To say that NISA has been in the news lately would be an understatement. The league is riding a high with the conclusion of the fall regular season, the announced upcoming playoffs in Detroit, the Chicago expansion side, the multiple agreements with some big regional amateur leagues, the hits just keep coming. So we sat down with NISA league commissioner John Prutch to discuss the state of the league, the outlook on the future, and, of course, the departure of Oakland Roots.

When NISA decided to cancel the 2020 Spring season because of the pandemic, some were disappointed. Still feel it was the right decision?

It was the right decision. I think it was obvious that the pandemic was going to take away the season. So we decided to shift gears and focus on the Independent Cup. And the Independent Cup did a couple of things. One is that it created a competition behind closed doors for some of our clubs. But it also was a megaphone for who we are and allowed some really quality amateur clubs to play against our professional sides in a cup competition.

The Independent Cup, down the road, is going to be massive. Part of our affiliation agreement is a certain number of clubs and each affiliation or each amateur league gets to compete in that Cup. It's gonna be a big deal. You're gonna see it starting next year. They will play for a national championship, assuming that this pandemic is behind us.

So it [the pandemic] gave us a chance to accelerate that side of our business and that messaging has really been well received. I think the fans of independent soccer have really responded well to that. So from that perspective, it gave us significant life and hope for the future in the midst of having to cancel season. All of a sudden, you could see, there is hope here. And I think the fans saw that and our clubs saw that as well.

How would you describe the Fall season?

I'm really looking forward to the tournament.

The fall season itself has been good. We've had some good matches, but the tournament - I think it's gonna be fantastic. The thing is, I think it's gonna be some really high quality soccer and very competitive soccer.

Playoffs to be played at Detroit City. What was the process, making that decision? Where any other venues considered?

Yeah, there were a number of options that we thought about and there were restrictions everywhere we went, because of the pandemic. But for us, the more we started thinking about playing at Keyworth, the more it just made so much sense. It's a very historic stadium. It's the home of probably our most significant supporters group. Unfortunately, they weren't able to participate in this tournament. But I think, it's a message again, another message to our fan base. It’s who we are. Sean Man and his team have done a great job of building that from nothing and look where they are today. And that's what NISA is all about. So having the tournament at Keyworth is a big deal to us.

Do you see this playoff approach and structure as a one time thing? Do you expect more home games in future playoffs without pandemic restrictions?

Well, we'd love to be able to play single table and maybe have a playoff system. So this is fairly unique year. The tournament champion will end up hosting the spring champion for a season championship. I think it's somewhat unique, but we'll see what the future holds relative to what our board of governors wants to do. If they come away saying, “Wow, that was awesome. We should do that again.” Then we'll take that into consideration. But, as of right now, we're leaning towards a single table fall, spring, and then moving forward.

The agreement to get NISA playoff matches onto beIN Sports Extra seemed like a big announcement. Is the league working to further grow the league footprint? Particular into broadcast tv?

The short answer is yes. We are going through a phase right now of announcements, as you know, both on the amateur side as well as on the professional side. And we'll be bringing in a number of additional clubs over the next 60 days. Part of that is beIN sports and our broadcast. So we're starting off with our fall tournament and our intention is to expand that into a multi-year deal, including the spring [season], with game of the week and those types of things. So we've got to get through the fall tournament here to work through those details, but we right now this is an opportunity for us for exposure and for them to understand our league a little bit better. But, yes, the intent is to have a multi-year deal.

Keyworth will host the fall playoffs. Image courtesy of Soccer Stadium Digest.

The league announcement this week of the partnership with Marka Sports marks a move towards more professionalism on the part of the league office. Does the league have more of these agreements on the horizon?

Yeah, we do, and Marka was a good one, right? And you'll see that on full this way at the tournament. But there are some additional agreements coming up and sponsorships coming up. So, yes. And I would tell you that, when I took over, just a touch over a year ago, there was a lot of work that had to get done just in blocking and tackling before we could get to these other things. And now we're at that point where we can start bringing in some of these other opportunities.

