Major Indoor Soccer League

Major Indoor Soccer League (1978-1992)

Tombstone

Formed: 1978
Disbanded: July 10, 1992

First Game: December 22, 1978
Last Game: May 12, 1992

Seasons: 14
States: 18

Leadership

Commissioner:

  • 1978 – April 1985 – Earl Foreman
  • May 1985 – April 1986: Francis Dale
  • May 1986 – May 1989: Bill Kentling
  • May 1989 – July 1992: Earl Foreman

Attendance

MISL Top 10 Single Game Crowds

CROWDDATEHOSTVISITORSTADIUM
21,728June 20, 1987Tacoma StarsDallas SidekicksTacoma Dome
20,284June 16, 1987Tacoma StarsDallas SidekicksTacoma Dome
20,174April 5, 1986Cleveland ForceMinnesota StrikersRichfield Coliseum
19,476May 7, 1986Tacoma StarsSan Diego SockersTacoma Dome
19,468April 13, 1986Cleveland ForceBaltimore BlastRichfield Coliseum
19,360November 24, 1984Cleveland ForceNew York CosmosRichfield Coliseum
19,299February 22, 1980St. Louis SteamersPhiladelphia FeverSt. Louis Arena
19,298February 20, 1981St. Louis SteamersDenver AvalancheSt. Louis Arena
19,112January 2, 1981St. Louis SteamersPhiladelphia FeverSt. Louis Arena
19,108January 5, 1980St. Louis SteamersDetroit LightningSt. Louis Arena

Source: Tomasch, Kenn. “Largest Indoor Soccer Crowds in US History”. Kenn.com (blog). https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/largest-indoor-soccer-crowds-in-us-history/

Trophy Case

 

Our Favorite Stuff

MISL Logo T-Shirt

This classic era Major Indoor Soccer League logo shirt is available from the guys at Cincinnati’s Old School Shirts in a variety of great styles:
  • Crewneck or hooded sweatshirts
  • Long-sleeve tee
  • 3/4 sleeve raglan
  • Women’s scoop neck
 
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

 

Background

The Major Indoor Soccer League was the first successful effort to introduce indoor soccer as a professional sport in the United States. The outdoor North American Soccer League (NASL) began to experiment with indoor exhibitions and tournaments in the mid-1970’s, but stopped short of forming a full-fledged winter indoor league. But the NASL’s tentative experiments with the indoor game captured the imaginations of several entrepreneurs.

Former NASL execs Richard Ragone and Norm Sutherland announced the formation of the Major Soccer League in August 1975, but that effort made it no further than the press release stage.  (Ragone and Sutherland would later re-appear and owner/operators in the MISL).  Harlem Globetrotters exec Jerry Saperstein and serial sports league founder Dennis Murphy (ABA, WHA, WTT and too many others to name) tried and failed to get their Super Soccer League off the ground in 1978. The NASL itself would finally organize a half-hearted indoor season in 1979, but by that time they were second to the party.

The winners of the indoor derby were veteran sports execs Earl Foreman and Ed Tepper.  Foreman, an attorney, was the former owner of the Washington Caps and Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association.  Tepper owned the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League – a very popular team in a short-lived league that few had heard of – and served a brief stint as President of the NASL’s Philadelphia Atoms club.  Foreman and Tepper announced their Major Indoor Soccer League on September 30, 1978 and were playing soccer less than three months later.  The league debuted in December 1978 with clubs playing in major hockey arenas in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

1983-84 Major Indoor Soccer League Media Guide

The MISL expanded rapidly in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.  At the MISL’s peak in 1984, the league boasted 14 clubs and average attendance across the league of just under 9,000 fans per game.  Sports Illustrated covered the league periodically.  In a handful of cities indoor soccer was incredibly popular for a brief moment in the 1980’s.   The Cleveland Force routinely drew much larger crowds than the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers at the suburban Richfield Coliseum.  In Kansas City, the tremendous success of the MISL’s Comets at Kemper Arena helped to drive the NBA’s Kansas City Kings out of town in 1985.  Edward DeBartolo Sr. owned both the MISL’s Pittsburgh Spirit and NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.  For a short time the Spirit appeared to be the hotter ticket in Pittsburgh – until the Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux in 1984.  After the NASL folded in 1984, there was no nationwide outdoor soccer league in the United States of any significance for the rest of the 1980’s.   Indoor soccer – less than a decade old as a sport – became the highest rung of the professional soccer ladder in the United States from 1985 to 1992.

Despite the MISL’s pockets of success in the Midwest, the league had a lot of problems.  The MISL bounced from cable network to cable network (USA, ESPN, PRIME) never managing to land the breakthrough TV deal that might give the league national recognition and financial stability.  The roster of clubs fluctuated wildly from season to season with bankruptcies and relocations.  The MISL’s repeated failures to gain a foothold in New York were especially troublesome.  Between 1982 and 1987, the MISL had four franchises fail in the New York/Northern New Jersey market including two – the New York Cosmos and New York Express – who embarrassed the league by folding in mid-season.  In the summer of 1988, the MISL lost four long-running clubs, including two of its former model franchises – the St. Louis Steamers and the Cleveland Force.

League founder Earl Foreman, who stepped down as league Commissioner in 1985, returned to the post in 1989 to attempt to reverse the league’s decline.  Foreman and the remaining owners were unable to attract new investors for expansion or find a light at the end of the tunnel for the existing clubs.  The original MISL folded in July 1992.

The MISL brand name has since been revived on two occasions by unrelated indoor soccer leagues.

 

Major Indoor Soccer League Franchise List

Franchise Years Active MISL Champions
Baltimore Blast 1980-1992 1984
Buffalo Stallions 1979-1984 None
Chicago Horizons 1980-1981 None
Chicago Sting 1982-1983 & 1984-1988 None
Cincinnati Kids 1978-1979 None
Cleveland Crunch 1989-1992 None
Cleveland Force 1978-1988 None
Dallas Sidekicks 1984-1992 1987
Denver Avalanche 1980-1982 None
Detroit Lightning 1979-1980 None
Golden Bay Earthquakes 1982-1983 None
Hartford Hellions 1979-1981 None
Houston Summit 1978-1980 None
Kansas City Comets 1981-1991 None
Las Vegas Americans 1984-1985 None
Los Angeles Lazers 1982-1989 None
Memphis Americans 1981-1984 None
Minnesota Strikers 1984-1988 None
New Jersey Rockets 1981-1982 None
New York Arrows 1978-1984 1979-1980-1981-1982
New York Cosmos 1984-1985 None
New York Express 1986-1987 None
Philadelphia Fever 1978-1982 None
Phoenix Inferno 1980-1983 None
Phoenix Pride 1983-1984 None
Pittsburgh Spirit 1978-1980 & 1981-1986 None
St. Louis Steamers 1979-1988 None
St. Louis Storm 1989-1992 None
San Diego Sockers 1982-1983 & 1984-1992 1983-1985-1986-1988-1989-1990-1991-1992
San Francisco Fog 1980-1981 None
Tacoma Stars 1983-1992 None
Wichita Wings 1979-1992 None

 

Downloads

1980-81 Final MISL Statistics Press Release

March 1981 MISL 1980-81 Final Statistics Press Release

 

1987-88 MISL Rule Book & Schedule

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  1. Pingback: Episode Notes: Hartford Hellions | Soccer History USA

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