PORTLAND — The United Soccer League, which oversees the Portland Hears of Pine’s soccer league USL League One, made a series of significant announcements related to player compensation, franchise movement, and most importantly for the Hearts of Pine, revenue sharing.
Kevin Schohl, the Hearts of Pine’s team president, discussed what the changes are and how they are likely to impact Portland’s highly successful second-year men’s soccer team, both in the short- and long-term.
What does revenue sharing involve?
First, some background.
United Soccer League is the umbrella organization that oversees both USL League One (USL1) and USL Championship. The Portland Hearts of Pine play in USL1, the third tier of professional soccer in the United States. USL Championship is the second tier, while Major League Soccer is the first. In 2028, United Soccer League plans to start a first-tier league, called Premier, and introduce the promotion-relegation system common to European leagues.
Revenue sharing will, according to a USL news release on Sept. 10, create “a defined way for clubs to participate in the growth of national league revenue while establishing a broader set of commitments between the league and its clubs.”
Schohl said the sharing will go in both directions. Successful teams like Portland (estimated gross revenues over $7 million in 2025) will help fund less successful teams. The league will share its prime revenue source: expansion fees.
Is this good for the Hearts of Pine?
In the short term, Portland may be more payer than payee. But a stronger league, with consistent rules and expectations, benefits all franchises, Schohl said.
Under the current system, Portland and all other USL franchises, pay participation fees for leaguewide analytics and sponsorship. They are also responsible for paying a video production company to broadcast their games for streaming on the ESPN+ platform. Schohl said that costs Portland $10,000 a home match.
He said revenue-sharing — Schohl prefers the term “revenue alignment” — also gives USL a tool to enforce standards and payments.
“It’s creating a system by which the league can say, ‘Hey, you didn’t submit this.’ Or, ‘You didn’t follow this rule. That’s bringing the league down, so you’re not going to participate in this pool,’” Schohl said.
Schohl said in the short term “nothing major” has changed in terms of money between USL and its teams.
Athletic Club Boise is moving up to USL Championship. Are the Hearts next?
Short answer: No. Schohl said Boise’s situation is quite different than Portland’s, even though they are far and away the top two USL1 franchises by revenue metrics like ticket sales, corporate sponsorship and merchandise sales/marketing.
For starters, “It’s not interesting to me and it’s not interesting to Gabe (Hoffman-Johnson, the club founder) to just sort of pay our way up. I think with the visibility of pro-rel (promotion and relegation) we love the charm of winning to move up.”
Boise is in its first season of USL1 and tops the league in average attendance at 7,215. They plan to expand their soccer-specific stadium from its current 7,200-seat capacity to 10,000 for 2027. Boise’s metropolitan population of roughly 875,000 is about 300,000 people greater than Portland’s.
Until the Hearts of Pine build a new stadium, currently planned for 2029, city-owned Fitzpatrick Stadium does not allow for permanent corporate signage or further expansion.
How does the 5-year CBA with USL Championship affect Hearts players and owners?
The new agreement for USL Championship increases the annual minimum salary to $42,000, now paid over 12 months instead of 10. This season the monthly minimum was $2,600 in USL Championship ($26,000 annually). As important as the pay increase for players was a standardization of required benefits, notably improved health care access and enhanced medical care. It also sets the minimum salary for USL Premier at $67,500 when that league begins play in 2028.
USL1 players have a separate CBA that expires in November 2027. In 2027, Hearts of Pine players will earn a minimum of $2,500 per month over a 10-month season. That includes the value of team-provided housing or a housing stipend. What the new agreement between USL and the Championship league does is set a framework for future negotiations at the USL1 level.
The Hearts of Pine have struggled on the field for most of this season. Does that mean there will be more season tickets available for 2027?
No. Schohl said Sunday the renewal rate for the men’s season tickets in 2027 is 98%. With about 8,500 people already on the waiting list.