The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a
North American professional
indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. Fans are drawn to the highly skilled and fast-paced action as well as high scoring games.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America.[2] The league draw talent from a global talent pool with players from MLS, LigaMX 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 MASL as do multiple international players.
History
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 the
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]
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 October 2017 it was officially announced the
Major Arena Soccer League 2 (M2) would launch in December 2017. The M2 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]
Like many sports leagues, the MASL ended its regular 2019–20 season early because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.[18]
In May, the league announced that it was looking at conducting its playoffs in a centralized location.[19] However, this did not take place, and the remainder of the season was cancelled.[20]
Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League 3
On July 20, 2020, the MASL launched a new semi-professional/amateur developmental league known as M3 (Major Arena Soccer League 3) set to kick off in 2021.[21][22][23] 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.[24] 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.[25]
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.[30][31] 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.
* Does not include 28 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2008–09 regular season consisted of 86 games total. † Does not include 8 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2009–10 regular season consisted of 95 games total. ‡ Does not include 10 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2010–11 regular season consisted of 94 games total. • Due to COVID-19 only 17 out of 41 games this season where attendance was recorded. In the Ron Newman Cup Playoffs only 5 out 14 games recorded attendance. ¶ Does not include 2 regular season games where attendance was not reported; the MASL 2021–22 regular season consisted of 141 games total. Does not include 5 playoff games where attendance was not reported; the 2022 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs consisted of 18 games total. # Does not include 2 playoff matches in which attendance was not reported. The 2023 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs consisted of 20 games total.
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.[49][50]
Broadcast rights
Select 2018–2019 MASL matches were broadcast on
Eleven Sports Network in the United States.[51]
Some matches are also broadcast regionally throughout the United States.[52]
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.
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[53][54]
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