By Simon Evans

The first showdown between USL and MLS Next Pro has been set and the outcome could have wide ramifications for how the lower leagues grow in the USA. 

This week USL announced a new franchise in Long Island. Their decision comes just over a year after MLS Next Pro team announced they were backing an independent club in Long Island.

The Island FC are scheduled to start play in MLS Next Pro in 2027and they play home games at a small, soccer-specific stadium to be built at the Mitchel Athletic Complex, in Uniondale, Long Island.

The USL franchise will play at the James M. Shuart Stadium, Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island. The aim is to begin play in USL League One in 2028. The distance between the two stadiums is 1.2 miles.

Having two clubs in the same locality is not uncommon around the world. Famously Dundee and Dundee United in Scotland share the same street. Everton and Liverpool spent a centurylooking out at each other across Stanley Park (until the Blues moved to theirnew home in the Docks) and PSG fans could toss a leftover baguette into the home of emerging rivals and neighbors Paris FC.

But the difference is that in all those cases there are local rivalries given the team’s compete in the same league structure. The only chance the USL Long Island team will face The Island FC is if by chance they were drawn together in the US Open Cup. The two clubs will be playing in two distinct leagues run by two rival businesses.

The risk, of course, is that the two clubs will cannibalize the local soccer market, spread confusion among sponsors and supporters and give the general impression to the casual fan that there is something rather weird about American soccer.

Logic suggests that the local business people backing both ventures should join forces and create one strong, united Long Island soccer club. But that would require one of the leagues backing down in favour of the other and at the moment there seems little appetite for such a compromise.

Should something be done about it, for the good of the game?  There are two schools of thought: 1. The US Soccer Federation should intervene to ensure there are no clashes like this in single markets. 2. Its a free market - let USL and MLSNP fight it out and may the best league/club win.

I’m not a lawyer but I suspect there may be some legal exposure around anti-trust and competition law if US Soccer decided to act to restrict one club/league from operating in Long Island. The free market outcome may simply become the default position.

Is that so bad? Maybe not. There will be confusion but the usual benefits of competition will also apply. MLS Next Pro and The Island FC now have even more incentive to make sure they make a huge impact next year and establish the club as the popular team of the area. USL and their club will likewise be motivated to make a huge splash and try to outshine The Island FC, 12 months later. 

But I can’t help being concerned that local fans might just shrug their shoulders and decide they’ll either travel into NYC for D1 soccer or watch the international game on TV, rather than invest their time and disposable income on one of two squabbling D3 properties.

It is also a worry that this could start to happen across the country. The damage from a local skirmish such as Long Island is one thing but if these sort of conflicts appear in markets across the land, the sport risks serious reputational damage.

Whenever you speak to anyone from USL or MLSNP about this risk, they always say that this is a big country, with room for everyone to do their thing. That’s fine but it does require a degree of common sense and restraint. Yes, there are plenty of markets in the country that do not yet have professional soccer clubs, USL can provide in some and MLS Next Pro in others. But there are currently no signs that an informal, ‘conflict avoidance’ strategy is likely to be adopted. Which is a pity because, if there is a ‘Soccer War’ people will lose money, fans will be frustrated and the game as a whole will lose out.