[JonInMiddleGA]

All fine and good ... until you consider the numerous realities of why it doesn't work here.

Foremost perhaps is the shortage of clubs that could be promoted. There's only one Division II league (MLS is the only D-I league) in the country and only 2 of its 24 teams meet the minimum seating requirement for D1.

And half of those don't even reach the halfway point so it's not as simple as adding a few temporary bleachers for the likely short stay they'd have in D1. You'd be talking about considerable rebuilding -- a process that has seen at least two D2 clubs suspend operations for several years while they upgraded/changed facilities. How many of those markets see building a new stadium as even remotely reasonable for a brief shot at a questionable level of "glory"?

Unlike the UK, there are precious few markets in the U.S. that can viably support multiple MLS franchises ... but with the current composition of D2 the issue of market exclusivity could come into play.

We're barely more than a decade from even being able to HAVE a league that could meet D2 requirements.

Talk of an detailed P/R system such as exists in leagues elsewhere in the world grossly overestimate the value of promoting to the MLS to a city that would frequently be asked to make major cost contributions to the building of stadiums that stand a good chance of being massively oversized upon relegation.