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Major Arena Soccer League
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The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America.[2] The league draws talent from a global talent pool with players from Major League Soccer (MLS), Liga MX, and many national teams. With a new management team, the league has grown in popularity and commercially. Former USMNT and MLS star Landon Donovan played in the MASL, as do multiple international players.
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History
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The league was organized as the Professional Arena Soccer League on May 18, 2008, as an offshoot of the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier), the largest amateur league in the United States. The league was originally nicknamed "PASL-Pro" to distinguish it from PASL-Premier.[3] The first league game was played on October 25, 2008, in front of a crowd of 3,239 at Stockton Arena, in Stockton, California, with the California Cougars defeating the Colorado Lightning 10–5.[4] In 2011, it was announced the professional league would officially be referred to as simply PASL, while the amateur league would still be referred to as the PASL-Premier.[5]
On March 17, 2014, one day after the 2013–2014 Major Indoor Soccer League Championship finale, United Soccer Leagues President Tim Holt announced "a number" of teams would not be returning to MISL the following year.[6] In April 2014 it was officially announced that six teams (Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave, Missouri Comets, Rochester Lancers, St. Louis Ambush, and Syracuse Silver Knights) joined PASL for the 2014–2015 season.[7][8]
The league announced a change in its name from the Professional Arena Soccer League to the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) on May 18, 2014.[9][10] This represents a merging of the MISL and PASL names. MASL fielded 23 teams for the 2014–15 season.[9][11]
Split and re-merger into the MASL
In February 2016, the current owner of the Baltimore Blast, Ed Hale, announced his intentions to leave the MASL and form a new league, the Indoor Professional League.[12] Hale was later announced as the chairman of the league, and Sam Fantauzzo, former owner of the Rochester Lancers, was announced as the first commissioner of the league. The St. Louis Ambush, Baltimore Blast, and Harrisburg Heat announced plans to join, along with the expansion Florida Tropics SC.[13][14] In July 2016, the MASL was reformed as a new not for profit entity [501(c)6], a new entity separate from the previous MASL, LLC.
In August 2016, the new MASL announced that the Blast, Heat, and Ambush would return to the MASL while the Tropics would join the MASL as an expansion team.[15] This effectively ended the IPL split with the MASL.
In a repeat of the 2015-16 Newman Cup the Baltimore Blast would go on to once again defeat Soles de Sonora 2–1.
Launch of MASL 2
In October 2017 it was officially announced the Major Arena Soccer League 2 (MASL 2) would launch in December 2017. MASL 2 serves as the developmental league for the MASL. The initial lineup of this league consisted of former MASL clubs Chicago Mustangs, Waza Flo, the reserve teams for the Ontario Fury, San Diego Sockers, former PASL clubs, and new expansion teams.[16]
High-profile players
In the 2018–19 season, the MASL saw an influx of players to the arena game with past MLS experience,[17] headlined by the additions of Landon Donovan to the San Diego Sockers, Jermaine Jones to the Ontario Fury, and Dwayne De Rosario with the Mississauga MetroStars.[citation needed] The Empire Strykers signed Marco Fabián to the second-largest contract in league history in December 2023 in an attempt to lure more professional players to the league.[18]
End of the 2019–20 season
Like many sports leagues, the MASL ended its regular 2019–20 season early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] In May, the league announced that it was looking at conducting its playoffs in a centralized location.[20] However, this did not take place, and the remainder of the season was cancelled.[21]
Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League 3
On July 20, 2020, the MASL launched a new semi-professional/amateur developmental league known as MASL 3 (Major Arena Soccer League 3) set to kick off in 2021.[22][23][24] The anticipated conferences expected to play were to be in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, South East, Great Lakes, Central North, Central South, Heartland Conference, Mountain North, Mountain South, Southwest, Pacific North, and Pacific South regions. The Omaha Kings FC, Sunflower State FC, Grand Rapids Wanderers FC and Muskegon Risers SC were announced as the first members of the league.[25] However, the Risers were dropped from M3 and replaced by the Springfield Demize and Wichita Wings 2. The league launched their new website on January 30, 2017.[26]
Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League Women (2024)
On September 3, 2024, the MASL launched a new women's league known as MASL W (Major Arena Soccer League Women) set to kick off in 2024.[27]
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Teams
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Notes:
a – Suspended operations following the 2019–20 season due to COVID-19, and rejoined the league for the 2021–22 season.
b – Chihuahua joined the M2 for the 2019–20 season and then suspended operations following the season due to COVID-19. Originally planned to rejoin the M2 for the 2021–22 season, the MASL membership of the Soles de Sonora was transferred to the Savage instead.[32][33]
c – Dallas suspended operations following the 2016–17 season; they rejoined the league for the 2018–19 season.
d – Mesquite suspended operations following the 2019–20 season due to COVID-19, they rejoined the league for the 2022–23 season.
e – Monterrey suspended operations following the 2014–15 season; they rejoined the league for the 2017–18 season. Monterrey suspended operations following the 2019–20 season due to COVID-19, they rejoined the league for the 2022–23 season.
f – Tacoma moved down to the PASL-Premier for the 2013–14 season, played in the WISL in the 2014–15 season and then rejoined the MASL near the end of the 2014–15 season (in 2015) replacing the Seattle Impact.
Teams on Hiatus
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Champions
Attendance
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Sponsorship
The official game ball was made by Puma SE through the 2016–17 season. Starting in the 2017–18 season, Mitre became the official ball sponsor of both the MASL and M2.[52][53]
Broadcast rights
Select 2018–2019 MASL matches were broadcast on Eleven Sports Network in the United States.[54] Some matches are also broadcast regionally throughout the United States.[55] All matches since 2016–2017 season are archived on MASLtv, the MASL's YouTube Channel
For the 2022-23 Season, MASL announced broadcast partnerships with Amazon / Twitch, CanelaTV (Spanish) and AtmosphereTV.
With broadcast partnerships driving viewership, the league was recognized for its fast growing fan base and engage viewers.
At the start of the 2024-25 season MASL announced that they would partner with CBS Golazo network which premiered 40 games in their first full season.
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Staff
Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Shep Messing – Chairman
JP Dellacamera – President of Communications/Media
Lindsay Mogle – Director of Communications/Team Services
Jon Ramin – Vice-President of Operations
Werner Roth – Advisor
Dennis Fry – Chief Financial Officer
Ken Stanley – Content Director
Ryan Cigich - Head of MASL Officials
Jesse Meehan - Operations Manager[56][57]
Pete Richmire – League Statistician
Óscar Sánchez – Spanish Content Manager
Phil Lavanco – Video Production Manager
Jack Williams – Social Media Manager
Executive committee
Lane Smith (Tacoma) – President
Bernie Lilavois (Empire) – Vice-President
Shelly Clark (St. Louis) – Secretary
Phil Salvagio (San Diego) – Treasurer
Mike Zimmerman (Milwaukee) – Member-at-Large
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Former/defunct teams
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References
External links
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