Zero Hour: Preseason Standings for the First and Second Divisions of American Soccer With Promotion and Relegation in Place

There is no reason soccer can't be as big in the United States as it is in Europe with a strong promotion and relegation system.

We've taken all the professional teams in the United States that pay their players -- which includes MLS, NASL, and USL -- and split them into a two-division format based on average attendance.

While a big argument against this system is that relegation could destroy a struggling franchise, one way to help fix that is to make all the teams a part of MLS -- same standings reports, same website coverage, same TV package, as much of the same as can be accomplished.

Below are the first standings of the season. We plan to update this each week as we follow what it would be like to have a promotion and relegation system in this country. You are invited to pretend along with us.

And we've got news for the other sports -- soccer is coming.

MLS 1

First Division West
0   Portland Timbers  
0   Sporting Kansas City
0   Real Salt Lake
0   Houston Dynamo
0   LA Galaxy
0   Seattle Sounders
0   Colorado Rapids
0   San Jose Earthquakes
0   Chicago Fire
0   Vancouver Whitecaps
0   FC Dallas
0   Chivas USA
0   San Antonio Scorpions

First Division East
0   New York Red Bulls
0   New England Revolution
0   Montreal Impact
0   Philadelphia Union
0   Columbus Crew
0   New York Cosmos
0   Toronto FC
0   Carolina RailHawks
0   Orlando City
0   D.C. United
0   Rochester Rhinos
-    New York City FC (2015)
-    Miami (2016)


MLS 2

Second Division West
0   Atlanta Silverbacks
0   FC Edmonton
0   Minnesota United
0   Orange County Blues
0   Dayton Dutch Lions
0   Phoenix FC
0   Indy Eleven
0   Sacramento Republic
0   Oklahoma City Energy
0   LA Galaxy II
-    Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2015)
-    Tulsa Roughnecks (2015)
-    Oklahoma City (2015)

Second Division East
0   Tampa Bay Rowdies
0   Richmond Kickers
0   Charleston Battery
0   Charlotte Eagles
0   Harrisburg City Islanders
0   Fort Lauderdale Strikers
0   Pittsburgh Riverhounds
0   Wilmington Hammerheads
0   Ottawa Fury
-    Puerto Rico Islanders (2014 fall)
-    Virginia Cavalry (2015)
-    Jacksonville Armada (2015)


Last Season's Playoffs

MLS Cup
(1W) Portland Timbers vs. (4E) Philadelphia Union
(2W) Sporting Kansas City vs. (3E) Montreal Impact
(3W) Real Salt Lake vs. (2E) New England Revolution
(4W) Houston Dynamo vs. (1E) New York Red Bulls

Relegation Playoff
(LW) San Antonio Scorpions vs. (LE) Rochester Rhinos

Promotion Bowl
(1W) Atlanta Silverbacks vs. (4E) Charlotte Eagles
(2W) FC Edmonton vs. (3E) Charleston Battery
(3W) Minnesota United vs. (2E) Richmond Kickers
(4W) Orange County Blues vs. (1E) Tampa Bay Rowdies