The competition will feature a Modern Professional Era (1995-present) record 64 teams, including every US-based professional club in the American soccer pyramid from Major League Soccer (16 teams), the North American Soccer League (6 teams), and USL PRO (10 teams). The remaining 32 spots will be filled by amateur clubs from the Premier Development League (16 teams), United States Adult Soccer Association (9 teams), National Premier Soccer League (6.5 teams), and US Club Soccer (0.5 team). An NPSL club will square off with a representative from US Club Soccer for a spot in the 2012 competition.

Another major change will be in the hosting format. The bidding process has been stripped out through the quarterfinals. Each team can apply to host each round and if both teams’ venues meet USSF’s standards, the federation will conduct a blind draw to determine the host. In the past, in addition to meeting USSF venue standards, teams would have to submit a financial bid, and the team that bid the most was awarded the home game. The old bidding method will still be used for the semifinal and finals of the tournament.

Lastly, another change will be when the competition begins. The first four rounds of the 2012 Open Cup will taking place on consecutive weeks. The tournament will begin on May 15 – the earliest the Open Cup has begun in the Modern Pro Era – with the 32 amateur clubs matching up in geographic fashion.

The winners of those games will move on to Round 2 the following week, May 22, where the 16 NASL and USL PRO clubs will enter.

The week after that, on May 29, Major League Soccer will take on the Second Round winners. With the number of teams, a fourth round will added and will take place June 5. The Cup hasn’t had a fourth round since a four-year run from 2003-06.

Three weeks later, the tournament will hold the Quarterfinals on June 26, followed by the Semifinals on July 10, and the Open Cup Final on either August 7 or 8.

During a conference call with reporters today, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati revealed the timing of the NASL’s one-year sanctioning made it impossible for the league’s teams to compete in the country’s longest continuously running championship. He also ruled out the possibility of some kind of play-in mechanism.

What makes the news rather shocking is the fact that there are only five teams to deal with here for the NASL in the USOC. Given the fact that there are 11 USL-Pro teams that are eligible for the USOC, it makes this news a bit of a head-scratcher. You’d think an even 16 clubs from the two divisions would be easier to deal with than an odd number of clubs from the 3rd division league.

No word has been given yet on how the USOC will be structured this year to make up for the five NASL clubs missing from the brackets. I still believe the tournament needs a major restructuring anyways and now could be the perfect time to do it.

What do you make of the NASL not being allowed to play in the USOC this year? Do you think it won’t matter considering how well MLS clubs do in this tournament?

In a way this should come as no shock to those who’ve followed the story since last year and beyond. The second division in the US has always been a turnover pool of teams that continue to change each year with the exception of a few teams.

Recently the NASL lost another club to it’s bid in the form of Jeff Cooper’s AC St. Louis. The same guy who begged and pushed for his own MLS club a couple years back before settling on a division two side. Pretty rough stuff considering the club never really had a chance to get off the ground and possibly due to Cooper himself never saw enough financial support to keep it going. MLS saw this coming a mile away but others in the NASL decided to go with it.

Now that the NASL is without a second division option the group of owners has wait until probably February to appeal their case at the annual USSF General Meeting. The thing is if they aren’t certified then and they do still play games between one another they are subject to FIFA penalties that include preventing players from player for their national teams.

Now the NASL could drop their case for a second division league altogether and go the third division route like the USL did with their now 15-team USL-Pro. But that option seems less likely given the fact that the NASL only has a few clubs now and most are facing financial difficulties. According to reports, the Carolina Railhawks have been facing serious financial trouble and have sought assistance from Traffic Sports USA, a sports management company that already controls three NASL clubs.

This is a setback and a blow for US Soccer though no matter which way you spin it. I think Jason Davis put it well on Friday that does the US really need a second division? To me the USL will likely still be that just as a 3rd division model. And really without any form of promotion/relegation the US will never really know that answer.

I do think the USSF putting regulations on the second division was worth it though. Having so many clubs come and go over the years due to financial issues shows that there was always a need for some form of regulation on that division.

