What We Do

soccerreform.us is a grassroots social media campaign to fundamentally change the way US Soccer and all our leagues do business. We are dedicated to the adoption of a sustainable and open US soccer leagues - and the wider appreciation of our great soccer history that begs them. We rally US supporters to demand the removal myriad institutional barriers and administrative restrictions that stand between us an the great potential of the American game. We give disenchanted and disenfranchised American soccer supporters the keys to drive our clubs into an open system of promotion and relegation and onto the global stage. We believe a well deserved spotlight on our great club soccer legacy will go a long way towards opening the doors to that boundless future.

What We Stand For

The demands of US Soccer to become a full partner in the fooballing world have never been louder. We want our rich history and tradition honored, our lower divisions empowered, and our top-flight unfettered on the global stage as never before. The path to meeting these demands is clear: We must adopt the same free market system thousands of clubs and billions of supporters already enjoy. It is a common denominator in every thriving, stable soccer league of autonomous and unlimited clubs. it is the only policy proven to permit every club in every league to seek their own destiny. Nations that adopt this are quick to celebrate their history - regardless of the league in which that history was made. This system is called promotion and relegation. We demand it now, and deserve it here in the biggest free market in the world.

We demand this of our federation - not of any one league. We do so because we know it will require policy change - not just profit motive - to move our game forward. US supporters have suffered under a misapplied closed league system for a century now. We're tired of perennially stunted, inauthentic and unstable leagues, sick of developmentally disabled clubs, and done with limited incentives for players. We are finished with stagnant player development, and the rut in which that leaves our national team. We're through with over-hyped friendles overshadowing league and cup matches. We've grown especially weary of the continued ignorance surrounding our legacy-laden US Open Cup and the enduring inability of our federation to harness its incredible heretige.

Indeed, we demand a federation that isn't undermined, ignored, and subjugated by any league. One that doesn't allow any league to place pursuit of profit over the right of any club to pursue their destiny. Chief among these demands: A full-time federation President who is paid to lead American soccer, not tend to the interests of any one league.

Instead of watching leagues fight one another, parse the US pro-sports market, and manipulate our federation, we're eager to see US Soccer follow the example set by the rest of the world: Give every US club the freedom - and the incentive - to pursue their destiny. By doing so, they will remove the ability and incentive for leagues to engage in nefarious behavior. We know the promotion and relegation system is fundamental both to these ideals and the sport itself. It is also fundamentally stable, fundamentally fair, and fundamentally American. We ask for the same fully autonomous clubs that lay at the center of the global footballing narrative. We're committed to embracing the serious American supporter as well as converting the casual fan. Perhaps most importantly, we know our soccer market is simply far too large for any one top-flight league to represent every potential top-flight community.

soccerreform.us is not for bashers, mockers or belittlers of the US game. Instead, we represent supporters who recognize our vast footballing potential, our remarkable footballing past, and the chronic inability of our closed domestic leagues to realize either. We blame an insulated and shortsighted system for the persistent instability, incapacity and ignorance in American club soccer, not the game.

Some insist our leagues aren't developed enough for promotion and relegation. We say the lack of promotion and relegation impairs league development. Some cite our lack of soccer history to excuse our soccer present. We refuse to excuse their ignorance. Some say American club soccer should seize upon the glittering success of the NFL. We say when MLS is the only soccer league of note on the world - like NFL is to American fooball - we would be more than happy for our top-flight soccer league to emulate their isolated gridiron cousins.

When we showcase a future in which every club has the ability to move up through leagues based solely on the quality of their play, we give new hope to supporters of every lower division club. When we shine a light on our incredible past, we shatter the widely believed myth that we are not a traditional footballing nation. When we push for elimination of exorbitant franchise fees for admission into any league, we give hope to investors and communities who dream of their own independent, autonomous, and unlimited club. When we fight to end limits on player salaries and league micromanagement, we give supporters the right to believe that their club could someday be the best in the world. When we demand the strong, independent and principled federation we deserve, these demands will no longer fall on deaf ears.

Our pro-sports owners have spent a century trying to bend the beautiful game to their will. We think it's time to bend our pro-sports owners to the will of the beautiful game.