The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a franchise model, 25 teams divided between the league's Eastern and Western conferences compete in an annual round-robin regular season, lasting from spring to fall. At the end of the season, the top team overall wins the Players' Shield, while the top eight teams in each conference advance to a playoff tournament culminating in the USL Championship final, which determines the champion. The league's teams also simultaneously compete in the U.S. Open Cup and USL Cup.
Playing its first season in 2011 as USL Pro, and later the USL, the league formed from the merger of the USL's preceding two pro leagues, after a number of clubs broke away to establish the North American Soccer League. It was initially sanctioned by U.S. Soccer as a third-tier league, but was later promoted to the second tier in 2017. Reserve teams of Major League Soccer (MLS) franchises also competed in the league from 2014 to the advent of MLS Next Pro in 2022. The Championship adopted its current name following the re-establishment of a second pro league in 2019. A third pro league, USL Premier, is currently being planned to supersede the Championship as the USL's top league.
As of the 2025 season, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC are the current champions, while Louisville City FC and Orlando City SC have won the most championships each (2). The current Players' Shield holders are Louisville City FC, while Orlando City SC has won the most Players' Shields (3). Three former USL Championship teams – Orlando City SC, FC Cincinnati, and Nashville SC – are now MLS franchises.
History
Background
Founding and first seasons (2010–2012)
The USL Championship traces its origins to September 2010, when the USL announced the merger of its First and Second Division into the USL Pro, a new league with Division III status granted by U.S. Soccer. The first announced teams were the five remaining Second Division clubs – the Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and Richmond Kickers; alongside were the Austin Aztex, the lone surviving First Division club, who joined as Orlando City SC after relocating to Orlando, Florida, and a reactivated Wilmington Hammerheads, who last played in the Second Division. USL Pro charter clubsAmerican DivisionNational DivisionInternational Division Current members (2026) Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Orange County SC (LA Blues) USL President Tim Holt initially hoped to launch USL Pro with 14-20 across four conferences. To that end, the league added the Dayton Dutch Lions, then a Premier Development League (PDL) team, and the Rochester Rhinos, who abandoned plans to defect from the USL to the NASL. The league also recruited the Puerto Rico Soccer League's (PRSL) Puerto Rico United, River Plate Puerto Rico, and Sevilla FC Puerto Rico; and the Antigua Barracuda and Los Angeles Blues to form an "International" division for the inaugural 2011 season, while the nine existing USL clubs and expansion team, F.C. New York were divided into the "American" and "National" divisions.
The league's first match took place on April 2, 2011, at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia, where the Kickers defeated Orlando City and Stanley Nyazamba scored the league's first goal. Financial issues plagued the three PRSL clubs, leading to their expulsion five weeks into the season and the abolishment of the International division. F.C New York, also beset by financial issues, departed for the National Premier Soccer League at the end of the season. As a result, the American and National divisions were replaced by a single eleven-team table for the 2012 season, during which the Battery won the title.
MLS partnership and expansion (2013–2016)
Beginning in the 2013 season, affiliations with Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs began as part of a partnership that aimed to improve "player development, competition and the overall business" of American soccer, according to MLS executive Todd Durbin. The LA Galaxy pioneered the model in 2014 by founding a standalone reserve team rather than affiliating with a USL club, and seven more MLS clubs followed suit in 2015 amid the demise of the MLS Reserve League. Sacramento Republic FC illustrated the league's growing commercial potential, winning the league and nearly doubling the average attendance record in their 2014 debut.
As the Championship grew to 24 teams, the USL dropped "Pro" from its name, Alt URL and introduced the "Eastern" and "Western" conferences to the league. It also applied for Division 2 status in 2015. Three more MLS reserve teams entered in the 2016 season alongside San Antonio FC, MLS expansion bidders FC Cincinnati, and Rio Grande Valley FC Toros – a "hybrid" club with independent ownership, but managed by the MLS's Houston Dynamo FC. Cincinnati broke the all-time USL record for single-match attendance three times in its inaugural season, with the highest being 24,376, while New York Red Bulls II became the first MLS reserve team to win a USL title.