Looking at it from a MLS perspective, the thing that stands out the most is what happens to Montreal. This was suppose to be their final year of D2 soccer before joining the ranks of MLS. They had the chance to do what Seattle, Portland and Vancouver have done before them by building up momentum in their final D2 year. Losing a year could be tough on the club but I’d imagine they’ll be able to work around things a bit with the help of the CSA. I’d imagine they’ll get sanctioning through them to allow players to at least play in Voyageur Cup games and possible other things.

But you do wonder what that means for their expansion outlook in MLS. I think they lose a little bit of steam but that club has a big enough following that they’ll make up for it in year one.

Last winter it was all USL v. NASL. It looks like the drama of that is now turning into the drama of how the NASL can become a Division II league under the USSF soccer pyramid. The NASL released a press statement this morning stating they have submitted to the USSF their final bid for sanctioning of Division II.

With the USL taking a backseat to the whole D-2 thing now days with their USL-Pro league that they are forming, the NASL is the sole group of teams that hope to keep the D-2 level alive and kicking (no pun intended).

Per the guidelines for sanctioning, the application needed eight teams; six were certain prior to the NASL’s annual general meeting, with two surprises. We knew for certain about those six teams (Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay, Montreal Impact, Miami FC Blues, and the Puerto Rico Islanders) but the two surprises announced today were the rebirth of the Atlanta Silverbacks and the NSC Minnesota Stars who are run by a non-profit group that are still looking for investors.

The application also includes San Antonio (which will commence play in 2012) and an additional team to be announced (which will commence play in 2013). The group hopes to get sanctioning later this month.

Yes the whole Atlanta and Minnesota thing is causing some heads to spin. We’ll probably know more about Minnesota once Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer finds out what the outlook for potential investors is at the moment.

But as for Atlanta, a club that hasn’t seen any action on the field since 2008 really makes you wonder how the hell the NASL is going to really rely on them considering their intentions to play in 2011 were basically wiped off the table earlier this summer. The Atlanta Soccer Blog wonders if MLS going full force after a New York club for their 20th franchise instead of Atlanta helps the Silverbacks case for a return in the NASL. Possibly.

As a soccer fan in American I have to hope this works out for the best though. With all the financial issues the D-2 leagues have had over the years, seeing a stable and productive D-2 and D-3 league will really go a long way in enhancing the play here in the country.

The new USL PRO league. (Image borrowed from uslsoccer.com)

File this in the “it didn’t shock me” category. The United Soccer League announced today that they would be merging their first and second divisions next year to become the new USL PRO division, a second division under Major League Soccer in the American soccer pyramid.

It sounds like this new USL could be possibly more aligned with MLS in terms of player development.

Team owners and league officials are meeting in Tampa, Florida today to lay the groundwork for the 2011 debut of USL PRO, which will be governed by team owners and present the highest level of competition in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean outside of Major League Soccer (MLS).

USL PRO is a national league featuring a regional competition model to build natural rivalries and reduce travel-related costs. The U.S. Soccer Federation-affiliated league benefits from the leadership of the dedicated and experienced professional staff at USL’s Tampa headquarters as well as the developmental support of USL’s proven and integrated system of leagues.

USL PRO will consist of as many as four geographic regions in 2011. Teams scheduled to compete in USL PRO in 2011 will be announced in the coming weeks.

My guess on who will be in this USL PRO league looks something like this:

Austin Aztex, Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Real Maryland Monarchs, Richmond Rickers, and at least three potential expansions teams in Orlando, San Antonio, and possibly Phoenix.

Now I’m purely speculating over the three expansion teams and that fact that all the USL-2 teams will join the PRO league next year. Its very possible that the USL will move some of their Premier Development League teams up as well. More than likely the Dayton Dutch Lions will be a D-2 team in this new model next year as well.

I like the idea of breaking up the league into different geographical locations to reduce travel costs and what not. How they actually go about doing it will be interesting to see. I think it will also be interesting to see how the US Open Cup is laid out for next year with the USL and NASL splitting for good here.

This news comes after last week’s announcement that the NASL would be submitting their bid for the 2011 season to the USSF with 10 teams. The teams in the proposed NASL would be the Carolina RailHawks, the Puerto Rico Islanders, the Montreal Impact, the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies, Miami FC Blues, the Rochester Rhinos, NSC Minnesota Stars, Crystal Palace Baltimore, AC St. Louis and FC Edmonton, an expansion franchise.