When the league first kicked off, there were a lot of complaints from people like me that the social media/marketing side wasn’t professional enough. That’s changed dramatically, particularly with the materials produced for the Independent Cup. Was that a target of opportunity for the league and what approaches has the league taken to fix those?

Yeah, I think that's a good observation. I think in the fall last year when we came in, it was a lot of work that we had to get done just to pull off the fall season. And we had a couple of teams that were weak, so we had to get through that while adding some teams. So we targeted this spring to be able to roll out what we really wanted to do from a branding, design, and social media perspective. And I think it's worked.

Then obviously, we got hampered by the pandemic. And so, the Independent Cup, which you mentioned, was on our drawing board, but not for a couple of years. But the pandemic offered an opportunity to do that. We had a number of both amateur and professional clubs that wanted to do that, even though it was a financial hardship playing behind closed doors. But it allowed us to continue our messaging of what we were and what we want to be.

Speaking of amatuer clubs, the agreements signed between NISA and the regionals are interesting. From your perspective what do those agreements mean, both in the letter and spirit of the agreements?

So the spirit of the agreement is to create an open system with the unified voice of independent clubs. And the best way to do that is to align all of our interests.

“The only thing in this is paying 10 million to move up seems absurd to me. I mean, just as a businessman, right? I’d rather spend that 10 million on player development, building a stadium, creating jobs, as opposed to buying your franchise and lining someone’s pocket.”

— On Oakland's move to USL

The letter of the agreement is for us to work with these amateur affiliations and leagues for player development, player movement and club movement. The idea is not to take clubs away and just strip those leagues of their clubs.The idea is, that if a club develops and moves up and wants to go pro, that part of the agreement is that they will have a reserve club in that amateur league for at least two years. So to allow these amateur leagues some stability, in and of themselves. And that was an important part for us as well as it was for the amateur leagues.

Has NISA made any attempt to bring the larger amateur leagues, NPSL and UPSL, into the conversations about similar types of agreements?

We have had conversations with both leagues over the past year, but at this point, we decided to move forward with the regional leagues. There'll be another announcement tomorrow regarding additional foundation pieces, if you will, which are important for the NISA system or the NISA pyramid, if you will. Which we’re very excited about. I think the announcement tomorrow you'll find very exciting.

Is the league in talks with any other regional leagues?

At this point, we are - with a number of them. And we were very selective about the order in which we did this and we will continue to be. But you'll see some additional announcements over the next 30 to 60 days.

Is this a precursor to pro/rel?

As much as you can do pro/rel in this country, yes. But the idea is for this open system, for us to have a really good base of amateur and then various levels of professional. So that someday, down the road, we'll be able to do pro/rel - Yes.

What sort of tipping point numbers is the league looking for?

So, in the pro division, I would say that if we can get to 18 to 20 clubs, then we'll be ready to start making a move up the ladder.

Last week, Oakland Roots announced their intention to transition to USL. When did the league know about this?

So we've known about it for a few weeks. Steven Aldrich is the primary owner of Oakland and Barney, I, and the rest of the board have an open dialogue.They're really good guys. They've been great board members and have been great for me to work with and they felt the need to go to division two. So the exit has been very friendly.

Unfortunately, in this country, if you want to go up the ladder right now and play in division two, there's only one way to do that. Which is not like the rest of the world. Right? If you wanted to go from division three to division two in Europe, you get there on merit - how well you perform on the pitch. I’ll use Wycombe, as an example, in England. That couldn't happen here, unless you write out a big check. So I think it's unfortunate, that that is the case and maybe someday that will change. But that is the case today.So I wish the Roots all the success in the world. But I wish they were still with us.

The only thing in this is paying 10 million to move up seems absurd to me. I mean, just as a businessman, right? I'd rather spend that 10 million on player development, building a stadium, creating jobs, as opposed to buying your franchise and lining someone's pocket.

But that's just me, right? I just don't get that.

But anyway, I wish them all the luck.

You've described their leave is basically amicable, at least from a league perspective. Was there any thought or discussion given to not having them participate in the end of year tournament?

No, not at all. And again, we have an operating agreement inside of NISA. They adhered to the operating agreement and the exit strategy, so no, there was nothing. It wouldn’t even have been an option.