D2 status, NASL demise, and restructure (2017–2019)
The USL's rise to Division 2 status was accelerated by the collapse of the rival North American Soccer League. Seeking to stem financial losses incurred while playing in the NASL, the Ottawa Fury and Tampa Bay Rowdies defected to the USL ahead of the 2017 season, dropping the NASL membership below the twelve required for D2 status. U.S. Soccer responded by awarding provisional D2 status to both the NASL and USL, but for the 2018 season, the USL gained full D2 status, while the NASL was stripped of theirs. A preliminary injunction against the decision was denied, leading to the NASL's collapse and its clubs scattering, two of whom – Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC – joined the USL.
Arizona United SC rebranded as Phoenix Rising FC, following its sale to an ownership group that included Premier League Hall of Famer Didier Drogba, who also signed for the club. Louisville City won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, the latter by defeating the Rising in Drogba's final professional game. Cincinnati's final season set all-time USL records for single-match attendance (31,478), average attendance (25,717), and total attendance (437,197).
The USL returned to a two-division structure in the 2019 season. It rebranded its second division league as the USL Championship and introduced a new third division league, called USL League One, beneath it. Several clubs moved down to the third-division league in 2019, including the Richmond Kickers and the Rochester Rhinos, while a new wave of expansion clubs joined the Championship, among them New Mexico United who set the attendance record that season. Nashville SC, having used the USL as a launchpad for a successful MLS bid, became the 7th Championship club to depart for the MLS in 2020.
COVID-19 and the MLS exit (2020–2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant disruption to the league. Reno 1868 FC ceased operations in November 2020 citing the financial and operational impacts of COVID-19, while Saint Louis FC folded at the end of the same season, with ownership citing both COVID-19 and the impending arrival of MLS expansion side St. Louis City SC as a factor. Despite the disruption of COVID-19, the league continued to grow, including the additions of Miami FC, Oakland Roots SC, and Detroit City FC, three former NISA clubs across three successive seasons.
Two MLS clubs, the Philadelphia Union and Portland Timbers, withdrew their reserve sides, Philadelphia Union II and Portland Timbers 2, from the United Soccer League system in 2020. The MLS-USL partnership that started in 2014 came to a formal end the following year, when on December 6, 2021, Major League Soccer announced MLS Next Pro, a Division III league that would begin play in 2022. All MLS clubs with reserve teams in USL Championship or USL League One would be moving their affiliated teams to MLS Next Pro by 2023, except for Loudoun United FC (although under different ownership).
Potential CBA strike and recent history (2023–present)
MLS expansion continued to reshape the league's membership, where San Diego Loyal SC shut down after 2023 for lack of a permanent stadium in a market the MLS had targeted for expansion, with San Diego FC beginning play in 2025.
In February 2025, the USL announced its intent to establish a new Division I league USL Premier, to launch in 2028 atop the USL's men's league structure. This would place the Championship at the center of the USL's three tier professional pyramid, connected by promotion and relegation to USL Premier above and USL League One below. Brooklyn FC and Sporting Jax both added men's sides for the 2026 season, while North Carolina FC went on hiatus as owner Steve Malik sought a new stadium that would meet D1 requirements to restart the club in that league.
The 2026 season was also threatened by a labor dispute, as the player's association and USL owners could not come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before the previous one expired at the end of 2025. The players association authorized a potential players' strike in early February 2026 as talks stalled before the season began, and the USL front office faced accusations of union busting after emailing players information on how to quit the players association and cross picket lines days before the season began. Although a strike was never called, players staged in-match protests each week, refusing to play for one minute at the beginning of every half. An agreement on a CBA running through 2030 was finally reached in May 2026, ending the player protests.
Teams
The following teams are playing in the 2026 season.