To take a step forward, the Blast will take a small step backward.
Blast owner Ed Hale unveiled the blueprint for the new National Indoor Soccer League, with fewer teams and fewer games than its predecessor, the Major Indoor Soccer League.
The league, which will feature an 18-game schedule starting in November, is composed of former MISL teams — the Blast, Philadelphia KiXX, Orlando Sharks and La Raza de Monterrey — and a new team, the defending American Indoor Soccer League champion Rockford (Ill.) Rampage.
Hale was pleased to create a new league for his team after the MISL folded on May 30, making the Blast’s future uncertain.
“It was a bureaucratic nightmare. It was financially irresponsible the way the league was run before,” Hale said. “Now, we brought fiscal sanity to the league.”
The NISL will use the same scoring system — goals are worth two or three points — and on-field rules and dimensions of the Major Indoor Soccer League. There will be no salary cap, and rosters will be limited to 20 players, 16 of whom can be active on game day.
The league’s schedule will be revealed by the end of the month.
Hale’s former co-owners in the MISL have divided in two directions. The California Cougars joined the Professional Arena Soccer League, with Milwaukee, Detroit, New Jersey and Chicago moving to the recently formed Xtreme Soccer League.
Hale envisions the Blast’s new league being more capable of westward expansion than the former MISL, and potentially capable of splitting into two geographical divisions by next season.
The MISL folded because the league’s current team owners wanted to get rid of the owners of defunct teams, who were shareholders in the league and against expansion. The addition of the Rockford Rampage is the first step of building the league through Midwestern avenues.
“There are great markets out there,” Rampage owner Tom Rubio said. “Chicago and Milwaukee are natural rivals with us in the exhibition format. It’s natural, just like how Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Jersey could form a nice, tight rivalry where fans can travel.”
The NISL’s business plan focuses on the stability of its franchises and does not have a league office.
“We’re very excited about the opportunity we have to grow indoor soccer,” Blast president Kevin Healey said. “We’ll have a league that will attract owners.”
[email protected]
