2030 & 2034 World Cup hosts confirmed, MLS Expansion Draft results, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Happy Thursday, y’all. Yesterday was a wild weather day and hopefully today is much better. I’m getting out of here for the weekend, so before I do, let’s catch up on the news.
World Cup: Saudi Arabia to host in 2034; six hosts in 2030 (ESPN)
The World Cups in 2030 and 2034 are confirmed…
2030 – Spain, Portugal, Morocco (with Centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay)
2034 – Saudi Arabia
Each bid was unopposed and set up so one vote for 2030 confirmed 2034 as well. Thus ends the bidding process as we know it.
Might Saudi Arabia actually be a good choice for a men’s World Cup? (The Athletic)
No.
San Diego FC: 2024 MLS Expansion Draft results (MLS)
San Diego FC had their expansion draft late last night, and DC United did not have anyone selected. However, they did some business with San Diego, trading the right of first refusal of Christopher McVey for some Garber Bucks and then using some more Garber Bucks to acquire midfielder Hosei Kijima, who was selected last by San Diego FC from St. Louis FC.
USMNT add Costa Rica friendly to January Camp slate (SSFC)
The USMNT add a friendly against Costa Rica to their January Camp slate. They’ll play that match in Orlando.
USMNT’s McKennie, Weah connect for historic Champions League goal (ESPN)
Wes McKennie had a sensational goal in Champions League yesterday against Man City, and Tim Weah provided the brilliant assist. They become the first American duo to connect for a goal and assist in Champions League history.
Red Bull Arena changes name to Sports Illustrated Stadium (PSW)
They got money for AI and stadium names, but not writers. Sure, it’s the ticketing side that’s sponsoring this, but the sign says Sports Illustrated Stadium, not Sports Illustrated Tickets Stadium.
Buffalo Bills welcome 10 new limited partners to ownership group (Bills Mafia)
Jozy Altidore joins the ownership group of the Bills, which is an awesome thing to see. I hope his first game as a part owner is a huge loss (they’re playing my Lions this weekend).
Enjoy the day, y’all.
Hosei Kijima was very thought of coming out of the draft last year. He played for Wake Forest and was teammates with Garrison Tubbs. $400,000 seems a little much to give up, and he still takes up an international slot (right now, our last one assuming Peglow and Kim Joon Hong are both signed). I’m happy to have Kijima aboard, but certainly it seems like it’s setting up more moves.
Kijima is mostly a central midfielder, but is very versatile and can play basically anywhere in the midfield and has also spent some effective time at right back. That makes him a nice piece to have, and he could be thrust into a much more prominent role if Mateusz Klich does indeed move on.
FWIW, the DC press-release about the signing actually lists Kijima as domestic, not international. So maybe he picked up a green card recently?
Good to know. I Googled “Hosei Kijima green card” and nothing came up, but I’ll trust that the team knows his status more than that. That makes the deal that much better!
Yeah, being domestic definitely helps. Though I do agree $400k seems a bit steep. STL fans seem disappointed to lose him, which is reassuring. I’m kinda assuming at this point he may become the new standard or “Swiss army knife” sort of player, given the amount of positions he can play
NDL is watching…..
$400k seems…insane. Probably 2x or even 4x what they could’ve gotten that pick for a year ago. And, his production as a rookie doesn’t seem to justify the step-up in value.
In addition to Klich being linked to a move to Poland, Ryan Keefer shared a tweet yesterday that indicated that apparently Pirani may also have been offered to a team. Not sure how much validity there is to that one, but I guess we’ll see
With Pirani actually banging home some goals last year, I had talked myself into the idea that he was improving and could be a useful scoring source besides Benteke this coming year (along with a rebound from Ted Ku-DiPietro). He’s hardly an untouchable though, so if he gets moved on, it’s another opportunity to add a U-22 player (Pirani’s green card will be missed).
Really loving all this news!
Pirani was coming into form, but I guess this is a we’ll see kind of thing.
Definitely some interesting moves. While I’m not sure how any of the GKs will fare in the still risky and wide-open structure we have, all these other moves seem to be with the mind of having every player on the same page, tactically speaking. Pirani started bagging more goals but seemed, to me, to be more of a lone wolf who wanted them last touch.
In general, this seems like April Fools Day Freedom Kicks.
World Cups — one hosted in 3 continents, and the other by Saudi Arabia.
DCU paying $400k for a guy picked 17th last year and who spent the last 2 months of the MLS season actually playing in MLS Next Pro, while getting only $50k for a guy who started most of the year in DCU’s defense.
Americans assisting and scoring a goal against Man City in Champions League
Red Bull Arena (owned by Red Bull) being renamed Sports Illustrated Stadium (WTAF?)
And the NFL heading towards MLS style single-entity VC ownership.
A wild ride.
.
Presumably St. Louis was asking for more than $400,000 for Kijima, otherwise Mackay could have dealt with them directly. Or another team was lurking to grab him. Or United’s reputation for overpaying has survived GM regimes (what’s that? Dave Kasper is still employed? Huh.).
Either way, I’m not going to be too concerned by expenditures for Kijima and Peglow. I’ll assume the financial people know how to manage their allocation funds. They’re also bringing in some cash flow from McVey and the upcoming Akinmboni sale. I do think/hope that Kijima and Peglow start out as bench players, but could be longer-term investments.
