Riverhounds vote ‘Yes’ on Pro/Rel in USL

It was a massive news day on Tuesday night, as The Athletic reported that the United Soccer Leagues had voted to approve the implementation of promotion and relegation within their soon-to-be three-tiered structure starting in 2028.

This was confirmed Wednesday morning with the USL officially announcing the decision – passing with a supermajority vote.

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Later, in an interview with The Guardian, USL president Paul McDonough confirmed the vote passed the board with over 90% approval of the 42 voting members of the USL Championship and USL League One. Some quick math leads to the conclusion that of the 42 voting teams, around 38 votes came in as ‘yes’, while around 4 votes came as ‘no’.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now was able to confirm on Wednesday that the Pittsburgh Riverhounds organization was among the 38 ‘yes’ votes, strongly in favor of ushering in this new era of soccer to the USL.

While fans speculate who could be among the ‘no’ votes, the Riverhounds were always a likely candidate for approving pro/rel. While there is still plenty of time before the proposed 2028 launch date for both USL’s Division 1 league and the introduction of any corresponding pro/rel structure, the Hounds have already begun to take steps towards this possible future. The club already has plans for the expansion of Highmark Stadium, a must for any D1 consideration in the future as the Professional League Standards currently require a 15K seat capacity.

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Additionally, the Hounds are testing the waters in the women’s game with the launch of the Pittsburgh Riveters SC this year in the USL W League. While currently an amateur outfit fielding primarily collegiate players and Riverhounds Development Academy graduates, there is a desire within the organization for a step up in professionalism if the Riveters prove to be a success – and early reports are that ticket sales have been more than encouraging on that front. For the Riveters, this would mean entry into the USL Super League, itself a Division 1 operation on the women’s side – potentially giving a taste of top-level soccer before USL’s new men’s D1 league comes into being.

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With a consistently growing fanbase that averages a sellout at the currently 5K capacity Highmark Stadium, there is clearly an appetite for more soccer in the city, and it’s a growth the Riverhounds are certainly more than interested in capitalizing on and taking every available opportunity to do so. Riverhounds president Jeff Garner recently caught up with PSN’s John Krysinsky to discuss the long-term future of the club.

“Once structures start going up, that will help with fan base patience, because they’ll see it starting to happen,” Garner said of the proposed stadium expansion. “That will help them see the bigger picture as well. We’re here for the long game.”

At the time, while many speculated, there was no confirmation to what this ‘long game’ for the Hounds would include. But in just that short two month time span, USL has made its own ambitions clear – a full-fledged, top-to-bottom pyramid structure, connected at each level by the merit-based movement of clubs up and down that structure. With the Hounds firmly secured as one of the USL Championship’s top-performing clubs both on and off the field – and also as one of its largest media markets – the logical next step for the organization is D1 access and setting up the infrastructure to compete at this new, higher level.

While there is some time to wait before 2028’s big changes, the clock has already started ticking. With their affirmative vote, the Riverhounds have made their stand on being in for the long haul alongside the USL’s ambitious undertakings – and setting up a potentially massive future for the club on both the men’s and women’s sides.