How to start an MLS or USL supporters group, and how clubs recognize one

In MLS and the USL, supporters groups are independent. Fans run them, clubs recognize them, and each club writes its own rules for what recognition takes. The Portland Timbers’ MLS 101 explainer describes them as organizations of fans who represent the club by building the atmosphere at matches, with chants, songs, banners and flags, and by promoting the club in the community. That is the stadium side. The other kind of group is a chapter of fans in a different city who meet at a bar for every match, and clubs’ recognition policies are not written for them. This guide covers both.

What clubs require

There is no league-wide rule for recognizing a group, only the MLS Fan Code of Conduct, which every club’s policy sits on top of. What follows is what four clubs actually publish. Read your own club’s page; the numbers differ more than you would expect.

Charlotte FC (MLS)

According to the club’s supporters groups page, a group must have at least 40 pledged members with season tickets in the Charlotte FC supporters’ section, with no ticket account counting for more than five pledged members and each pledged member counting toward only one group. It must have a unique logo, a website and activity on at least one social platform, written bylaws, at least three pledged members identified as leadership and a mechanism for adding new members. It must be established as a legal entity, a business or a 501(c)3, 4 or 7, commit to one community service initiative per quarter, and commit to the Supporters Code of Conduct. Meeting all of that makes a group eligible to apply; the Supporters Council may do due diligence and interviews before it votes.

Orlando City (MLS)

The club’s supporters page sets four conditions for recognized status: a minimum of 300 people committed to paying supporter club membership dues, a minimum of 150 season ticket members committed to join, a formal process for electing at least five leadership positions, and upholding and enforcing the Fan Code of Conduct among members. Recognized groups get the use of flags and tifo, drums and instruments, controlled smoke, and a seat on the Fan Advisory Council.

Louisville City FC (USL Championship)

Per the club’s supporter groups page, a recognized group must require a membership fee, have at least 50 paid members of whom half are Louisville City season ticket holders, have an established charter with a formal process for electing at least five leadership positions, and uphold and enforce the club’s Fan Code of Conduct.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (USL Championship)

The club’s supporters page asks a group to hold a minimum of 50 season tickets, establish a board of elected leadership, sign a formal agreement committing the group to the club and the community, uphold the club’s code of conduct, welcome all supporters, keep weekly communication with club staff and provide proof of membership for every member.

Before you apply

• Your club's own supporters page, read twice. Search the club name and supporters groups; the contact email is usually on it.
• A count of season tickets in the supporters' section among your members, since every policy above counts them.
• Elected leaders, three to five of them, with a written charter or bylaws that say how they are chosen and how members join.
• A logo, a website and one active social account. Charlotte requires all three; most clubs expect them.
• A legal entity if your club requires one, and a dues structure if it requires a membership fee.
• A reading of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct, since you are signing your members up to it.

Getting recognized

1. 1
   Find the club's page and contact

   Every club above names an email or a form. Write there, not to the ticket office. Say who you are, how many season tickets you hold in the section, who leads and how they were chosen.
2. 2
   Expect a review

   Charlotte's Supporters Council may interview you; the Switchbacks ask for a signed agreement; Orlando and Louisville want the leadership process on paper. Have the documents before you write.
3. 3
   Agree to the code of conduct

   The MLS Fan Code of Conduct and your club’s own. A recognized group is expected to enforce it among its members, not only follow it.
4. 4
   Keep the paperwork alive

   Elections on schedule, dues collected, the season ticket count refreshed each year. Charlotte's page ties continued recognition to the code of conduct; treat recognition as something you keep, not something you were given once.

If your fans live in another city

A group of Atlanta United fans in Phoenix, or Sounders fans in Austin, is not what the policies above are written for; they are about the supporters’ section at home. Ask the club, and ask the recognized groups at home whether they run away-city chapters. In the meantime, do what every supporters club does: one bar, every match, the schedule public, and a listing on SoccerMapd so the fan who searches your city finds you rather than a thread from three seasons ago.

After you are official

• Announce it from your account and the bar’s, and ask the club to add you to its supporters page.
• Meet every match, home and away. The away matches at the bar are where new members come from.
• Keep the schedule public. Kickoff in local time, where you are watching when the match is away, and the tailgate time when it is home.
• Hold the elections your charter promises. The leadership process is what the club asked to see when it recognized you.

List the group on SoccerMapd

SoccerMapd’s where-to-watch pages exist for every team and metro with at least one chapter or one bar naming the team, across MLS, the USL Championship, USL League One, the USL Super League and the NWSL. Each one lists the supporters groups by metro and links them, next to the week’s fixtures in local time and the US TV channel where it is announced. A group that lists itself appears there for its city, on its club’s team page and in the supporters club directory. State whether the club recognizes you or you are still applying; both belong on the map.

Once listed, ask for the schedule console link and tick the matches you are showing. The supporters club guide walks through it. No account is needed and nothing costs anything.

See MLS and USL fans by city