The rules differ between Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball - if the rules exist at all.
When Bethlehem Steel FC kicks off their inaugural season this spring, they will be the third lower division sports team in the Lehigh Valley with ties to a major league club, joining the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms in hockey and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of minor league baseball's International League.
But the traditional system American sports fans are familiar with of players being sent down to the minors and others being promoted to the big club isn't quite how things will work at Steel FC.