The New York Red Bulls are not getting a USL PRO affiliate. That much became clear this week when sporting director Andy Roxburgh told Big Apple Soccer as much. His deflector shields fully deployed, Roxburgh made a few oblique mentions to organizing a relationship with “someone else,” though whoever that may be is uncertain. For now, NYRB will bull ahead with its relationships to other clubs and without a foot in USL’s warm pool.

The politics behind this move aren’t clear. The Red Bulls’ Austrian overlords have been historically aloof, so the New York-based front office may have had its hands tied on this particular venture. We don’t know. What we do know is that the Red Bulls’ stable of academy products have fewer options than some of their brethren from other MLS academies. And, were the Red Bulls to actually sign one of their academy standouts, their outlets are limited.

Last weekend, there were 15 players tethered to the Red Bulls’ academy system who saw serious time in major Division I college games. Several are legitimate pro prospects. Arun Basuljevic and Chris Lema at Georgetown are live-wire midfielders, and Basuljevic in particular has that build as a No. 8 to run back channels and find space at the professional level. Virginia’s Scott Thomsen is a bonafide left back with a golden left foot (which MLS team can’t use that?). Tricky dribbler Adam Najem at Akron can fit into a number of schemes and thrives playing off the shoulder of a lead striker. And that’s to say nothing of Sean Davis (Duke), Brandon Allen (Georgetown) and Michigan’s Evan Louro, one of the best freshman keepers in the country. And we haven’t even mentioned the Red Bulls’ current HG signings.

The surprise in this is two-pronged. For one, the Red Bulls have one of the most extensively successful academy programs in the nation. Their pre-academy system in U.S. Club Soccer’s NPL is unquestionably among the nation’s best. Their Development Academy system has one of the most impressive lineages anywhere in the nation; they’re one of just three programs to have two DA titles (U16 in 2012, U18 in 2013). They’ve produced a national team player in Juan Agudelo. They have YNT prospects at literally every turn – Tyler Adams, one you might not yet know, is our No. 3 player in the 2017 class.

And yet the Red Bulls’ have one of the poorest matriculation rates of any club in MLS. When I took a more in-depth look at this in July, the Red Bulls stood out for some relatively ignominious reasons. Namely, of their nine Homegrown signings (to be sure, one of the league’s highest totals), just two had logged more than 400 MLS minutes, and four are already inactive. Nobody in the league has more than that. This is either a case of general overvaluation (which happens literally everywhere, but isn’t likely as a rule considering few of them get much of a chance), or the lack of a bridge between the academy and the professional ranks. College is only three months long, and nobody’s suggesting the PDL is the answer.

The second prong is a bit more sinister in regards to the Red Bulls’ longterm prospects.

It’s hard to envision a Red Bulls official who doesn’t hear the moneyed click of NYCFC’s collective loafers drawing nearer with each passing day. For now, New York’s second club (or first, depending upon your vantage) is pairing with eight affiliate youth clubs spread through all five boroughs to identify best developmental practices going forward. Good money says it won’t be that way for long. At least outwardly, it appears NYCFC is gauging the local temperature before drafting its own in-house blueprint down the line. There will come a day when NYCFC has its own light blue kits in the Development Academy, it may just take time. Manchester City did something similar under the same ownership umbrella. There is precedent here.

NYRB has a limited amount of time left with which to work until NYCFC comes online. Whether or not they realize it yet, Austria will soon learn they can’t simply buy their way past their new local rival, which would seem to make diving deeper into their developmental chops – something for which the club already owns a regional monopoly – a necessity. Why they aren’t doing everything in their power to fight NYCFC’s money with their own developmental fire, which they bafflingly have failed to harness over the past seven years, is almost immoral.

USL PRO is a good thing. It might be a stretch at this point to call it a vital thing, but it’s not outlandish to think it will be at some point. Look what it’s already done for LAGII, a team with a comparable academy system and similar resources. Shameless plug, but if you want a glimpse at a few bright prospects who’ve already used it to shine this season, have a look. There’s probably more U23 talent in that league than you realize. To his credit, it would seem Mike Petke, who often seems gently mystified by the business decisions of his superiors, understands this as well as anyone.

What NYRB has failed to do since signing its first Homegrown player is provide those signees a bridge from the academy/college to the pros. USL PRO is adding brick and mortar to that bridge, slowly but with increasing pace. How the Red Bulls’ highest brass failed to see that is almost incomprehensible, but it’s certainly nothing new.