NASL sues U.S. Soccer over Div. II status

DCFC is in talks with NASL, NISA

Team could pick league this fall

A lawsuit by the North American Soccer League against the sport's U.S. governing body looms over Detroit City Football Club's effort to switch to a professional league.

Semi-pro Detroit City FC, which draws more than 5,000 fans a game at its Hamtramck stadium, has been in talks with the NASL as a potential landing spot next season.

Clouding that goal is the American soccer system being roiled by the uncertainty about the tiers just below Major League Soccer.

The Chicago-based U.S. Soccer Federation, which sanctions American soccer leagues, granted the New York City-based NASL and Tampa-based rival United Soccer League provisional Division II status in January. Earlier this month, it rejected NASL's application to remain a Division II league, meaning it would drop to Division III, the lowest level of U.S. pro soccer above amateur status. The next level below that, the fourth tier of the soccer pyramid, is where Detroit City FC plays in the semi-pro National Premier Soccer League.

Division II leagues have to meet criteria such as having 12 teams, and NASL currently has eight. The league has said it's in talks with teams that may join it, including DCFC.

The 30-team USL, which is closely tied to Major League Soccer and is considered the more financially stable league, retains its Division II status.

The NASL on Sept. 19 filed a federal antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the Chicago-based U.S. Soccer Federation that alleges it conspired with Major League Soccer and its marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, along with the USL, to limit competition and drive the NASL out of business.

The lawsuit, which references DCFC's interest in joining the league, was filed by NASL Chairman Rocco Commisso, who also is the principal owner of the league's New York Cosmos. His attorney on the case is noted sports litigator Jeffrey Kessler of Chicago-based Winston & Strawn LLP.

NASL wants the court to grant a preliminary injunction that would preserve its Division II status, among other things. It's unclear how long the lawsuit could take to resolve.

Detroit City FC CEO Sean Mann, one of the team's five co-owners, said via email that the uncertainty over the status of the leagues complicates the team's effort to turn professional.

"We've been in talks with the NASL for a while now. The decision by U.S. Soccer has shaken up the whole soccer landscape below MLS and complicated our potential options," he said. "However, we're actively assessing all our options as the case plays out, and pursuing other business opportunities that will allow the club to continue to grow in 2018 and beyond."

That does not includes talks with a new Division III league being formed for 2019 by the United Soccer League.

"We've had no conversations with USL regarding their proposed Division III league," Mann said.

DCFC has said it could make the jump to a pro league this fall. It will need an outside investor to help it meet USSF requirements for a principal owner's financial worth and to pay the expansion that could run into the millions of dollars.

Since its 2012 launch, Detroit City has played in the fourth-tier National Premier Soccer League, and on Aug. 5 the club reached the league's national semifinal for the first time in front of a team-record 7,533 fans at DCFC's home pitch, Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck. Detroit City averaged 5,398 over 15 homes matches this season — gate numbers that have drawn praise across the soccer world and made the team attractive to professional leagues.

The NPSL is a semi-pro league, meaning players are unpaid and most are still in college. DCFC moving to a pro league means players would be paid.

The NASL, which began play in 2011, has 10 teams. The leagued averaged 4,534 fans per match across its clubs, led by Indianapolis-based Indy Eleven's 8,222 per game.

NASL players reportedly earn between $15,000 to $100,000 a season. It has deals for games to air on beIN Sports and ESPN3, and clubs have local TV deals, a league spokesman said. NASL averages nearly 6,000 fans per game and its split-season format is 16 spring and 16 fall games. Rosters are 30 players.

The NASL said its expansion fee is more than $1 million but less than $10 million, but it would not be more specific. USSF requires a Division II team to have a principal owner with a $20 million minimum net worth.

The other option for Detroit City FC is the new National Independent Soccer Association, a Division III league that's being formed by investors Peter Wilt, a longtime soccer executive, and attorney and consultant Jack Cummins.

NISA said it intends to launch with 8-10 teams in 2018. The intent is to be a bridge to the Division II leagues and the fourth-tier NPSL, and possibly employ the relegation-promotion system used by pro soccer leagues in much of the rest of the world. The best teams move up each season to a higher league, and the worst teams are demoted to the lower league.

Wilt said the expansion fee would be "six figures" but wasn't more specific. Player salaries would be also be "six figures" combined for each team's roster, he said.

The U.S. Soccer Federation requires Division III teams to have a principal owner with a $10 million net worth and a minimum 35 percent stake in the club. The federation still is in the process of sanctioning the league and team applications will be under review over the next couples of months.

Wilt said he has a nondisclosure agreement with Detroit City FC that forbids him from discussing their talks, which he termed "serious." He did praise what DCFC's owners have created and called it a template for his own league. He's been to three Detroit City matches, he said.

Detroit City needs a wealthy benefactor because the five current co-owners all have day jobs. Their business strategy of being a fan-oriented team, with an intense European-style game-day party atmosphere, happened to catch the fancy of thousands of local soccer fans. Attendance has grown from about 1,000 a game in 2012 to its current pace at Keyworth, where the team moved prior to the 2016 season. DCFC has more than 2,000 season ticket holders.

Ownership has said any outside investment by a new principal owner will be predicated on that person buying into and maintaining that fan-focused strategy.

The team owners have declined to say much about the outside investment other than candidates are a mix of local, national and European groups.

DCFC this season had a $1 million operating budget, which was spent on five full-time staff, travel costs and game-day operations expenses.