The only reason I ask is because what if they did go on a run and won the playoff? That is, I think, in some way, a black eye for the league. Is it not?

I don't think so. I think if you look at how they performed in the fall, they struggled. They changed coaches and they came into this spring really prepared and I think they're playing really well right now.

But on the other side of it, I think there's a number of other clubs that they haven't seen yet that are playing really well. So I think if they win it, tip of the hat to them, right? I mean, this tournament is not gonna be easy - the round robin, semi finals, and the final. It depends on how deep you are and how well they're managed as a club. So, I think it's gonna be a challenge. But if they come through it and they win it, they will have deserved it.

As far as the logic of their exit - was it more about NISA or USL Championship?

It had more to do with them playing division two. I don't want to put words in Steven's mouth, but there was an opportunity for them to purchase the franchise rights in their area and they wanted to go up the ladder and play division two.

Every league is going to have clubs that depart, fall apart and some that are massively successful. Roots are a strong club in their marketing approach, community connection, and were a model club in the way they were growing. In the future, how does the league hold on to clubs whenever USL comes knocking?

I think what we have to do is prove out our model. We have to prove, not only to the world, but to our clubs, that the open system can work in this country. And as we build this foundation, grow, and move up the ladder ourselves, there’ll be no need for someone to go to another league.

The Independent was a success by every standard and announced the addition of Maryland Bobcats to the league.

So I think the next two years are gonna be critical. I think you'll start seeing our pyramid unfolding. I think that's important for our clubs, as well as our fans.

Last week, Peter Wilt and the league announced an expansion application for Chicago. How important is the addition of someone who has had so much impact on the US soccer landscape?

Yeah, I think it's really important. Peter and I are good friends and have been for some time. And as you know, we assisted he and Jack in the development phases of of NISA and so, from a personal level, it’s great to have him back home.

From a professional level and a league level, it's just as important, if not more important. Peter has great experience and I think the board room will be better because Peter and his investor will be inside that boardroom, giving some advice on how to do things. We have a number of voices inside that boardroom - Chattanooga, Detroit City, and NY Cosmos, etc. that have done it the hard way and been very successful. So adding Peter to that mix really helps a lot.

With New Jersey Teamsters, Maryland Bobcats, and Chicago joining, would you say overall that interest in clubs joining NISA has been increasing?

It has been. Now, I would also say that this has been a difficult year because of the pandemic and even investors have hit the pause button on a number of items that they would normally have gone forward with. Just not in sports, but in their own businesses. And so, what we're starting to see, as we can see some light at the end of the tunnel, all of those conversations that we've been having over the last 6 to 9 months with investors and clubs are starting to come back. So I think you're going to see some of that come to a head here over the next 60 to 90 days.

Do you have a region or a city recruiting strategy? Or does the league wait for clubs to approach on their own?

It's combination. A lot of amateur clubs reach out to us. They need help and they want to get to the professional level. They may need an investor. They may need some guidance. So we assist those clubs whenever we can. Now that marriage can can be difficult at times, marrying the the right investor with an independent club. It’s quite different if an investor is going to start a club and hire his own people. But when you're trying to make that marriage work, it can be difficult. It just takes time for that to happen.

Relative to our strategy on a regional basis, obviously, we're trying to fill the country better than we have. I think you're gonna see some additional West Coast teams. I think you're also going to see some additional teams in the central part of the country.

Looking at the map and the big cities across the country, where do you see a gap that you'd love to see NISA fill?

I think there is a gap in the central part of the country.

If you look at our map right now, we've got three markets where we have some great darbys: New York, Detroit, and LA. We love that. It really is who we're all about, no territorial rights. So you create those rivalries. I mean, the rivalry between Michigan Stars and DCFC. It’s pretty intense with the fans, but that's great! I can never forget the first time I went to a game in England and it was a derby, and I just couldn't believe it. I think that's something that this country really yearns for and we're feeding them.

But I think the central part of the country, I think it's where we really need to start filling in more.

On a final note, has the league considered women’s soccer at all?

So, obviously, independent soccer is big on the women's side and there's only one professional women's league. I think that is an opportunity, but right now we're focused on the men’s side.