Kijima will be our 3rd former St. Louis player now? Both Bartlett and Stroud have been quite good for us. If Kijima performs at the same level, I won’t be upset. And if he ends up being a part-time starter who maintains our game plan in the starter’s absence, that’s also good. Most of the comments I’ve seen about him so far are very positive, so while the price is a bit steep, I’m optimistic.
Goff mentioned that with the Kijima acquisition and the upcoming Kim Joon Hong and Joao Peglow additions, United has 22 players on its roster, but that Akinmboni will be departing and Fletcher is on loan with an option to buy.
Here’s where things stand.
Goalkeepers – 3 (Kim Joon Hong, Luis Barraza, Jordan Farr)
Defenders – 5 (Lucas Bartlett, Conner Antley, Aaron Herrera, Garrison Tubbs, David Schnegg)
Midfielders – 9 (Matti Peltola, Boris Enow, Jared Stroud, Gabriel Pirani, Ted Ku-DiPietro, Jackson Hopkins, Mateusz Klich, Hosei Kijima, Joao Peglow)
Forwards – 3 (Christian Benteke, Dominique Badji, Jacob Murrell)
I’m guessing that United will go with at least 27 players on its roster. They will likely add at least one from the draft. It’s possible they sign at least one player from the academy, like Graham Jones. It’s also possible that Mateusz Klich moves on, and maybe Pirani.
I think that the goalkeeper position is set. Goalie is actually one of the more fruitful positions coming out of the draft these days, but not having an MLS Next PRO team to put one on really hinders the chances of us going for that this year.
For the defense, center back is a huge need with only Bartlett and Tubbs on the roster (and possibly Peltola). I’d expect them to have a big expenditure here (maybe Steve Kapuadi?), as well as getting at least one more MLS veteran either through free agency or trade. There’s a decent chance that they draft one too, although their last effort at drafting a center back – Michael DeShields – totally flopped. We also need fullback depth. Herrera and Schnegg should be quite good, but the only backup is Conner Antley, who’s returning from a major injury and has less than 500 minutes of MLS experience anyway. Kijima could play right back in a pinch – the new Dajome. Graham Jones might get signed. They still need one or two more fullbacks.
In midfield, my hope has been for a goal-scoring left winger. I’m not picky though. Jared Stroud had a great year last year, but is that replicable? I’m expecting growth from both KDP and Pirani, and Klich should be a fine distributor and dead ball provider if he is back. If he’s not, United has the chance to go with more of a creative central midfielder. The club sees a lot in Enow, and they also spent big on Peltola. Hopefully they can hold down defensive midfield duties, with Jackson Hopkins and Kijima filling in all over. I think we probably need at least four new signings here, and five if Klich leaves.
Up top, Christian Benteke is the reigning Golden Boot winner. He plays a ton of minutes. He’s the captain. The game plan is build around him. Badji is a fine veteran, and Murrell showed a bit more than his stats might suggest last year. We might need one more addition, but defense and midfield are likely to be the focus of the rest of our roster build. My sneaking suspicion is that Kristian Fletcher returns in May.
Just focusing on your Fletcher hunch for a second, it likely depends on how much Mackay values him. Which is sorta hard to know at this point.
Well, it’s if Nottingham Forest values him. If they do, they’ll buy him and we’ll get whatever the transfer is (not too high, I don’t think). If they don’t, he comes back. I don’t expect him to stick around for long, though. I would be surprised if he’s on the 2026 roster. I think he’s ready to move on.
NASL Seeking Half A Billion Dollars From MLS And U.S. Soccer At Trial https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisdeubert/2024/12/11/nasl-seeking-half-a-billion-dollars-from-mls-and-us-soccer-at-trial/
NASL’s suit against US Soccer and MLS trial start date of Jan 13, 2025.
Based on what I’ve read recently, the RBA naming deal has been an eye-opener on branding. As I understand it…
…the SI brand has been owned by a brand holding company, ABG (Authentic Brands Group) since 2019, when it was sold by the publishing company that had bought it the year before from Time.
ABG holds many, many brands. Most are clothing, but some are of people’s or estate’s brands (Elvis!), and one is a former sports magazine. Sort of like the holding companies that own old beer brands like Schlitz or Strohs, if you’re old enough to recognize those brands 😉
As far as the now-digital sports mag SI goes, it is currently published by Minute Media, who are licensed by ABG to do that. That is as far as any connection to the old sports magazine goes.
But the brand can be licensed by ABG to anyone, for anything. Another licensee is an event ticketing company – a competitor to StubHub, Ticketmaster, etc. – which is operating using the licensed name of Sports Illustrated Ticketing. That company is what signed the naming deal for RBA.
Anecdote: I was recently in a grocery store in the Caribbean and saw Kodak branded disposable razors. These have little to do with and are not made by Kodak, but have licensed the Kodak logo for…something like brand familiarity, I suppose.
So to me the stadium in Harrison being called Sports Illustrated stadium, or even Sports Illustrated Ticketing stadium, is like seeing a bag of Kodak disposable razors. It has nothing to do with what used to be a magazine; nor a camera & film company!
Fascinating. Many thanks, Rob.