Nothing minor about the USL.
The United Soccer League is a second tier grouping that features 36 teams. It is a minor league but there is one aspect of the United Soccer League that is anything but minor. For some reason politicians of all stripes are taking a look at the USL and seemingly like what they see because the league has been able to get politicians to think about spending millions of dollars for 10,000 seat facilities. Two investors want to bring a USL team to Buffalo, New York and need some assistance in getting a new stadium built. Buffalo politicians think they might be a way to get some funding for the proposed stadium. New Mexico legislators are studying the possibility of pouring money into an Albuquerque soccer venue to house the USL’s New Mexico United, a team that averaged about 12,600 customers per game. The owners think that a new facility is needed because the present 17-year-old facility is outdated. The New Mexico United owners point out that the USL team drew more customers than Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins per game. It is a ridiculous comparison. The USL charges movie ticket prices, MLB does not. Major League Baseball plays far more home games and one MLB team budget takes care of the entire 36 team USL.
The USL’s NC Football Club and the women’s league North Carolina Courage owner thinks Raleigh needs a new soccer stadium for the two teams. Steve Malik, the two teams’ owner, wants to build a soccer stadium-village as part of a Downtown South proposal. Malik thinks the soccer stadium and a planned entertainment center will make Raleigh one of the next great cities and admits that he needs local government help to build the stadium and the entertainment district. The USL is putting a team in Queens, New York and the Queens owners are looking for money to build a soccer stadium.
