USMNT’s Tyler Adams: Promotion-relegation would improve MLS

U.S. men’s national team midfielder Tyler Adams has voiced his support for the idea of bringing promotion and relegation to MLS, saying it would improve the competitiveness of the league.

Promotion and relegation is the model used by soccer leagues in nearly every country throughout the world, including England, Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina, but the idea has been kept at arm’s length by MLS since the league’s inception in 1996.

However Adams, who plays his club soccer in the English Premier League with Bournemouth, said he has seen the benefits of the system.

“I would like to see [promotion and relegation] in MLS, in the U.S. I think that would add to the competitive nature of the league,” Adams, who captained the USMNT at the 2022 World Cup, told USA Today this week.

“It just gives everyone a lot more to play for when you know there’s a risk of going down when you don’t play well, so it adds a little bit more pressure, adds a little bit more nerves and excitement for the fans as well. So hopefully one day it’s in MLS.”

Adams came up through the youth ranks at MLS club New York Red Bulls, before moving to Europe with RB Leipzig in 2019. He experienced relegation from the Premier League to the English Championship with Leeds United in 2023.

Adams’ comments come as club owners for the United Soccer League (USL) voted last month to introduce a promotion and relegation system. It marks the first time the system would be implemented in the United States.

In February, the USL confirmed plans to launch a Division One men’s professional league in 2027 to rival MLS within the sanctioning standards of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

USL said that league would operate completely separately from MLS, despite working under the same sanctioning by U.S. Soccer as a professional soccer league. This new league would give the USL a three-tiered pro system featuring the Division One, plus a second division called the USL Championship and third division USL League One.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has pointed to the lack of promotion and relegation as being a key driver in investment in the league, which has seen expansion fees climb to $500 million for newest club San Diego FC. However, he has not completely ruled out the system existing in some form in the future.