In the latest soccer war, the MLS and USL battle over an abandoned baseball stadium. Fans and players are the ultimate losers.
News broke last week that the USL filed a lawsuit against the city of Fort Myers. The suit alleges that the city’s award of of a bid to redevelop City of Palms Park to an MLS Next Pro connected development group was unfairly scored, causing USL’s bid to come in second in the process.
This was news to USL fans, because it was widely assumed that the USL pulled out of Fort Myers in favor of Naples, one hour north.
The case is significant, because at the very least, it threatens to delay any professional soccer in Fort Myers. In the suit, USL is asking for an injunction and a do-over of the bid. The Fort Myers city council is already discussing starting the entire process over from scratch before the lawsuit was even filed. Meanwhile, the winning group stands ready to start, with a vision of fielding a team in 2025.
It is also another shot in the ongoing soccer war between the MLS and the USL.
It is a war in which the casualties are fans losing beloved teams or seeing delays in their city getting a professional team; and professional players with fewer opportunities to play in the United States.
USL in 2018: Fort Myers a “tremendous opportunity”
In early 2018, the newly formed USL League One took a look at Fort Myers as a potential expansion site. At the time, only South Georgia Tormenta and FC Tucson were announced as founding members of the third division professional league, set to debut in 2019.
Fort Myers was one of 24 cities USL explored for its new division three league since starting the process the year before. In 2018, league representatives spoke positively about the city’s potential, with then league Senior Vice President Steven Short calling it a “tremendous opportunity.”
Just days later, the league indicated that the relationship between it and potential owners and fans was becoming stronger. The story quoted local American Outlaws member Alex Reiter speaking on how the community would support a professional team, and reported that they were scouting “numerous sites” for a stadium. At this time, the only location mentioned by name was the Florida Gulf Coast University Soccer Complex, a facility that would likely not meet today’s league standards.
However, despite the early hype, the exploration process appears to have fizzled out. USL released no further news about any plans for Fort Myers.
USL to Naples, MLS Next Pro to Fort Myers?
In 2019, the Paradise Coast Sports Complex opened on the outskirts of Naples. Within the complex, a stadium was completed in 2020, and expanded in 2023 to hold 5,000 fans for soccer matches. USL announced the location as its newest franchise in January 2024, with the intention to begin play in 2025. Nearly every aspect of the expansion side quickly fell into place, with season ticket deposits numbering in the hundreds, and branding expected to roll out in early Spring.
Meanwhile, news broke in September 2023 that MLS Next Pro was working with a local developer with intentions to renovate City of Palms Park.
Built in 1993, the park had been the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox until 2011. Since then, it has been used by Florida Southwestern State College. The Lee County-owned park costs about $500,000 per year to maintain, and brings in less than $35,000 so both the county the city have been outspoken in their desire to redevelop the site.
The city is charged with the redevelopment efforts, and entertained multiple ideas, including dining, shopping, concerts, museums and parks. However, a developer connected to the MLS had ideas for a soccer stadium.
Construction and engineering conglomerate Jacobs Solutions appears to be lined up to lead the groundwork. According to comments given to WINK by Bill Gramer, a vice president at Jacobs, Shearson Sports Opportunity Fund had “been in discussions with Major League Soccer” to develop a team in Fort Myers.
Shearson is led by Jed Kaplan, current minority owner and board member of the Memphis Grizzlies, minority owner of Swansea City, and former minority owner of Orlando City; and Steve Demetriou, former CEO of Jacobs Solutions, and minority owner of Orlando Magic’s G League team, Lakeland Magic.
Gramer told WINK that “Shearson Sports Opportunity Fund is the mechanism behind the ownership behind the MLS Next Pro team.”
Shearson formed a partnership with a Cleveland and Miami based family office called Scythe to propose a redevelopment of City of Palms Park under the name Pitch Prime, with the goal of bringing an MLS Next Pro side to the site. The group was one of four that presented proposals to the Fort Myers city counsel. Pitch Prime won the bid.
In the weeks after the win, MLS Next Pro became actively involved, confirming their involvement. While there still has not been an official announcement from the league, MLS Next Pro president Charles Altchek told WINK that Fort Myers was a “perfect” spot for professional soccer, and that the league planned on a Fort Myers club joining the league by the 2025 season.
Not reported at the time was the fact that the USL was one of the four bidders, and ended with the second place bid.
USL’s primary complaint in the lawsuit may well be legitimate
According to the filing document (case number 24-CA-001840, available via search on the Lee County Clerk of the Court website), the Fort Myers City Counsel deliberately and knowingly scored the bids in a way that favored Pitch Prime, and was contrary to its own requirements and rules as stated in the request for proposal. Transcripts of a testy exchanged between the mayor and counsel members are included in the filing, a likely smoking gun showing that they were aware of the problems.
Indeed, as soon as USL raised the possibility of a lawsuit, Fort Myers leaders began discussing scraping the entire process, acknowledging the issues.
Currently, plans and discussions continue with Pitch Prime, but the lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop that while things are sorted out. As Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson (who is in favor of starting over) puts it, the situation is “disappointing,” and the city is “probably years behind.”