So which league will thrive more? This new USL model or the NASL?

Don't these fans deserve better?

Now I am starting to get why St. Louis has been passed over for expansion into Major League Soccer these last couple years. We knew going into the rounds of expansion the one thing hurting the bid was the money side. Apparently the money is being drained from their current teams in the USSF Division II and on the ladies side of things in the WPS.

Dave Lange at the Globe-Democrat has a long article on the matter. I’d recommend checking it out.

Jeff Cooper the guy who headed up the expansion bid for the Gateway City is said to no longer be the majority owner of the clubs. Its not too surprising that its come to this. I recall talking with a couple folks in the St. Louis area about a MLS expansion team a while back and they all said that it would never happen with Cooper leading the way because of the money issues. He was never the richest guy and he also struggled in getting other investors to jump on board with his ideas they said.

According to the article another issue hurting the clubs is the cost to maintain the stadium they are using. They currently play at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, which Anheuser-Busch Inbev donated to Cooper’s group last summer. Folks there are saying that place is sucking them dry.

It sucks to hear this about this market but at the same time I think MLS should feel pretty good about not going there just yet. They saw the bigger issue that Cooper and his group didn’t see which probably would have meant this club wouldn’t have lasted after a season in MLS is run this way.

I still see a future for professional soccer in St. Louis but it has to be with someone else leading the way. While I love the passion that Cooper has here it stinks to see it coming at a big price for this area. Hopefully something changes quick and they get their act together financially.

Today he has added a new podcast/video interview with NASL or USSF Div II Carolina Railhawks Brian Plotkin. The two discuss the crazy offseason that surrounded the USL/NASL/USSF Div 2 as well as some other items.

Enjoy.

Crystal Palace Baltimore Stadium rendering. (Photo via CPUSA)

A little mid-day stadium porn for you. And believe me some MLS teams would love to have this stadium right now.

The Maryland Stadium Authority approved a $100,000 study on Tuesday to explore the viability of building a professional soccer stadium in Baltimore. Both DC United and the USSF Division II’s Crystal Palace Baltimore are being looked at in this study.

The renderings though are for CP Baltimore. A cozy little venue with a roof over all the seats with one end open for probably a party deck of some sorts. I like it…a lot.

I waited a while today to get to this news that most of you have already seen. AC St. Louis in the USSF’s Division II league announced it’s first big signing today in hometown boy Steve Ralston.

Big news in some ways and in others, eh, not so much.

First of all Ralston was one of the last MLS originals left on the table. He decided last week to not re-sign with New England and MLS. Now we know it was because he wanted a move to his hometown to be a player/assistant coach with the new D-II club.

That’s all well and good but I honestly don’t buy into the thoughts that this is a bigger deal than some are making it out to be. I’m sure some MLS clubs wanted him but the fact that he didn’t want them should tell you all you need to know. He was ready to make this move, it wasn’t forced on him. Had it been more of a forced move then I would see this as a bigger deal.

It is a bigger deal for the USSF’s Division II or the NASL for that matter. Ralston’s name adds some credibility to this new league but he’s not gonna sell out stadiums in that league anytime soon. His impact will be seen more off the field with his new club than on the field.

As for MLS losing one of it’s originals hurts but only in the short term. I still see him coming back into the league down the road as a head coach…probably in New England for that matter.

Let’s face it even though he was an assist machine in MLS the last two years he was hurt more than most would like to admit. Now we know Revs fans are worried that all the offense is gone and dried up with him gone now. I honestly don’t buy that for a second. Maybe I’ve drank the Steve Nicol kool-aid more than some but I am a big believer in his coaching style, it isn’t flashy or sexy but it does get results. Make no mistake the Revs will be in a lot of low scoring games this season. They’ll find a way to come out on top in some of them.

I’m happy for Steve and hope he does well in his hometown.

The league will consist of two six-team conferences –  the USL conference and the NASL conference.

The USL Conference will include:

Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay.

The NASL Conference will include:

Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.

We will hear back in the coming days/weeks about the league rules, name, schedules, etc.

More on this to come after the conference call…