USL Announces Merger with Major Indoor Soccer League

The United Soccer Leagues announced on Monday a merger between the United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). The announcement states that the USL will run the MISL for the 2011-2012 season.

The League will be led by Chris Economides, senior director of USL’s professional leagues. Scheduling, competition and playoff format and rules for the MISL will be determined by the league’s Board of Governors.

MISL operated their league with 5 teams last season. The Baltimore Blast, Chicago Riot, Milwaukee Wave, Missouri Comets and Omaha Vipers all participated in the 2010-2011 season.

The MISL was a team-operated league and Big Apple Soccer is reporting that the merger between the two leagues has been ongoing since the USL announced the formation of a new indoor league called the I-League last July.

Not all the MISL teams will be merging into the USL’s new indoor league. The Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave and Kansas City Comets and a team from Wichita which had already been announced as an expansion team will be joining the league. The Omaha Vipers have not agreed to the merger and will be joining the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro). It’s also unclear what will happen to the Chicago Riot, whose President & CEO is Peter Wilt.

Formerly announced I-League teams Norfolk, Rochester and Syracuse will also join the league. It is also believed that USL and MISL had been negotiating for the inclusion of several other new indoor teams. The Minnesota Twin Stars of the NPSL announced on their website this winter that they had purchased the rights to a franchise in the Twin Cities, which spokesperson Youssef Darbaki has claimed will play in 2011.

The long range goal of the USL’s new indoor league is to have enough teams to reduce travel costs by having regional leagues much like USL PRO had announced, before the addition of their International Division which had teams flying from Los Angeles to New York and Antigua.

Here is the press release in its entirety:

The TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and will operate North America’s most storied and tradition-rich professional indoor soccer league beginning with the 2011-12 season.

The MISL represents the top level of professional indoor soccer in North America and currently consists of seven franchises for 2011-12, with additional announcements expected in the coming weeks.  The league roster includes existing MISL franchises in Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Wichita.  They will be joined in the MISL by a trio of first-year USL indoor franchises in Norfolk, Rochester and Syracuse.

The League will be led by Chris Economides, senior director of USL’s professional leagues. Scheduling, competition and playoff format and rules for the MISL will be determined by the league’s Board of Governors.

“We are obviously pleased to bring the top indoor soccer league in North America into the USL family,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “We announced several months back that we would be operating a professional indoor soccer league in November of 2011, and this agreement with the MISL allows us to move forward with our plans. Combining the experience and tradition of the MISL with USL’s team services and league management resources will ensure the MISL reaches new levels of success.” The MISL will follow a financial model that is viable for team owners.  USL intends to seek affiliation under the U.S. Soccer Federation umbrella, consistent with its other league properties. “We are all pleased to join USL which has many strong leagues and numerous franchises,” MISL Chairman Ed Hale said.  “This will give us a platform for future expansion of our indoor game throughout the country.”

MISL indoor soccer was developed to appeal to sports fans around the world. The fast-paced, fiercely competitive game is played on artificial turf on a hockey-rink-sized field surrounded by dasher boards and Plexiglas with eight-foot high by 14-foot wide goals receded into the end boards. Creative dribbling, pinpoint passing, acrobatic goalkeeping and rugged defensive play are all skills demonstrated by MISL players.

A typical MISL game features end-to-end-action resulting in approximately 60 shots and 11 goals per game. Each game includes four 15-minute quarters and a popular feature is multi-point scoring, with goals from long distance worth more. Other unique characteristics of the MISL include action-packed power plays and free substitution of players while play continues.