Forbes is out with their valuations for each Major League Soccer team, and buried in the story are some quotes from an interview with MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Aside from the usual platitudes, there was a discussion about expansion. With ...
Hello from the Ninety! I'm down here covering the Sounders Business Meeting. Not sure what kind of news we'll get out this, but it's typically interesting. I'll come with any interesting tidbits that come out of the session. 7:05 P.M.: ...
The Columbus Crew suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the New York Red Bulls Sunday evening, ending their 2018 season after losing 3-1 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But the good news for fans of the ...
Note: This will be a series I'm doing on lease agreements between local municipalities and MLS franchises. You can review some background on the issue here. The recently renamed "SeatGeek Stadium" is home to the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. ...
The Sounders have completed what could be the last official practice of the year, depending on the result tomorrow against Portland at CenturyLink Field. The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on coach Brian Schmetzer (or the team), but it's fair to say that they aren't letting the fact that the season could be over ...
Well, here we are. The votes that will decide the future...of MLS expansion/relocation. Sort of. Polls are already closing around the country, and for those of you who won't be hiding under your beds, or drinking yourselves silly. I'll be following the important votes impacting MLS expansion and/or relocation. A short summary: MIAMI: At stake ...
Made the (surprisingly quick) drive down I5 for leg one of the Western Conference Semi-Final between the Sounders and the Timbers. Should be a hell of a game; the Sounders are at close to full strength, with only Jordan Morris and Felix Chenkam definitely out for the away side. Thanks to the Sounder At Heart ...
It was a quick practice for the Sounders today, as they prepare to head down I5 this afternoon ahead of tomorrow's game versus the Portland Timbers. With an early start tomorrow (2:30 p.m. PST), the team elected to stay overnight in Portland. That start time has been the source of some consternation, as this playoff ...
After the couple of well-deserved days off, the Sounders returned to practice today as they await their opponent in the Western Conference semi-finals. MLS' (somewhat odd) decision to hold the LAFC/RSL match until tomorrow means that the Sounders won't know who they're playing until late on Thursday, though that means their opponent will potentially have ...
Jordan Morris got a birthday present of sorts today, as for the first time since his ACL surgery, he was able to join in some possession drills with the Sounders. To be sure, this is not a prelude to him making the 18 on Sunday, but as Brian Schmetzer said after practice, "today was a ...
I won't do this all the time, but I had to plug my first article for The Athletic, which is on the issue of Solidarity Payments/Training Compensation. I've written about this before, but we got a pretty big update courtesy of the interview I did with Lance Reich, the attorney for Crossfire. Hope you enjoy; ...
The Sounders returned to the practice field at Starfire for the first time in about 10 days, as last week's road trip to Orlando and Houston kept the team away from home for an extended period. The team appeared in good spirits; not surprising after collecting six points in a four-day span. There is good ...
So, the Crew have been saved. Well, not quite, but it's looking good. There's actually a lot of work left to do, and plenty of unanswered questions. From not knowing when this deal will be finalized (and whether there will be a new stadium), to the background behind the attempt to move the team in ...
I wasn't going to write anything up today (recovering from yesterday's chaos), but looking at the schedule, this is the last Sounders practice before they take off for Orlando. So, it's probably a good time for an update. Those players who had been on the shelf with injuries continue to make their way back. Harry ...
It appears to be done. I've received reliable information that, almost a year to the day when Anthony Precourt announced he was exploring the opportunity to relocate the Columbus Crew to Austin, the Columbus Crew have been saved. Requests for comments from MLS have not yet been returned; the plaintiffs in the Modell lawsuit declined ...
Here is an odd-but-fun anniversary. Exactly one year ago today, I tweeted out my first comments on the NASL suit against (then) USSF. From then, I'd go on to cover the case, writing a story for Sounder at Heart and appearing on a couple of Podcasts to explain what was going on. Who knew that ...
David Beckham may not want to build his soccer stadium in Overtown, but the Miami 3rd District Court of Appeals won't stand in his way, as they've rejected the appeal of Bruce Matheson the local Miami man who filed suit over the sale of the Overtown land to Beckham's group. Matheson lost the suit (hard), ...
In what should be a surprise to no one, less than 18 hours after trouncing the Houston Dynamo 4-1, there wasn't a first-teamer who saw the field last night to be found on the training pitch this afternoon. A regen day for the starters will be followed by a couple of precious off-days for the team, ...
One of the outstanding questions in the SaveTheCrew saga (aside from the question of whether they'll be saved) revolves around how MLS will handle the 2019 season with the fate of the team not resolved. PSV has been processing ticket payments from Crew fans, in anticipation of playing at Mapfre in 2019, though the fine print ...
A quick update today for everyone. The most pressing question right now is how the international absences will affect the team. The international break technically starts Monday, but players are likely starting to be released with the end of the games this weekend. Of course, this presents a problem for the Sounders who play on ...
The change of the calendar to October has brought the usual rain and cold, as the Sounders resumed practice ahead of the oddly scheduled match with Houston this Monday. There were a couple of bits of good news ahead of the game. First, a Sounders spokesman confirmed that there will be no (American) football lines ...
As the site continues to (hopefully) grow, I figured I'd publicize the various places you can link to, find, follow and/or share the content I'm putting out. No, I won't be telling you to "smash that subscribe button" or any other annoying buzzwords. But if you could, please do follow and share, as it helps ...
It's been a very slow period for news both out of Columbus and Austin as it pertains to where the Columbus Crew will end up in 2019 (and beyond). It's been a bit surprising; if you read my "Save These Dates" story, you'll have seen that we've already blown through a couple of deadlines with ...
The Sounders finished up training on Friday in advance of their game tomorrow against Colorado on beautiful early Fall day. The team appeared to be about as healthy as they could be, excepting those previously ruled out by Coach Brian Schmetzer. There were a few interesting comments from Schmetzer in light of the team having ...
