USL PRO to bid for Division 2

The United Soccer League announced today it would merge its second division with its third division under the name USL PRO. USL PRO, like the North American Soccer League, will have to meet USSF D2 standards to play division 2 next year.

Instead of just telling you the main points, I'll let you read the whole thing first.

Done yet?

Good, because now I'm going to comment on it.

The release mentions that one of the main goals of this league is to cut down travel costs. Which is great. From the very beginning, I've been a fan of merging D2 and D3 and having more of a PDL set-up.

I realize that's probably not the best thing for the "future of soccer in America" -- a phrase thrown about more than "in this economic times." But I always thought the RailHawks could save a ton by just playing Charleston, Charlotte, Richmond, Wilmington (before they folded) and Atlanta (if Atlanta ever resuicitates itself) than say Puerto Rico, Vancouver, Portland, Minnesota.

But it mentions having as many as four geographic regions in 2011. That's vague. At first I read it as "we're cutting down on travel costs and will have four divisions so teams can do just that." But it just says teams are in as many as four different regions.

Tell us something we don't know.

They USL already has three "regions" covered: the Southwest with Austin, the Mid-Atlantic with Real Maryland (among others) and the Southeast with Charlotte and Charleston. Add in one Carribean team (Antigua from the PDL?) and you've easily got your "as many as four regions."

One thing the release doesn't delve into is what franchises make up the USL PRO. It says those will be released in the coming weeks.

Once we knows those, the question will no doubt arise: how many of these are close to fufilling all of the new USSF requirements for Division 2 soccer?

Can they all pay a $750,000 bond at the beginning of the year? How many have owners worth more than $20 million? Are enough teams in markets with populations greater than 750,000? Are enough of the teams on U.S. soil?

From what I can gather, here are the teams lined up for USL PRO: Charleston Battery, Austin Aztex, Richmond Kickers, Charlotte Eagles, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Harrisburg City Islanders, Real Maryland Monarchs, FC New York, Orlando. That's nine teams with the last two being expansion franchises. Only Austin played this past year in Division 2 and they are the only team known for sure to pass all USSF D2 guidelines.

Here are the teams for NASL: Carolina RailHawks, Montreal Impact, Rochester Rhinos, Puerto Rico Islanders, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay Rowdies, Miami FC Blues, AC St. Louis, NSC Minnesota, Crystal Palace Baltimore. That's 10 teams with FC Edmonton being the only expansion franchise. Of these, Carolina, Montreal, Rochester, Edmonton, Tampa and Miami are the ones believed to fit all USSF D2 criteria.

The deadline to submit a drafted league for USSF sanctioning is Oct. 1.