On December 6 in New York City, four Major League Soccer expansion hopefuls will stand in front of the league’s expansion committee and commissioner Don Garber and make their case to be one of two new sides slated to begin play in 2020. They’ll talk about things like business metrics (“F*ck that,” says Columbus), stadium plans and making bank.
Maybe you haven’t heard, but the U.S. will not be participating in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But that hasn’t stopped Americans from purchasing more tickets for next summer’s tournament than any other country outside the host nation. And the U.S. isn’t the only country that won’t be competing in Russia to rank in the Top 10 in World Cup ticket sales.
Monday marked Contract Deadline Day in Major League Soccer, meaning that all clubs (apart from the four still participating in the MLS Cup playoffs) had to announce which player contract options they’d picked up and which players they’d effectively cut.
Botafogo took the pitch with an unusual shirt sponsor in what could be a first for professional football on Monday: a YouTube star’s brand on the team’s jersey. Botafogo wore their iconic black-and-white kits with the logo for “Neto’s” located just above the team crest and a logo for Brazilian YouTube star Felipe Neto on the right breast against Palmeiras on Monday.
FC Barcelona has confirmed that superstar Lionel Messi has signed a new contract with the club that will keep him there until the end of the 2020-2021 season. The new Messi contract includes an astronomical $835 million (700 million euro) buyout clause, which virtually ensures that the Argentine forward will remain at the club through the end of the contract.
Italy, oh Italy.
Italy did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but they reserved a hotel to serve as the team's base all the same. Now, they're on the hook.
Fortunately for Italy, Denmark DID qualify for the World Cup, and are now in the market for a hotel to serve as the team's base this summer. You can see where this is going.
Here’s a pro tip for all you executives out there who want to run a professional soccer league: make sure your best team doesn’t disband the same week it wins the league championship.
Speaking of, it’s been one helluva week for the San Francisco Deltas — henceforth to be referred to as NASL’s bottle rockets. The Deltas came, they saw, they conquered then they got the hell out of Dodge, all within a span of two years.
There’s a proverb or two that probably apply here, something about counting eggs before they hatch or putting the cart before the horse. But this is Major League Soccer, where allocation money and salary caps make fools of us all and expansion is the single greatest boon to owners’ pocketbooks since skyboxes. So really, this is business as usual.
Back before Anthony Precourt invested in the Columbus Crew in 2013, the Crew had a decidedly punk feel. Prior to going with a Bundesliga-inspired crest that’s actually quite nice, the Crew boasted the most ruffian logo in all of American sports with three dudes wearing construction hats beneath a giant stylization of the word “Crew”. It was hardcore, a tradition that’s been vociferously kept alive by the Nordecke supporters’ group and all who’ve given their voice to the #SavetheCrew movement.