The USL’s Super League wants top tier status.
There could be competition for the National Women’s Soccer League’s status as the top tier women’s soccer loop in the United States. The United Soccer League’s “Super League” has applied to the governing body of United States soccer for top level status. The league plans to start play in August 2024 and has eight markets ready to go. Teams will be placed in Charlotte, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Lexington, Kentucky, Phoenix, Spokane, Washington, Tampa, Tucson, Arizona and in Washington. The league is negotiating with people in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Madison, Wisconsin and Oakland about placing a team in those markets.
New leagues come and go, particularly in women’s soccer. The NWSL is adding teams and women’s soccer on the national level in America has a following. But the viability of a league depends on media money from over-the-air and cable TV partners along with video streaming services. How attractive is a new women’s soccer league to corporate partners is another major concern. The United States Soccer Federation has something called the Professional League Standards. The soccer federation requirements for a women’s outdoor league include that in the league’s first year there must be a minimum of eight teams in the league spread across at least two time zones. At least 75 percent of the league’s teams must play in metropolitan markets of at least 750,000 people, and all league venues must have a minimum seating capacity of 5,000. Super League individual franchise ownership groups need to have the financial capacity to operate the team for three years, with the principal owner having an individual net worth of $15 million, while the combined individual net worth of the whole ownership group must be at least $25 million. Based on all that information, there will not be much money available for league players.
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