USL United Soccer League Championship

USL Expanding 2017 Regular Season Schedule to 32 Games

August 1, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - Following the annual USL Board of Governors mid-year meetings, held last Thursday in San Jose in conjunction with the 2016 MLS All-Star Game, the United Soccer League today released the composition of its 2017 competition structure.

The USL Board of Governors approved a 32-game schedule that will begin the weekend of March 24-26 contested in a span of not more than 30 weeks. The competition structure is developed through the League's Off-Field Competition Committee before a final recommendation is presented to the BOG's for voting.

The 32-game schedule will allow each team to play its conference opponents at least twice, one home and one away, with regional rivalries rounding out the schedule. Teams will not play an opponent more than three times in 2017.

The 2016 USL season consists of 30 games played in 27 weeks.

The 2017 playoff format will mirror 2016 with the top eight teams in each conference qualifying for the postseason.

"After evaluating a number of proposals the League and its Competition Committee agreed on several changes that we felt would deliver value to our clubs through the extra home match," said Jake Edwards, USL President. "Also, lengthening the season gives us greater flexibility to create a more balanced schedule with less midweek matches. We will continue to build our national footprint with a focus on regional rivalries and a roadmap to a three-conference alignment in the very near future."

The meetings also afforded the League the opportunity to provide clubs with a number of updates in key areas including USL Productions, USL Digital Network, expansion, commercial activity and technical initiatives.

FOLLOW THE USL

Every game of the 2016 USL season can be seen live, free and in HD through the league's official Match Center ( www.uslsoccer.com/match-center), with updates from across the league also available via Twitter, Facebook, Vine and Instagram.

USL

The United Soccer League, the longest-standing professional affiliate member of U.S. Soccer, is the largest professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, and the world, currently with 29 teams in 19 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces for the 2016 season. The USL has more than doubled in size since 2014 and built a stable, highly competitive professional soccer league on a national footprint with strong ownership groups in major markets positioned for long-term success. The 2016 season has marked the introduction of six teams - Bethlehem Steel FC, FC Cincinnati, Orlando City B, Rio Grande Valley FC, San Antonio FC and Swope Park Rangers. The league has confirmed the addition of Reno 1868 FC in 2017 and Nashville FC in 2018. The USL's teams are divided into two conferences - Eastern and Western - with each team playing 30 regular season games. In addition to league play, USL teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as various domestic and international exhibitions. The USL is the strongest U.S. men's professional soccer league below Major League Soccer (MLS). Every game of the 2016 USL season will be available on the league's Match Center and can be seen live, free and in HD on YouTube (www.YouTube.com/USL), with updates from across the league also available on Twitter, Facebook, Vine and Instagram.

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