Footy & Co.
The USL Championship is a second division, and everybody knows what that has meant: the top of the ladder belongs to someone else. The USL now says it will build its own top. USL Premier, a first-division men's league, is scheduled to launch in 2028, and with it, the league says, “America's first promotion and relegation system.”
That promise is two years away, and a lot of it is not written down yet. This is what is settled, what is only reported, and what a Championship club has to do to get in.
Start with what the USL has actually said. It first announced a Division One league in February 2025, then aimed at 2027–28. In January 2026 it gave the league a name and a shape. USL Premier launches in 2028 with a long-term target of 20 clubs in a single national table. The Championship becomes a 20-club national table below it. League One stays national in membership but plays regionally.
In September the USL announced a labor agreement that sets a Premier minimum salary of $67,500 and still describes the launch as planned for 2028. Tony Scholes, formerly the Premier League's chief football officer, was named Premier's president in November 2025 and was due to start this summer.
What the USL has not said is just as important. It has not named a single member club; it is reviewing applications and will announce the first members later. Its promotion and relegation page says clubs will earn promotion or face relegation on their season's results, and that details will come later. It gives no year for the first promotion and no number of clubs going up or down.
The numbers that do circulate come from reporting, not from the league. Fox Sports and others reported in January that the plan is two up and two down while Premier has 12 to 14 clubs, then three up and three down at 20. Treat that as the likely shape, not the rule.
The hard rules come from a different place. The USL does not decide what a first division is. U.S. Soccer does, through its Pro League Standards, and USL Premier has to meet them to be sanctioned as Division I, the same as any league.
| Rule | The standard |
|---|---|
| Stadiums | Every stadium enclosed, with at least 15,000 seats |
| Principal owner | Individual net worth of at least $40 million, and at least 15% of the club |
| All owners | Combined net worth of at least $70 million (neither figure counts the club or homes) |
| League size | At least 12 teams to apply; 14 by year three |
| Geography | Teams in at least the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones |
| Markets | At least 75% of teams in metro areas of 1 million people or more |
| Money down | A $1 million performance bond per team, and proof each owner can run the club for five years |
From U.S. Soccer's Pro League Standards, as revised March 26, 2026. These are the federation's conditions for sanctioning any Division I league, not USL rules. The 2023 version required the principal owner to hold 35%.
The stadium rule is the one that shapes everything. There are Championship clubs that draw well, and Championship clubs with rich owners. There are very few that already play in an enclosed stadium with 15,000 seats.
Here are the clubs that have said something public, or are building something that fits.
| Club | Premier status | 2026 average |
|---|---|---|
| Louisville City | Applied for 2028 | 9,528 |
| Pittsburgh Riverhounds | Expanding to meet the standard | 5,280 |
| Sporting JAX | No application confirmed by the club | 1,907 |
| Detroit City FC | No application announced | 6,202 |
| Sacramento Republic | No application announced | 9,897 |
Premier status is what each club has said itself. North Carolina FC has also applied; it is sitting out 2026 and has not named a stadium. 2026 average is announced attendance at regular-season home games through September 15, counted from our match records; Sacramento and Louisville are the Championship's two best-attended clubs.
Louisville City is the closest to ready and says so: it has applied to join Premier at launch. Its stadium lists a capacity of 15,304, but the stadium itself says it has seating for 11,600. The standard asks for 15,000 seats, so how U.S. Soccer counts Lynn Family Stadium is a real question.
Pittsburgh announced in August 2025 a plan to expand to 15,000 seats, which it said would position the club to meet U.S. Soccer's Division One standard. Its home today seats about 5,000.
Sporting JAX, in its first Championship season, has big plans and, so far, some of the division's smallest crowds. It plays at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium and has unveiled a 15,000-seat stadium near St. Johns Town Center, with games expected there in 2028. It averages 1,907 this season, 23rd of 25.
Detroit City and Sacramento are the interesting cases. Neither has announced an application. Both are building 15,000-plus-seat stadiums that open in 2028, the year Premier is due to start, and Sacramento already draws more per game than anyone else in the division.
Two more clubs to watch sit outside the table. North Carolina FC applied in November 2025 and is sitting out the 2026 season. Atlético Dallas, which plays at the Cotton Bowl, is part of the USL's application to join the Championship in 2027; it has not confirmed an application to Premier.
For now the Championship has a season to finish. The Prinx Tires USL Cup final is Sunday, Oct. 4, when Hartford hosts Louisville City at Trinity Health Stadium, 3 p.m. ET. Louisville has said it applied for Premier; Hartford has not said so. Which side of that line each Championship club ends up on is the story of the next two years.
A few questions, answered
- What is USL Premier?
- The United Soccer League's planned first-division men's league, scheduled to launch in 2028 with a long-term target of 20 clubs in a single national table.
- When does USL promotion and relegation start?
- The USL says promotion and relegation will come with USL Premier, planned for 2028, but it has not published a start year or how many clubs will move. Reports in January 2026 described two up and two down at first.
- What does a club need to join USL Premier?
- The league must meet U.S. Soccer's Division I standards, including enclosed stadiums of at least 15,000 seats, a principal owner worth at least $40 million, and all owners worth at least $70 million combined.
- Which clubs have applied for USL Premier?
- Louisville City and North Carolina FC have said publicly that they applied. The USL has not named any members and says it will announce them later.