Even a small deal that didn’t generate a ton of revenue could have the desired effect of drawing eyes to a brand new league. That might drive potential revenue streams in advertising, merchandise sales, and expansion markets. A media deal is a must.

Travel Cost - Consider the distance that Detroit City FC has to travel to their farthest current conference opponent, Milwaukee Torrent - 382 miles. When DCFC moves into Pro (even with the regional divide), the farthest distance will be 1,384 miles (Miami, FL). Even if you limited the number of travelers to 20 (11 starters, 5 bench players, 3 coaches, a trainer), the only way to travel will be by plane for a trip that long. Plus the cost of hotel rooms for overnight stay. Plus feeding your team (these are professionals now). Plus transportation to and from airport, hotel, and venue. This is troubling. And I don’t see an easy fix. For clubs with deep-pocketed owners, I guess they can eat that cost, but for clubs either unable or unwilling to take a loss because of travel costs, I see this as a sticking point. According to one source, the travel budget being discussed is around 400k. That’s almost a third of the estimated 1.5 million budget most teams will be operating under.

The only real solution I can see is expansion and regionalization. But again, with only 11 clubs confirmed for 2020, that’s a long way off. And money will be disappearing down the drain while those new clubs are found or founded.

There are probably some other issues hanging out there, the naysayers are loud and numerous. But that doesn’t necessarily make them right. The concerns I listed were the ones I’ve heard the most and the ones I feel are the most common sense.

The Reality

The list of concerns are daunting, of course, but I’m a big believer in the NPSL, the clubs, the owners, the fans, and the power of hard work. If creating a pro league was easy, we’d be overrun with pro soccer leagues. MLS, SUM, and USSF have made it progressively difficult for pro leagues to be successful. If not now, I seriously doubt it will be easier five or ten years from now. This is an uphill battle, but it’s an important battle, one worth fighting.

My list of concerns has almost certainly been discussed by the 11 clubs set to form this league. While I don’t see easy solutions for any of them, I do not think the men and women involved are stupid or blind to the challenge. On the contrary, I am confident that there are solutions and that those solutions are being planned. Some may say that’s ignorant trust, but the NPSL has been the most stable lower league for the last fifteen years. It has a track record of measured, steady growth. Why shouldn’t NPSL Pro be the next step?

So we shall see what comes. I am certainly excited about this league, but that excitement is tempered by an awareness of stumbling blocks that will need to be cleared. Success can be found, but it will take great effort in searching for it. I am a believer in soccer, especially lower league soccer - this can be done. Let’s put our shoulders to the wheel and move this thing forward.

- Dan Vaughn

*This article was edited to delete the use of the phrase “NPSL Pro.” Apparently the upcoming league will not be using that name and has yet to determine or announce the final label for the league.