hmm....why a cooperative would not work? you got a team, he's got a team, i got a team....and we want to play against each other....do we need anyone else?

long ago had a look at the NPSL model, most of that model looks good...they're "a league owned by the teams, not the teams owned by a league"

MLS, USL, etc...owners seem to be just managers, not owners of their own clubs/teams?