Fall 2026 USL League One Expansion Report

There are constantly rumors of clubs and markets looking to join USL League One as expansion sides.

But in our experience covering league expansions for the last few years, very few of them ever pan out. The number one reason we've found is a lack of investment, something we've heard the league is cracking down on after this season.

With promotion/relegation looming on the horizon, it's about time. The league can no longer afford the embarrassment of clubs folding, and now requires increased stability.

So instead of attempting to cover every single rumor we've heard since our last report, we're going with projects that have either been announced or on which we have corroboration only. We'll conclude with a list of projects that are dead or idle, and will probably be removed by our next report if there are no more updates.

And speaking of announcements, they've dropped off a bit since the departure of USL's Chief Real Estate Officer Justin Papadakis. This could indicate the new regime is far more calculated when it comes to announcing letters of intent or early-stage development partnerships.

Here's what we have heading into 2027.

Confirmed for 2027

These clubs have confirmed entry for 2027 and have shown tangible results in their organizational buildouts.

Fort Lauderdale United

The club already has a stadium (Amerant Bank Field), a women's professional team in USL SuperLeague and a USL League Two men's side. After a delay from their originally announced 2026 USL League One expansion, they're on track to join in 2027 with General Manager Aly Hassan building out the organization. There has been no announcement on technical staff yet, but we've heard from agents that Hassan is busy building around current USL League Two Head Coach Marc Lue Young.

In addition, the club has 2027 USL League One season ticket deposits on sale, but no word on the progress of sales.

Port St. Lucie

The fellow-Florida expansion is located just under two hours north of Fort Lauderdale. The professional buildout is being overseen by Sporting Director Bernardo Romeo, with Academy Director Juan Brown rumored to be in line for the role of Head Coach.

The club is also building a stadium, with a tentative opening date of early 2028. As far as 2027, the club states they will use an unnamed "interim home venue." Nevertheless, over 1,000 fans have put down deposits for season tickets.

Sporting Cascades

Another club that pushed its timeline from 2026 to 2027, the Eugene, Oregon based club is far ahead of Fort Lauderdale and Port St. Lucie. In May, the club bought out the contract of then-Richmond Kickers Sporting Director and Head Coach Darren Sawatzky after previously hiring his former assistant Connor Cappelletti. The familiar pair is already holding tryouts and announced two inbound player signings over the last two weeks: left back Jonathan Robinson and winger Fabian Straudi.

The club will play at Civic Park, the former home of USL League Two side Lane United FC, and already has season tickets on sale.

Confirmed for 2028

This club has confirmed for 2028 and has shown substantial results in its organizational buildout.

Rodeo SC

The off-shoot of former USL League One club Texoma FC, Rodeo SC will set up professional operations in Celina, Texas, an outer exurb of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Originally announced for 2027, the club delayed entry by a year to carefully build out a proper organization.

Indeed, they've already built a sizable front office staff, and announced Sporting Director MJ Tate last week. Tate "will oversee player recruitment, academy development, coaching leadership, and the club’s long-term sporting identity," according to the club.

The club is also accepting season ticket deposits, and for now, will be playing at Celina High School's Bobcat Field.

BONUS: stay tuned for an interview with Tate coming sometime after next week where we discuss what goes into building a professional club.

Possible for 2028

These clubs have announced for 2028, but are not far enough along in their organizational buildouts to confirm.

Long Island

Announced in August, things appear to be moving quickly in Long Island, with former USWNT player Sara Whalen Hess and executive Glenn Schneider listed as co-founders. Whalen Hess was previously involved in year one operations at Westchester SC.

As of now, the club will play at the 13,000-capacity James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University in Hempstead. Branding and technical staff have not been announced at this time.

One wild card in this project: MLS NextPro also announced a Long Island expansion in Uniondale, set to begin play in 2027 as The Island FC. That club will be independent, and not affiliated with any MLS side. Should both projects join their respective leagues, we'd have USL League One and MLS Next Pro clubs located less than two miles apart.

Space Coast SC

UPDATE: after this story was published this morning, Space Coast SC updated its timeline to 2029.

Things are moving ahead for a 2028 start in Melbourne, Florida, with the club teasing season ticket deposits "coming soon."

The club has plans to build an 8,000 capacity stadium on NASA Blvd, and already has a Sporting Director, former Everton striker and Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. They're also working on branding to go with the official name of Space Coast SC.

Unknown Timelines

These projects are active but do not have announced or confirmed entry dates.