If the injunction is successful, and/or the process starts over, there likely won’t be professional soccer in Fort Myers in 2025. USL Next Pro president Altchek acknowledged in January that the “clock is ticking,” because the time needed to ensure the development can be finished, in conjunction with forming a team generally takes a whole year or more. With the MLS Next Season starting in mid-March, the window for 2025 may be closing.
The leagues’ soccer wars continue, fans, players the casualties
We still don’t know USL’s intention in placing a bid on the site. Perhaps the league still wanted a presence in Fort Myers after all the years of silence, and with a successful rollout in Naples. Or maybe it was another salvo in the ongoing soccer war between the leagues.
We saw the wars play out in San Diego, where MLS may stand alone in 2025 after USL side San Diego Loyal folded and NISA side Albion San Diego went on hiatus. In that case, a very deep-pocketed MLS investor came in and took over the stadium that the USL side had planned to use. Albion San Diego might be back, but in 2025, they’d be competing with MLS.
Charlotte saw MLS side Charlotte FC come in with massive attendance, so the USL side had to adjust and self-relegate to USL League One. Currently, Charlotte Independence carries on, marketing itself as a more family friendly, affordable alternative. Attendance lags compares to the rest of the league though, so that experiment needs to turn dividends eventually to remain sustainable.
Orange County SC saw MLS side LA Galaxy try to undermine its stadium deal with the city of Irvine for the benefit of Galaxy II, while Galaxy II still played in the USL with Orange County SC.
The Chattanooga region saw long-running club Chattanooga FC experience aggression from the USL with the establishment of Chattanooga Red Wolves. Currently, both sides exist in the mid-sized city and both have attendance on the higher side for their respective leagues, indicating that maybe multiple sides can successfully exist in the same market. Chattanooga FC stood up to the USL and went professional with a crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $1 million, retained its stadium and went a step further and joined MLS Next Pro ahead of the 2024 season.
We’re currently seeing shots fired in the Bay Area just this week, as MLS side San Jose Earthquakes announced a partnership with The Town FC to become its MLS Next Pro reserve side (formerly San Jose Earthquakes II). Fans of Oakland Roots see this as an attempt to take advantage of their team’s evolving stadium negotiations with the city of Oakland, and perhaps drive them out like MLS did to San Diego Loyal.
And of course there is the Brooklyn FC question, where the 2025 expansion side is strongly rumored to start in USL Championship due to overwhelming local demand, placing a second-division side in the backyard of two MLS sides.
With all of this, an objective observer may be able to understand by the leagues would strike back at each other.
But in the American soccer wars, the real victims aren’t the wealthy team owners or the leagues, but the fans and the players who see each shot introducing instability into the already precarious United States soccer system.
At the end of the day, even while MLS Next Pro has its peculiarities and its parent league has its problems with greed and control, is a soccer fan in a city without a professional team really going say no to an independent MLS Next Pro team? Is a player going to turn down an opportunity for minutes and to be paid for their skills?
Hardly.
The leagues’ self-inflicted wounds
Neither league helps the situation with their restrictive territorial rights system and increasing expansion fees. Such a system was designed to help teams gain a foothold in a market and establish stability, after years of failed attempts. But this type of system ends up entrenched under the weight of its own costs.
This is why Chattanooga FC joined MLS Next Pro, instead of USL where one of the best regional derbies in the country could have been. They simply can’t, because Chattanooga Red Wolves “owns” USL’s territorial rights in that region. It’s why 2025 USL expansion side FC Brooklyn is in the USL – MLS territorial rights wouldn’t allow it to compete with NYCFC and NY Red Bulls at the top level.
Expansion fees now run upwards of $500 million for MLS, and as of 2023, were $20 million for USL Championship and $5 million for USL League One. An owner making this sort of buy-in will be less likely to want to deal with regional competition, especially fostered by their own league. And at those costs, who can objectively blame them, even if the system holds back development of the game?
It is especially hard on players right now, when teams fold and expected expansions do not come fast enough. There is an excess amount of player talent out there, and an excess amount of potential fans in underserved markets (including many markets that already have sides).
In 2024, we saw seven teams join the professional ranks: Rhode Island, Spokane Velocity, Carolina Core, Georgia Lions, Arizona Monsoon, Capo FC, Irvine Zeta. However, we also saw five teams fold or go on professional hiatus: San Diego Loyal, Rio Grande Valley, Albion San Diego, Flower City Union, Gold Star FC. Imagine the opportunity for fans and players if those five survived?
As of right now, 2025 looks promising, with the following sides scheduled to join the professional ranks: San Diego FC, Brooklyn, Sporting Jacksonville, New Orleans, Antelope Valley, Naples, Portland (Maine), Texoma, Santa Barbara Sky, Connecticut United, Jacksonville Armada, Las Vegas Legends, and Albion San Diego and Gold Star Detroit plan returns to NISA.
But how many more will fold due to lack of support from the leagues, the soccer infrastructure and the closed system in general? How many will experience delays or unceremoniously fade away?
How many will fall victim to the soccer wars?
If Flower City Union can win its league championship, and still have to self-relegate to amateur status, are we really on a path to sustainability any time soon under this system?
And the end of the day, when leagues battle instead of cooperate, the fans and the players are the losers, no matter who wins.