Ted Westervelt

American soccer history is proof positive that the game flounders without a fully open system of promotion and relegation.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

When soccer ratings drop from NFL playoff levels for the World Cup to the white noise ratings of MLS, many will say it’s because Americans like Olympic style pageantry and spectacle.

They’ll swear over and over that it’s not MLS’s fault.

They’ll never admit that the game is hugely popular - while the circus that stands in for our top flight is not.

You know better.

#ProRelForUSA

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

Armafreakingeddon!

[JDR @USMNT_WC2026]

@soccerreform Regardless, implementing promotion/relegation is contractually illegal,will cause class a action lawsuit by owners, will bankrupt MLS and finally.. nobody will invest in buying a team ever again and will end any top flight US soccer league starting again.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@PaulLapointe98 Waymo to Hell.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

The best days will be ahead of us until you guys stop coddling MLS.

Poch agrees.

#ProRelForUSA

[USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 @USMNTOtaku]

🗣️ U.S. Soccer CEO & Secretary General JT Batson on contract extension talks with Mauricio Pochettino:

"From a men’s national team coaching standpoint, we’re in active discussions with Mauricio and staff about the future. We all share a belief that the best days of U.S. soccer are ahead of us, and they’re excited about the opportunity to impact soccer at all levels in every community. We’re excited about the discussions. And, you know, [Pochettino’s staff] has been active about long-term planning. As a recent example, [they] were active in our discussions with Steve [Cherundolo] around the u-23 role and were a key part of that process. And so we’re feeling good about where we are overall."

[VIA: @TheAthleticFC]

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

What one must understand is that USL’s #ProRelForUSA simulation plan is supported by many USSF members >because< they believe it’ll fail.

And they’re not wrong.

[RamSpider @Spider_Ram2024]

@ThomasSmit4032 @soccerreform I do think both sides are talking past each other. MLS is proof of concept that the US can support at pro soccer league. It just needs to get out of its own way. But the only way Pro/Rel is going to come to it is if USL implements it so well that it’s forced on them

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@proudcascadian The sport is grown. The league is too big already. MLS is a pale imitation of what top flight soccer should be. Judging the state of North American soccer by MLS is absolutely bonkers.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

MLS teams are no more independent than your local Walmart - and nobody raises TIFO to save their local Walmart.

Understand that, and stand up for real change.

#ProRelForUSA

[Noah Riffe @NoahRiffe]

🗻 Portland Timbers supporters unveil tifo in support of the Vancouver Whitecaps during their match against the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field.

Major League Soccer is threatening to relocate the Vancouver Whitecaps.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

Why not? FIFA could give them a special “circus” sanction. They make up special rules for MLS all the time.

Save D1 for the real open league. Stop letting the cartoon-cosplay-circus league dictate to everyone else.

#ProRelForUSA

[Steven Silver @StatessideFooty]

@Neil_Bloch @KIRSoccer @soccerreform You’re not wrong. MLS would lawyer up. But all of this is hypothetical. MLS isn’t going to lose their FIFA sanction

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@ajmsportsfc You prolly shouldn’t pivot your entire podcast business model on the participation of someone you insult.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

MLS is the favorite league of more sockpuppets than actual soccer fans.

#ProRelForUSA

[smcwerk @smcwerk]

@USMNTCORNER American soccer fan here. Speak for yourself. MLS is my favorite league. Every year I have less need to keep my eye on 8-10 foreign leagues.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

I am against MLS participation in any fully open system. I’m also against any closed league receiving a divisional sanction.

I’m no-nonsense. MLS attorneys hate that.

#ProRelForUSA

[JDR @USMNT_WC2026]

@soccerreform And please stop this promo/rel nonsense! MLS is a franchise business model. Owners bought teams/built stadiums based on contractual agreements with NO clauses for relegation which would kill their profit margin. Adding relegation is illegal --> Lawsuits, MLS bankruptcy & demise.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@proudcascadian You should fight to make them a real independent club - something MLS will never allow them to be.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@MTSmith78 @SkyPointSteve • If your USL club isn’t seeing an increase in value, investment and interest, USL isn’t doing #ProRelForUSA right.

• If you don’t want to be promoted, you are free to pass.

• If you’re looking at promotion as a chore, the setup is - terrible.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

Absolutely. MLS doesn’t need a D1 sanction to be a cartoonish closed league. Open the system without them.

[Just Keepin' It Real @KIRSoccer]

@frenchjraff Why does the USL or other leagues need MLS to participate in Pro/Rel? If the model is so great, do it without MLS. MLS surely will fail then because of their inferior product, right?

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@SkyPointSteve Abolitionists are always delusional.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

No open league has ever “withered away”.

[Corey Clayton @CoreyClayton]

@soccerreform No, they just wither away from lack of revenues, attention, and sponsorship.

[Wardn @captwardn]

@SoundersFC is one of the biggest clubs in MLS, plays in a great soccer city, has a huge academy footprint, and yet… who’s the last homegrown American teenager anyone was genuinely excited about?

Morris is an old man now. Do better Seattle.

[Tim Pickerill @deepblack67]

@soccerreform I would agree but this will never happen until fans unite as a single voice to lobby for changes to the Federation. It is a governing body acting for the people of the USA not MLS. We need to lobby the US Congress for an investigation into the corruption in US Soccer

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

@DatDudeGG I think FFP does a lot more for the top 6 than it does for every other club in England. It’s a way for them to consolidate power.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

The counterpoint to this argument is always the same:

• Limiting top flight US clubs to produce random match outcomes hinders them in international play - and that’s a stupid outcome.

• Worse, MLS survival depends on strangling lower division sides in order to remain top flight status.

That’s why American club soccer is a joke.

#ProRelForUSA

[CHIEF, THE @WarPigsChief]

And even in their worst imaginable year, Spurs were still “relegation proof” because of their massive spend level.

Pro/rel isn’t a real thing for the Euro super clubs. They’ve bought their way out of caring about it while you all were busy singing YNWA and Glory Man United.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

Why do people say I don’t understand the US pro sports market when I say I want to change the US pro sports market?

It’s the weirdest reflex.

[Daniel Scheeler @DNLSHLR]

@soccerreform No it won't! You do not understand the American sports market.

[Ted Westervelt @soccerreform]

Open leagues don’t go bankrupt.

#ProRelForUSA

[Daniel Scheeler @DNLSHLR]

@soccerreform And within 6 years, that league was bankrupt and gone. As good of a league as NASL was, it doesn't hold a candle to the staying power of MLS. It's going to enter its 32 season of operation next March.