LEAGUES & CLUBS

What Is the USL? The United Soccer League Explained

Growing the Game

The United Soccer League is the largest soccer organization in the United States outside of MLS. It operates three men’s leagues, two women’s leagues, and a youth development structure, with more than 200 clubs across the country.

The United Soccer League (USL) oversees one of the largest soccer ecosystems in the United States, spanning professional, pre-professional, and youth levels across both the men’s and women’s game.

The organization currently operates three men’s leagues (USL Championship, USL League One, USL League Two), two women’s leagues (USL Super League, USL W League), a player development platform (USL Academy), and a national youth competition structure (USL Super Y League).

Across all levels, the USL includes more than 200 clubs and is built around a structure that spans professional, amateur, and youth soccer. This layered approach mirrors many aspects of global soccer systems, while still operating within the unique framework of the U.S. soccer landscape.

News (February 2025): The USL has announced plans to launch a Division I men’s league (USL Premier) targeted for 2027–2028. The league has also referenced building a more “integrated structure,” signaling a potential shift in how its leagues could connect in the future.

USL League Structure

Men’s Leagues

Women’s Leagues

Youth & Development

  • USL Academy
  • USL Super Y League

History and Development

The USL traces its origins back to 1985 with the founding of the Southwest Indoor Soccer League by Francisco Marcos. Over time, the organization expanded into outdoor soccer and underwent multiple rebrands, reflecting the evolving structure of the sport in the United States.

By the early 1990s, the league had become the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL), competing alongside other leagues for national relevance. As it grew, the USISL expanded into both professional and amateur divisions, laying the foundation for today’s multi-tiered structure.

Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, the organization consolidated leagues, absorbed competing structures, and rebranded as the United Soccer Leagues (USL). During this period, it operated multiple divisions that would eventually evolve into the modern USL Championship and lower divisions.

A major turning point came in the 2010s. Following league instability and the collapse of competing structures, USL Pro emerged as a unified professional league. In 2013, the league partnered with Major League Soccer, leading to the introduction of MLS reserve teams within the USL system.

This partnership accelerated growth and expansion, helping the league establish a nationwide footprint. In 2017, the USL Championship was officially sanctioned as a Division II professional league. Two years later, USL League One was launched as a Division III league, while the former Premier Development League was rebranded as USL League Two.

Women’s Soccer in the USL

The USL has also played a long-standing role in the women’s game. The original W-League launched in 1995 and became one of the top semi-professional women’s leagues in North America before suspending operations in 2015.

In 2022, the USL relaunched the W League as a pre-professional platform, quickly expanding to more than 40 teams across the country. The league serves as a key bridge between college soccer and the professional level.

Building on that pathway, the USL Super League launched as a Division I professional league in 2024, providing an additional top-tier opportunity for women’s players in the United States.

How USL Differs from MLS

MLS and the USL both operate professional soccer in the United States, but they are built on fundamentally different models.

MLS operates as a single-entity franchise system. The league itself owns the player contracts, and clubs are granted as franchises to investors. Entry requires a franchise fee that has reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars for recent expansions. No club earns its way into MLS from below regardless of its results on the field.

USL clubs are independently owned. Each club contracts its own players, controls its own operations, and competes within a sanctioned divisional structure. Entry into USL leagues is through an application and approval process rather than a franchise purchase.

On the field, MLS sits at Division I, the top level of the US Soccer pyramid on the men’s side. The USL Championship holds Division II, directly below it. USL League One sits at Division III.

The two organizations have operated separately since the USL ended its reserve team partnership with MLS in 2020. They now compete for markets, players, and fans in many of the same cities.

Role in U.S. Soccer

The USL represents one of the most comprehensive league systems in American soccer, spanning multiple levels of competition and player development. Its structure provides opportunities for clubs and players at different stages, from youth development through the professional ranks.

Unlike fully interconnected systems used globally, U.S. leagues currently operate independently. However, the USL’s continued expansion and references to a more integrated structure suggest ongoing evolution within the broader U.S. soccer system.

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