Fort Lauderdale United Delays USL League One Team to 2027
The club announced its intentions amidst a delay in the 2026 schedule release
Fort Lauderdale announced today that the club will not be fielding a men’s professional side in USL League One as planned in 2026.
The club framed the delay as a move to ensure “long-term success and sustainability” for the club. According to the club’s news release, the delay will also allow for “additional time to reinforce its foundation across player development, facilities, and community programming.”
The club has not yet announced the hiring of technical staff on the men’s side. Currently, it operates a professional women’s side in the top-level USL Gainbridge SuperLeague.
Season ticket deposits remain on sale, and have been deferred to the 2027 season. The club will play at Beyond Bancard Field, where the SuperLeague side currently plays.
Sporting Cascades is expected to make a similar announcement in the coming days. While that club has hired front office executives, started filling in support positions, and has hired a coaching staff, progress was not far enough along to ensure a successful first season.
The league’s schedule is being finalized and should be announced by the first week of December. The final schedule will include 18 clubs, allowing for a balanced regular season, where each team will play home and away.
Additionally, it is expected that the Jägermeister Cup will keep its existing format of including a group stage, followed by a knockout tournament. USL Championship will be fully involved in the tournament, won by Hartford Athletic in 2025.
This will guarantee 19 home matches for USL League One clubs.
The scheduling process for 2026 has been delayed several times due to the loss of Texoma FC, and the delay in entry of Fort Lauderdale and Sporting Cascades.
Other expansion clubs, including AC Boise, Corpus Christi FC, Fort Wayne FC, New York Cosmos, Sarasota Paradise are slated to join as scheduled. All have head coaches in place, and Sarasota has announced the signing of three players, with the Cosmos announcing one. Sources tell us that the other clubs are actively recruiting and have also made unannounced signings.
More signing announcements from all 2026 USL League One clubs started today, with 2025 contracts expiring over the weekend.
This story cross-posted and slightly modified from an original version that appeared on our sister publication Beyond the 90.