The six biggest stories that defined the USL Championship's 2024: Transfers, stadiums, TV deals & more

The 2024 USL season is in the record books, but some major developments on and off the field will have a long-lasting impact on the league’s future. Player sales, changes to the competitive structure, and title wins were all big stories on their own, but they’re also representative of bigger trends.

What mattered most to the USL this season? Let’s take a look at six of the year’s most important stories.

The Nick Markanich transfer

If you’re a USL star looking to earn a move, winning the Golden Boot is a surefire way to get your transfer of choice. Nick Markanich was the latest player to do so this year, but the way in which he reached that pinnacle is a sign of strength for the league.

Hadji Barry took the Golden Boot leap in the 2021 USL season, scoring 25 goals for Colorado Springs. He earned the club a nearly seven-digit transfer fee a full year later after almost winning a second scoring title. Milan Iloski succeeded Barry in the 2022 season, scoring 22 goals to lead the league. Again, it took another year and another high-scoring campaign for Iloski to earn a European transfer.

International suitors have valued USL talent in the past, but only once a two-year sample size was on the table. Nick Markanich changed that calculus this season, breaking out and immediately drawing international attention.

While Markanich was good in his debut campaign with the Charleston Battery in 2023, he was the third- or fourth-best attacking option on a surprise playoff team. This year, the 24-year-old winger became Charleston’s Plan A and secured a move to Spain’s CD Castellon in the second division by August.

Markanich was allowed to finish the season with the Battery and reach the 30-goal mark between the regular season and playoffs, but it’s that quickened ability to get on European radars that stands out. The attacker isn’t a young prospect with vast untapped potential; he’s a prime-age player without that long history of contribution. That was enough for Castellon.

Markanich’s story is all the more interesting because of his professional pathway. A second-round pick by FC Cincinnati in the MLS SuperDraft, the attacker didn’t get much of a chance for Cincinnati’s first team and moved on after a rookie year mostly spent in MLS Next Pro. Charleston, under first-year manager Ben Pirmann, picked up Markanich and gave him valuable game time to develop.

Ready for the leap: USL players MLS, European clubs need to keep tabs on

With Nick Markanich adding his name to a growing list of USL stars moving to a higher level, these lower-division players could be next.

BackheeledJohn Morrissey

It’s easy to focus on the USL’s youth initiatives, but the league has become something of a secondary proving ground for later-blooming stars at the same time. Some players just aren’t ready for the top level until their mid-20s, but that doesn’t disqualify them from potential transfers to greener pastures. The USL is providing the diamonds in the rough an opportunity to grow, and Europe is taking notice.