The USL is reshuffling its leadership structure, naming Paul McDonough President & CEO and moving longtime chief executive Alec Papadakis into a board co-chair role after nearly two decades leading the multi-league soccer organization. McDonough joined the USL in 2023 as President & Chief Soccer Officer.
Papadakis will now serve as co-chair of the USL board alongside BellTower Partners CEO Kewsong Lee, who is being elevated from vice chair to co-chair after his firm took a minority stake in the company last year. Rob Hoskins, who had previously served as board chair, remains the organization’s third voting board member. All three members approved of the transition.
The move formalizes a dynamic that had emerged over the past several years, with Papadakis ceding operational control of the USL to McDonough. The shift comes as the organization pursues its most ambitious overhaul of its professional structure to date: the launch of a Division I men’s league and implementation of a three-tiered promotion-and-relegation system in 2028.
“I don’t think the role will change too much,” McDonough told SBJ. “As time’s gone on, I’ve been running more and more day-to-day operations, so this just memorializes it a little bit. I still have the resources of the board and can lean on them for guidance as I need them.”
McDonough’s key priorities ahead of the launch of the planned top-division league, USL Premier, include securing Division I sanctioning from U.S. Soccer, which may require changes to its Pro League Standards, and adding additional clubs.
“We just need to talk to U.S. Soccer and other stakeholders,” McDonough said. “We have franchise agreements out to a lot of the teams and new owners that want to participate. We’re having conversations with existing teams about what it’s going to look like and how we reshuffle maybe certain teams.”
McDonough joined the USL in 2023 after serving in leadership roles in MLS with Atlanta United, Orlando City and Inter Miami. He also had two stints in player representation with Wasserman, now known as The Team.
===
More from Sports Business Journal
- ESPN/ABC’s return to Super Bowl anchoring Disney’s upfront lineup
- Latest comments from SEC’s Sankey indicate ‘deep’ CFP format disagreements
- Fox Sports bringing Sesame Street characters to World Cup coverage
===
Papadakis had served as CEO of the USL since 2009, when he and partner Hoskins purchased the organization from Nike under the banner of NuRock Soccer Holdings. The company’s role in the American soccer ecosystem has evolved over that time, emerging as the dominant force in lower-division soccer following the dissolution of the NASL in 2017. MLS, which had previously partnered with USL, became a competitor in 2022 by launching its own development league, MLS Next Pro.
Currently, the organization operates two professional men’s leagues -- USL Championship and USL League One -- and a professional women’s league launched in 2024 that is now known as the Gainbridge Super League. It also runs the pre-professional USL League Two (men’s) and USL W-League (women’s), as well as an academy system and youth soccer initiatives.
The passing of the baton from Papadakis to McDonough is the latest in a series of organizational changes over the past year.
The USL took on institutional capital for the first time last year from BellTower, followed by an investment in February from Weatherford Capital, whose founding partner Drew Weatherford became a board observer. A source with knowledge of the investment said BellTower initially took a 20% stake in the company and sold a portion of that equity to Weatherford.
The USL’s broader investor base also includes Advaya Capital, family offices and other partners. Papadakis’ son, Justin, left the USL in March after more than a decade, most recently serving as Deputy CEO and Chief Real Estate Officer.
***
Start your day with SBJ Morning Buzzcast, bringing you the hottest stories in sports business every morning in under 15 minutes. Sign up for SBJ’s free newsletters, and dive deeper inside the industry with all the latest sports business news here.
