Tim Sullivan

@TimSullivan714

The difference between the top two teams in the United Soccer League is the difference between engagement and apathy.

While Louisville City FC has attracted a passionate and growing fan base in its two years of existence, the New York Red Bulls II have struggled to find a niche where they can get noticed.

LCFC is awaiting a feasibility study for a new soccer-specific stadium. The Red Bulls’ development team, meanwhile, has filled so few seats at the $200 million Red Bull Arena – only 380 per game this season -- that it has already announced a 2017 move to the campus of Montclair State University.

As the USL seeks second-tier status from the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), which would mean being seen on the same tier as the North American Soccer League, the league’s numerous weak links stand out like an own goal. If it is not now time to thin the herd, to contract to a level of collective strength, there figures to be a reckoning down the road.

”I think there will be a point where some of the organizations will be forced to make decisions,” Louisville City President Amanda Duffy said Tuesday. “And in my opinion, I think we’ll see continued evolution of this sport at the Division 2 and Division 3 levels. Expectations and operating expenses will go up for some of the current organizations and there will be a point where the revenues just don’t match those operating expenses. . .

“But right now, I think every team that’s a part of the league, there’s no reason they wouldn’t move forward, at least for 2017.”

READ MORE: Handing out LouCity FC's midseason awards

With 29 teams already in place, and a new franchise being formed in Nashville, the USL has grown like a mesquite tree, very quickly but with shallow roots. Though the USL’s FC Cincinnati and Sacramento Republic FC far exceed any NASL team in terms of home attendance, the NASL’s average announced crowd has been more than 1,400 higher than the USL’s this season. Thirteen of the USL’s 29 teams have averaged fewer than 2,000 spectators per home game in 2016; two of them have averaged fewer than 600 fans.

Like the Red Bulls II, most of the USL’s least-watched outfits exist as development teams for franchises in in the top-tier: Major League Soccer. To those steeped in the traditions of European soccer, the situation fairly screams for a system of promotion and relegation; for the opportunity for teams to move from one division to another based on merit (or lack thereof).

To those more familiar with American sports culture, and wary of the prospect of a pair of competing Division 2 leagues, conditions would seem conducive for a merger, with the strongest USL and NASL teams comprising one league and the remainder consigned to Division 3.

Neither course seems likely, though, given the lingering friction that dates to a 2009 split between the two leagues.

“There have been no (merger) discussions,” USL President Jake Edwards said Monday. “We’re two separate entities with two separate philosophies on the sport and on the business.”

Since many fans are either oblivious about or indifferent to the subtle differences between Division 2 and Division 3 status, it’s certainly possible the USL and NASL could coexist on the same stratum. Yet if there's a lesson to be learned from the Indy Racing League’s protracted battle with CART, it is that short-term grudges tend to impede long-term goals.

“One of the things that has really kept this sport from being what it could be is so much infighting,” said Kenn Tomasch, a former front office executive and play-by-play announcer in numerous soccer leagues. “Historically, people in the sport don’t cooperate. . .

“You’ve got to bring people back to the table and say, ‘I don’t care about your petty squabbles. We’re going to reshuffle the deck, put all wounds aside.' (But) People are a little skittish about USSF doing all that.”

READ MORE: Louisville City FC's Coopers bring the noise

The USL’s priority at this point is to make sure all of its franchises can meet the USSF’s criteria for Division 2 status, which include an ownership group’s net worth of at least $20 million, a 5,000-seat stadium, a minimum of 12 employees and that 75 percent of a league’s teams must play in a metropolitan market with a population of at least 750,000.

Edwards said the USSF should complete its site visits within the next few weeks and that a decision on the USL’s application for Division 2 status could be reached sometime in September.

“We’re optimistic for sure,” Edwards said. “We feel we’ve put a solid case to the federation. We have a world-class ownership group and a strong league on the acsendency in many ways.”

Duffy said Louisville City FC, which owns the USL’s best record and third-best home attendance, had already met or exceeded most of the requirements for a promotion to Division 2 when a USSF represented stopped by for a site visit last week. She is also aware that many of her customers see U.S. soccer’s second and third tiers as a distinction without much difference.

“I don’t think we have lost anything by saying we’re Division 3 and I don’t know that we gain anything by saying we’re Division 2,” Duffy said. “But I do think just from the elevation standpoint, it will help us with corporate partners and at the community level. There are selling points we will be able to use to our advantage.”

If the USL would grow stronger with fewer teams, that could be a selling point, too.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com or @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.