In 1993, the APSL applied for the vacant Division I role but lost out to Major League Soccer who would begin play in 1996.

To reduce travel expenses, the inaugural season would be played under two separate leagues akin to Major League Baseball: the ASL became the American Soccer Conference and featured teams from the East Coast, while the WSL became the Western Soccer Conference and featured teams from the West Coast.

[3][7] As part of the conditions for been awarded the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation had agreed to launch a new Division I professional league.

It featured several established clubs and its roster of players included several members of the United States men's national soccer team.

Six of the seven remaining A-League teams, the Montreal Impact, Colorado Foxes, Seattle Sounders, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Vancouver 86ers, and Atlanta Ruckus, and two planned A-League expansion teams, the Toronto Lynx and Hershey Wildcats, effectively joined the USISL Select League in 1997.