The phrase Ben Watson keeps hearing is “self-relegation.”

He can’t stand it. The owner of the now former-USL League Two club Texoma FC insists that his team, which announced it was moving down a division on Oct. 28, is not an early version of the promotion-relegation model soon to come to USL.

Instead, Watson asserts, Texoma saw where the soccer landscape in Texas was going and simply realigned. The reality is perhaps a little more complex. But whatever your interpretation may be - strategic realignment or a noble sort of demotion - Texoma is now an amateur club in USL League Two.

And in addition, Watson has unveiled a second team altogether. He now owns “Rodeo SC” which is set to debut in 2027. It’s in a new city, Celina - a 30-minute drive down the road from his current side. It operates in a fresh market, with a different vibe altogether.

Somehow, accidentally, Watson and his fellow investors have fallen into what is effectively multi-club ownership in USL.

“We were the first ones to do what we did. So we've definitely pioneered it. But I would say, yeah, it's unique in nature, because you have a League One team that has a League Two affiliate, but they're not in the same market,” Watson told GOAL.