The Year in Soccer Jurisprudence
Who knew that soccer litigation would be its own industry? With all that has been going on, I figured it would be a good idea to dial up Professor Steven Bank from UCLA, and attorney/sportswriter Neil Morris out of North Carolina to discuss all of the legal happenings over the past year. Great conversation with ...
Memorandum of Understanding Released in Advance of Pivotal Columbus City Council Vote
Tonight sometime between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, the Columbus City Council will take up a vote to ratify the proposal to renovate Mapfre Stadium. This is but one piece of the puzzle to ultimately Save The Crew. The final piece involves the construction of a new stadium to house the team. The prospective ...
SaveTheCrew Announcement Live-Blog
Might as well do it live (!) and cover the announcement! Reports are we'll see an announcement on new stadium plans and training facilities, among other things. As I reported last night, Austin looks to have the lease agreement to be done this week, with an announcement next week if all goes well. This isn't ...
Judge Brown Denies Motion to Dismiss; Stays Lawsuit Proceedings Until Further Notice [Updated]
Updates: I just did a Periscope talking about the ruling. Check it out! Read the entire ruling.Download Read MLS' reaction to the decision. The shoes continue to drop. Alongside the question of when there may be an announcement that the Crew have been sold to local ownership, there is still the question of how the ...
SaveDTheCrew Smoke Signals
Serious rumblings that we could get a formal SaveDTheCrew announcement this week. After the chaos on October 12, I reported the deal was "largely done." Of course, that didn't mean all of the signatures have been affixed to the proper documents, or that MLS was planning one of their customary events to announce the sale. ...
MLS Allowing More Charter Flights Seems Overdue, but Would Teams Actually Use Them?
Photo used with permission from Max Aquino Photography Eagle-eyed readers who read my story on the tentative changes to the MLS schedule, noticed a little tidbit related to the implications from additional midweek games. The long and short of it was: Additional mid-week games will put additional stresses on players, which may require MLS loosening ...
Happy Holidays
Wow, it’s been a crazy year for me personally. Started out a year ago tweeting about lawsuits and writing stories on Reddit. Then I wrote a couple of features for SounderAtHeart. In February, I started a blog covering all things legal soccer in the U.S., with a side of Seattle Sounders (and cigars). Now I’m ...
Seattle Sounders Wrap Up 2018; Look Ahead to 2019 Season
The Seattle Sounders held their end-of-the-year press conference to put a bow on the 2018 season, and look forward to 2019. It was a fairly casual affair, as Coach Brian Schmetzer, General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey, and Sporting Director Chris Henderson held court for the assembled media. There were several notable bits ...
Ch-Ch-Changes
My next story is up at The Athletic, and it's a doozy. Big changes are in store for MLS as they prepare for the 2019 season. Per the story, we can expect that the date of MLS Cup is moved from December to October, and some additional midweek games. There is (way) more in the ...
Sure Looks Like the Columbus Crew are All But Official for 2019
H/t to DrDeckle on Reddit. Some people just can't keep secrets. The offseason planning for 2019 is well under way, with MLS releasing their offseason calendar, and teams who have been eliminated from the playoffs planning for next year. Part of the planning for the 2019 season includes preseason camps. These days, teams usually escape ...
Cat’s Out of the Bag: There Will Not be an MLS Team Playing in Austin in 2019
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 Cincinnati coming online in 2018, Garber was asked about the future of MLS expansion. That ...
2018 Seattle Sounders Business Meeting [Live Blog]
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.: Meeting is under way. Interesting that Drew Carey is here in person. 7:16 P.M.: Adrian ...
Exclusive: With 2018 Season Over, What’s Next For the Columbus Crew?
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 club is that the 2019 season is just around the corner, a fact that a ...
Sounders Practice Notes [11-07-18]
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 ...
The Vote: SoccerSuffrage2018 [Live Blog]
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 ...
Seattle Sounders @ Portland Timbers Western Conference Semi-Final [Leg 1]
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 ...
Sounders Practice Notes [11-03-18]
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 ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-31-18]
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 ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-26-18]: Birthday Present
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 ...
My First Athletic Article
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; ...
