Potential D-2 or D-3 Pro Soccer Cities in the US
A list of potential D-2 or D-3 pro soccer cities compiled by Bruce McGuire, a list broken down by regions or divisions with D-2 and D-3 teams listed along with potential teams compiled by Gerry Wittmann, and Dave Clark put together a Google map of MLS teams which could host a Reserve team along with current and potential NASL and USL-1 teams.
Compiled by Bruce McGuire from Minneapolis, MN
A list of cities in the US that do not have professional soccer but could realistically support a minor league soccer team
ROUGHLY BY SIZE – 64 Cities
Riverside CA – Inland from LA
Phoenix AZ – Heat restrictive?
Atlanta GA
San Antonio TX
San Diego CA
Dallas TX – (Urban) In the city not in the suburban sprawl
Detroit MI – Northern suburbs
San Francisco CA
Jacksonville FL
Indianapolis IN
Fort Worth TX
Memphis TN
Boston MA – (Urban) In the city not halfway to RI
El Paso TX
Nashville TN
Milwaukee WI
Las Vegas NV
Louisville KY
Oklahoma City OK
Tucson AZ – Heat restrictive?
Albuquerque NM
Fresno CA
Sacramento CA
Omaha NE
Norfolk-Virginia Beach VA
Cleveland OH
Tulsa OK
Colorado Springs CO
New Orleans LA
Cincinnati OH
Lexington KY
Buffalo NY
Madison WI
Norfolk VA
Birmingham AL
Reno NV
Boise ID
Spokane WA
Grand Rapids MI
Little Rock AR
Knoxville TN
Worcester MA
Jackson MI
Providence RI
Chattanooga TN
Bakersfield CA
Sioux Falls SD
Eugene OR
Quad Cities IA-IL (Davenport, Moline, Rock Island)
Peoria IL
Syracuse NY
Boulder CO
Hartford CT
Dayton OH
Wichita KS
Columbia MO
Mobile AL
Missoula MT
Akron OH
Hunstsville AL
Champaign-Urbana, IL
Green Bay-Appleton WI
Toledo OH
Des Moines IA
The same 64 cites but in alphabetical order
ALPHABETICAL
Akron OH
Albuquerque NM
Atlanta GA
Bakersfield CA
Birmingham AL
Boise ID
Boston MA
Boulder CO
Buffalo NY
Champaign-Urbana, IL
Chattanooga TN
Cincinnati OH
Cleveland OH
Colorado Springs CO
Columbia MO
Dallas TX
Dayton OH
Des Moines IA
Detroit MI
El Paso TX
Eugene OR
Fort Worth TX
Fresno CA
Grand Rapids MI
Green Bay-Appleton WI
Hartford CT
Hunstsville AL
Indianapolis IN
Jackson MI
Jacksonville FL
Knoxville TN
Las Vegas NV
Lexington KY
Little Rock AR
Louisville KY
Madison WI
Memphis TN
Milwaukee WI
Missoula MT
Mobile AL
Nashville TN
New Orleans LA
Norfolk VA
Norfolk-Virginia Beach VA
Oklahoma City OK
Omaha NE
Peoria IL
Phoenix AZ
Providence RI
Quad Cities IA-IL (Davenport, Moline, Rock Island)
Reno NV
Riverside CA
Sacramento CA
San Antonio TX
San Diego CA
San Francisco CA
Sioux Falls SD
Spokane WA
Syracuse NY
Toledo OH
Tulsa OK
Tucson AZ
Wichita KS
Worcester MA
Compiled by Gerry Wittmann of St. Louis, MO
A list of cities with current D-2 and D-3 teams put into regions with a few other possibilities thrown in.
Atlantic Southeast Central Southwest
CP Baltimore Miami/Ft. Lauderdale NSC Minnesota Austin Aztex
Harrisburg FC Tampa Bay AC St. Louis San Antonio
Pittsburgh Atlanta Des Moines Ventura County
Richmond Charleston Battery Edmonton FC Phoenix
Real Maryland Charlotte Eagles Nashville ? San Diego ?
Carolina Railhawks Puerto Rico Islanders Milwaukee? El Paso?
South Jersey? Bermuda Hogges ? Thunder Bay? Las Vegas?
Virginia Beach? Orlando Cincinnati? San Francisco?
Chicago (Urban)?
Madison Wi ?
Cleveland ?
Milwaukee?
Compiled by Dave Clark of Seattle, WA
A map of:
BLUE: MLS teams which could host a Reserve team in their own Metro area.
RED: USL-1 with possible expansion teams.
GREEN: NASL with possible expansion teams.
Click on the map to go directly to the Google Map.
Comments are closed.
If I was a gazillionaire I would put a team in San Antonio in a heartbeat.
If I’d do the same list for Canadian cities I would add:
- Québec (North East)
- Ottawa (North East)
- Hamilton (North East)
- Winnipeg (North East)
- Calgary (Central)
We could have 5 divisions by splitting the Atlantic division in 2 (North East, South East).
Winnipeg would definitely be on my radar for a midwest league.
As a resident of Champaign, IL, I’d certainly love to see a minor league team here. But despite the soccer community here, we need to be realistic. This is a college town with transitory quasi-residents, and developing a fan base that gets sustained — especially at the minor league level — would be rough going.
A PDL team, maybe, if it played in a very regional league. Competition in St Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Fort Wayne might well mark the legitimate travel distance that could be supported. Another question is where to play: the University’s soccer field is a pot hole inside a running track with horrible lights and poor visibility. Renting a high school football field would probably be the only option.
Nice to think about, though…
great Canadian following here on IMS… not sure why Victoria is absent on the list based on successes in USL-PDL….
…hmmm, could factor in as reserves for MLS in Vancouver?
A while back I read a magazine article (Forbes? Money?) which listed the market capacity of major cities for an MLS franchise in terms of available personal income and accounting for already existing major league teams. Crossing that list with Bruce’s 64, it shows 21 cities with what the author considered the minimum for an MLS franchise, and I’m assuming a D2/D3 would be significantly less.
Metro Area Available personal income after dicounting existing MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL/MLS franchises (billions USD)
Riverside CA 119.43
Las Vegas NV 73.27
Providence RI 64.71
Norfolk-Virginia Beach VA 63.20
Hartford CT 58.49
Dallas TX 55.47
Louisville KY 47.42
Sacramento CA 45.87
Birmingham AL 45.13
Boston MA 37.27
Tulsa OK 36.69
Omaha NE 35.80
San Antonio TX 34.40
Worcester MA 33.47
Tucson AZ 32.97
Dayton OH 29.05
Albuquerque NM 28.96
Grand Rapids MI 26.90
Akron OH 26.23
Fresno CA 26.01
—-minimum threshold for MLS fanchise
Jacksonville FL 14.33
Oklahoma City OK 12.96
San Diego CA 12.51
Memphis TN 12.17
Atlanta GA 4.73
Indianapolis IN (6.26)
Nashville TN (13.60)
San Francisco CA (20.50)
Detroit MI (21.57)
New Orleans LA (23.66)
Green Bay-Appleton WI (26.31)
Buffalo NY (33.64)
Cincinnati OH (40.46)
Phoenix AZ (49.24)
Milwaukee WI (56.46)
Cleveland OH (77.20)
BrazilYinzer-
Thanks for posting that!
Fargo, ND
Bismarck, ND
I was recently in Ottawa, Canada and was super impressed with the TV coverage they had on their youth tournament. It looked similar to the Schwan’s Cup but coverage was going on all day and was of a much higher quality then I’ve seen here for the Schwan’s Cup. Just based on that I would say Ottawa would be a prime place to start a D2 or D3 team.