With the news of restructuring in the USL, and with several owners threatening to split from the league altogether, it might be time for a new soccer club ownership model in the US.

Right now, every major team in USL and MLS is owned by a company or ownership group, as are most teams throughout the United States' sporting landscape. But that's not the way it has to be. If the team owners split from the league, a new opportunity for public ownership of clubs might be possible. Teams like FC Barcelona, which is ACTUALLY a fan owned and supported club, as well as NFL teams like the Green Bay Packers function under a model that is rarely emulated here in the States.

Is this the time for a group of fans, led by a visionary business person or advocate, to start the first true soccer club in the country?

I think it's a great idea

yeah, it's a great idea but it just I don't think that it is feasible here in the States. Just like it isn't in most parts of the world, regardless of the sport.

The Green Bay Packers do it now.

Granted, their system is set up in such a way that they can't create more shares or raise the price of shares--which is simultaneously good and bad for the club, seeing as they can't adjust for inflation but also share owners don't have to worry about being gouged. Until recently, they've been an immensely popular and profitable team.

I think the system really can work if it's got a community of supporters behind it and a visionary businessperson at the helm.

*Not to mention, if the club were set up, like the Green Bay Packers are, as a nonprofit organization, your share in the club might actually be tax deductible.

What the Packers have done is amazing. Whenever I hear about the shareholders meetings, I wonder what it must be like.
It is unique Amercian sports franchise experience. I don't know of any other pro sports fanchise in the States that operates in that way.

I know that at one point in time Saputo was trying to export his official non-profit vision with a twist to Tampa Bay for the Rowdies. Even down to a potentially tax deductible share sort of thing. But in the end, the owner who bought in has not gone with that model...

What the Packers have done is fascinating but it is a true anomaly for American sports franchises.

I have wondered more than once if a MyFootballClub/Ebbsfleet United model could be applied to a USL team. I would like to think so but I am not convinced. I would like to see more direct supporter involvement with the Thunder but I rather doubt that the owners of the team are excited by the idea of even limited fan ownership.

I do not know anything about the Green Bay Packers. It sounds interesting. I do know that the MyFC experiment has been successful in that it saved Ebbsfleet from going under, but the process can be exhausting and the fundraising is essentially endless.

The Green Bay Packers are fantastically popular.

The last soccer organization to try the public ownership route was - I believe - the San Diego Flash. San Diego Soccer Development was a bit of a mess.

Doesn't mean it can't be done. Of course it can be done. I just question whether you could do it on any large scale.

There's a certain number of people who will watch soccer. There's a certain smaller number of people who will support it. There's a certain smaller number of people who will live and die with a team. And a smaller number still who think it's a really good investment and will actually plunk down money to own a small part of a team.

Nice to dream. Just don't count on it happening in this country and being successful anytime soon.

Agreed.

Also, how did the Ebbsfleet United thing work the second year? People have no attention spans.

Players play. Coaches coach. Owners own. Writers write. Fans cheer. There's a reason they do not own. There's a reason their input should be taken but not necessarily taken as gospel.

Also...I'm not 100% sure the people in the TOA understand just how hard it is to start up a league. If they think it's going to be easy....I think they're in for a rude awakening.

The MyFC/Ebbsfleet thing teetered on the brink for a time but stabilized, surprisingly. In my opinion, the Pick The Team option is hyper-stupid, and many people bailed after a year when the majority always voted for Daish to pick the team. It looks like the model might work after all, although staying up this year will be regarded as an unqualified success.

In current conditions, a new league would be very difficult. Hopefully some kind of detente can be reached.

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?