NISA postpones season by two weeks: Is the league in trouble?
Lower league US soccer consistently sees teams come and go
If there is one thing that seems to be consistent about American soccer, it is the coming and going of clubs. Go back to the days of the original NASL, and you will see a league that saw teams spring up only to fold a season later. Some clubs would pop up in one city and move to a new city the next seeking fan support.
That trend seems to be a constant in USA soccer outside of Major League Soccer. Although MLS saw its fair share of clubs fold in the past: Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion, and Chivas USA.
On Friday night, US soccer writer Kartik Krishnaiyer from Beyond The 90, published the National Independent Soccer Association’s latest press release. Rather than publishing information about the excitement of the upcoming campaign, the NISA’s press release informed fans that the league would postpone the season’s start by two weeks.
The announcement of the league being pushed back two weeks would have likely been worrying for some fans. Some would have thought the NISA was about to fold or didn’t have enough teams to compete.
The league, which is the third tier of American soccer, has seen teams come and go over the years, joining for a season or two before moving to another division. Keep in mind soccer in the US does not have promotion and relegation. Instead, teams leave leagues often for monetary reasons.
Indeed, it is a bit embarrassing that NISA lost its reigning champions, Flower City Union, ahead of the 2024 season. Former league champions Detroit City previously left NISA to move to the USL Championship. Again, there is no promotion and relegation, so losing these established clubs isn’t great for the league.
A quick look at NISA’s Wikipedia page indicates that 16 teams have left NISA due to folding or moving to different leagues. With the loss of so many teams since the league formed in 2017, nearly seven years ago, the club has had to replace those clubs.
NISA will welcome four new clubs to the league for the 2024 campaign: Georgia Lions FC, Arizona Monsoon FC, Capo FC, and Irvine Zeta FC. According to NISA, the four teams are not ready to play the upcoming season, therefore, rather than kick off on March 23, the league will begin on April 6.
According to Krishnaiyer’s analysis of the announcement, the league is concerned that the four clubs will be able to operate for the full season. The vetting process may not have been as precise as it should have been initially.
While soccer seems to be the hottest sport in the US and continues to grow, clubs at the lower league level are scrapping for their lives. Indeed, the US soccer scene is extremely saturated. At the top of the food chain in terms of US soccer is MLS, which tries to eliminate all other soccer leagues and competitions it can.
There is also the NWSL, the top division of women’s soccer in the States. Meanwhile, these leagues are competing for the attention of soccer fans along with the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, and Liga MX.
Except for a few cities, like Detroit City, I struggle to understand how some of these American lower league soccer teams stay in business for more than a few years.
I was unable to find reliable attendance figures for NISA. The USL Championship, second tier of the US soccer pyramid, does have reported attendance figures from last season, however.
According to Soccer Stadium Digest, the league’s teams averaged 5,803 fans per game. While that isn’t terrible, it is difficult to believe too many investors will want to continue losing money over the long term.
Even most MLS teams are losing money hand over fist. With the amount of sports available to the average US sports fan, attracting fans for lower league soccer matches seems like an impossible task.
It has been nearly 20 years since I lived in the US. The soccer landscape is completely different from when I was there. Yet, the trend of teams coming and going every season in the lower leagues continues.