Brownsville

In August, the city announced that USL had secured an "interested partner" looking for an expansion opportunity, and was considering Brownsville and "another city."

Brownsville Sports Park looks to be the location of a potential stadium, but as of press time, no official expansion has been awarded.

Dayton

USL League Two club Dayton Dutch Lions FC is also in the active exploratory phase of turning professional, but with a timeline of "the next 10 years."

However, men's side head coach Dan Griest clarified that the women's team would be more than likely to make the jump from USL-W to USL Super League first.

Everett

Last week, local business owner John Carswell was announced as the leader of an investment group pursuing a USL League One club at the Everett Outdoor Event Center. The project is still in its early stage, and Carswell appears to be taking lessons from various false-starts around the league, refusing to name an estimated start date.

Green Bay

Last week, outgoing Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich told the local CBS affiliate that "the city has extended its agreement related to the project for another six months and continues discussions with the league and potential ownership groups."

He also stated that the city is still talking to potential ownership groups and in active communication with the league.

Pensacola

As of this Summer, the project was stuck in the "feasibility study" phase, with no further updates. The project appears active, but barely.

Riverside

The inland California USL project is dead, according to recent reporting by Kartik Krishnaiyer at Beyond the 90. The expansion project's USL website is also offline.

However, the same group does appear to still be pursuing pro-soccer in Riverside, as another site has popped up. There is no mention of which league this group is aiming for.

Salem City

The Winston-Salem area club opened an investment offering to help move the club to the professional ranks. While they indicate no sooner than 2028, we'll keep an eye on them in the unknown timeline for now.

Springfield

Over the Summer, USL co-hosted a World Cup watch party with the City of Springfield, Missouri, indicating the project was still being explored at that time. Then in August, the city extended the feasibility study for a potential stadium, with the current agreement through the end of 2027 with options to extend as far as the end of 2028. The stadium location is the biggest hangup, as it likely would require some environmental cleanup.

Ventura County

A mysterious project in Ventura County, CA was submitted for 2027 sanctioning, but there has been no further news, and the club is not currently listed under USL's expansion website.

The project is linked to the existing Ventura County FC in Thousand Oaks, operated by Oak Sports Holding. That organization currently has an agreement with LA Galaxy to operate VCFC as the MLS team's "2" side at William Rolland Stadium at California Lutheran University through 2026.

Oak Sports Holding was specifically listed in the sanctioning application announcement as the operator of the would-be USL League One expansion.

If things fall into place, we could see this one bumped up to confirmed as soon as this off-season.

Dead or Idle Projects

These were previously announced projects that have been scrapped or have had no significant activity since last year.

Albany

At last check, the proposal for a soccer stadium as part of downtown redevelopment had been removed from the project. However, local ties to key investors, including Kewsong Lee of BellTower keep this project on our radar for now. BellTower was announced as a strategic investment partner for USL last year.

Firestone

The league announced a pre-development agreement with the town of Firestone, Colorado, with plans to develop a stadium in the town's Central Park. However, the project ran into significant local opposition, and now appears dead.

Modesto

The city killed the project over the summer, citing major funding gaps and the departure of Papadakis from the league. The city remains open to the idea if a new proposal reduces the financial burden on the city.

Santa Rosa

The negotiation agreement between USL, Sonoma County and the city of Santa Rosa, California expired in September without an ownership group or extension.

South Georgia Tormenta

After a messy exit in pre-season, there does not appear to be any movement on a return to the pro ranks in Statesboro. The club continues to exist with youth teams.

Winter Garden

The Orlando area project appeared to be on track late last year, but developers backed out in February.

There have been no further updates from Ann Arbor, Annapolis, Apotheos, Asheville, Boston, Dothan, Erie, New Hampshire, Lancaster, Montgomery, New Orleans, Peoria, Real Central NJ, Rochester, Wilmington.

In addition, Grand Rapids was ceded to MLS NextPro.

Have a tip? Want to discuss any of these projects? Reach out via email: leagueoneupdater@gmail.com, or DM me on BlueSky, X or Instagram.

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Corrections: the first version of this story incorrectly reported that South Georgia Tormenta and Port St. Lucie had USL League Two sides. in 2026. Currently the clubs only have youth/academy teams. Thanks to readers Luke Martin and Christopher Wilson for pointing that out!

We also added Salem City to the list after publication after another reader reminded us of their investment offering.

Finally, we added on to the Riverside project, as another website was discovered. Thanks to Marcus Rose for the tip.