November 12, 2009
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Control issue in formation of new league
By Charles Cuttone
Executive Editor

Both the United Soccer Leagues and a group of breakaway owners say they will field strong second division leagues in 2010, with even more growth in ensuing years.

Earlier this week, the Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Atlanta Silverbacks and Saint Louis United announced that they had filed an application to U.S. Soccer to be sanctioned as a division 1 League. The filing was the end of a two-year battle between the owners of the clubs and the USL over control of how the league was run.

“We had no voice in the league,” said Jeff Cooper, a St. Louis-based attorney who owns the St. Louis team and is the spokesperson for the new league. Earlier this year, a group of USL owners led by Cooper attempted to purchase the USL from Nike, which became the league’s owner two years ago when it took control of Umbro.

Despite what the team owners thought was a solid offer on their part, the league accepted an 11th hour bid from NuRock Soccer Holdings.

“It was our only option,” Cooper said of forming the new league, saying that the USL’s new ownership, led by Alec Papadakis, made it clear the team owners would not have the say they wanted in controlling the league.

Cooper said media reports in Minnesota and Montreal that indicated those clubs might not be fully committed to or able to operate in the new league were either overblown or not true. Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo issued a statement on Monday that talks with the USL were ongoing, but that the Impact was committed to the new league.

The Minnesota Thunder this week released all of its players -- the coach and general manager resigned several days earlier -- and the club reportedly has been having financial problems, but Cooper said the team would move forward with its plans to join the league. The players were ostensibly released because they were under USL contracts.

“Minnesota is going to be fine moving forward,” said Cooper.

As far as ongoing talks with the USL, Cooper said “We will always be willing to talk to Alec Papadakis and anyone from USL.” But Cooper pointed out that, so far, those talks have not led to the control the breakaway owners are seeking, and therefore moving forward with the new league was their only option.

USL 1 President Tim Holt was unwilling to get into specifics about any particular franchise, but indicated USL 1 would operate next year with between 8 and 12 teams.

Last week, USL1 owners representing Austin, Cleveland, New York, Puerto Rico, Portland, Rochester and Tampa Bay attended a meeting at Nike headquarters in Oregon. They were joined by individuals representing USL-1 Canadian expansion teams in Edmonton and Ottawa, and U.S.-based teams in Baltimore and Detroit.

Holt acknowledged that franchise defections to MLS – most notably the Seattle Sounders, who made a spectacular MLS debut this year, and 2011 MLS expansion teams Portland and Vancouver – have had an impact on USL1. “It’s definitely affected our league,” said Holt. “That affects the remaining constituency of USL1. It presents its challenges and has had an impact on what we’ve tried to do.

Still, the loss of teams to MLS has been one at a time, with long lead times, not the wholesale loss that the new league presents. Still, Holt says he is not concerned. “We’re excited for 2010.”

The USL has retained Premier Partnerships, a Los Angeles-based firm headed by former US Soccer President Alan Rothenberg and Randy Bernstein, MLS’s former chief marketing executive.


In addition to aiding in sponsorship development, the company will provide strategic advice.

Despite Holt’s denials of concern, the USL has filed an objection with US Soccer over the new league’s application, and issued a statement on the breakaway group.

The statement said, in part, “that there is misrepresentation, interference with USL business operations and substantial debt amongst the membership of the parties applying for certification.”

The statement also explained that most leagues around the world are not owned by their teams, and are often operated by the national soccer federation.

There has, however been a trend in teams seeking to control their destiny. It began in the 90s with the formation of the Premiership in England, and continued with teams in Serie A in Italy forming their own business entity.