Quote Originally Posted by PaddyShack View Post
Woah there, the talent in USL is not as bad as you put it. I agree that the owners should be funding the majority, if not the entire stadium. But to say the talent is "sub-par" is just not true. The Energy had 3 players capped for international duty this past year, with two still being capped in this past international spell. The league itself draws players from many nations other than the US, with many young players going onto to MLS and other top leagues in their home nations. Just because the USL is the second division doesn't mean it is sub-par. If the US had an open system I would bet that 3 or 4 of the current USL teams would definitely be in the MLS right now. The USL exists because not everybody can play in the MLS. There are some great clubs in the USL and the league is working on making a true pyramid system that would allow clubs to get into better competitions as they grow. I know the USL isn't on TV all of the time, but all games are on ESPN+ with some games on ESPN2 or what not.
I don’t follow soccer closely enough but I’ve heard some soccer guys who I trust say that the usl may ultimately pass the mls because the ownership and league model is superior to the mls. It may be tier 2 in American soccer but things can change. The ABA dominated the nba until it didn’t.