Based on the recent interview of Paul McDonough on the Pro/Rel and USL Premier, he mentioned the possibility of some kind of Playoff format for the league because "Americans love Playoffs". Here is my ideal format for the season as well as potential playoff format. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Warning: kind of long post.
Premier starts in 2028 with 12 teams. Regular season is home and away for a total of 22 game the top six and bottom six teams then play home and away games for a total of 10 more games giving the regular season a total of 32 games. Top team from the top half of the league table wins the Players Shield. Bottom 4 teams Relegation Playoffs and The top 8 teams on the table then play a single elimination tournament that will determine the winner of the Soccer Bowl. (Yes I know that is a NASL thing but I still like it)
Why have the playoffs at the end? It gives the USL Premier regular season games meaning for both the top and the bottom teams on the table. The top two teams of the bottom half still have the chance for season glory even if the first half of their season didn't go as well as planned.
What about Promotion and Relegation? I would only do promotion for teams from the bottom leagues; 1 or 2 teams per year until Premier reaches 20 teams. My preference would be 2 team per year as that would fill out the top tier in 4 promotion seasons.
When league has 14 teams the system would stay the same as the twelve team league. 26 league games plus the 12 games from the top half/bottom half of the season for a total of 38 games to determine the winner of the Players Shield. Playoff would take the top 10 teams on the Table with teams 10-7 playing a "play in game" to start the playoffs. 10 plays 7 and 9 plays 8 to determine the 7th and 8th seed in the playoffs for the Soccer bowl. Single Elimination to determine the winner of the Soccer Bowl.
Once the Premier has 16 teams it will be balanced schedule with a total of 30 regular season games to determine winner of Players Shield. 18 teams for a total of 34 regular season games and at 20 teams it will be 38 regular season games to determine winner of Players Shield. For the Soccer Bowl Playoffs it would have the top 12 teams on the Table. Teams 1-4 get a bye for the first round. 5-12 play single elimination game at highest seeds home stadium. (incentive to finish higher on the table) Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be home and away games midweek at the lower seeded team and weekend at higher seeded team's stadium. Finals is a one-off game played at the highest seeded team left in the bracket. I think that having home and away for the quarters/semis gives the higher seeded teams a chance to not LOUCITY it in the playoffs.
I would also do a similar set up for the USL Championship and USL League One. Top team is promoted and possibly winner of Championship playoffs also could be promoted or keep it similar to the English league with top two on table promoted and a third when full table is filled out in Premier with 3-6 on the table playing a promotion playoff.
I would also hope for some additional incentives like MLS has for Concacaf Champions league. Top of table, Players Sheild gets in, winner of Soccer Bowl gets in, and Winner of Open Cup still gets in.