Long-term sustainability for the USL Championship and its member clubs has been the defining question for the league throughout its history. This week brought the USL meaningfully closer to that point. In granting League One’s Athletic Club Boise a spot in the second division and adopting a revenue-sharing model, the league has set a path toward a stabler future.
Atletico Dallas is raising the standard ahead of USL Premier’s scheduled 2028 launch with a big swing in a major market, but Boise’s accomplishments are a more universal blueprint for the future of the league. Boise formed a robust ownership group, nailed down a locally relevant brand, adopted a considerate marketing strategy, built a modern yet price-conscious stadium, and put a winning team on the pitch in a city with a mid-high metro population of 840,000. That is the building block for a healthy ecosystem.
Ahead of next year’s jump, Boise will expand their venue from roughly 7,500 seats to 10,500 – a climb that’s commensurate with their sky-high attendance numbers. In addition, the club will invest in new training infrastructure to support their competitive ambitions. Revenue-sharing sums look modest in the short term, but they incentivize clubs to invest in a similar way, earning more and more money as they climb the pyramid.
Times are a-changin’ in the USL – we’ll have much more on those shifts here at Backheeled in the coming days – and the speed of reform will only quicken between now and USL Premier’s launch in 2028. Still, we’ve got a playoff race to decide in 2026. Who impressed across Week 28 in the Championship, and what stood out for every club along the way? Let’s dig in.
1. El Paso Locomotive
Trending: No change
Result: 2-1 win at Louisville
El Paso entered Week 28 on a six-game unbeaten streak, during which they’d posted an average xG margin of +0.92 while leading the West with 4.3 final-third recoveries per 90. The Locomotive’s hot run had been all about high pressure which doubly served as (1) a tool to put players like Rubio Rubin in space while (2) protecting an up-and-down back line. It’s a testament to El Paso’s growth that they succeeded in Louisville this weekend while mostly playing against the ball.
Manager Junior Gonzalez relied on the center back trio of Tony Alfaro, Palermo Ortiz, and Noah Dollenmayer to keep the game in front of them within El Paso’s 5-4-1 block, and they were up to the challenge. Their ongoing chemistry has been especially impressive given that the Locomotive keep changing goalkeepers; Houston loanee Pedro Cruz has made a fair share of starts, but Abraham Romero got the nod this weekend. Romero made five saves in Kentucky, while the starting center backs combined for a staggering 21 clearances.
