USL undermining union, Messi finally in DC, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday! Last night, I had what can only be described as a nightmare, in which Washington Spirit changed their colors to brown and orange like the Cleveland Browns. The kind of grim stuff that percolates in the brain when your team still hasn’t completed a rebrand after four years. Thankfully, it was just a dream, and we are finally getting some warm weather and evening sunlight to cheer me back up.
USL emails players about union resignation procedures as strike looms (The Guardian)
Look, I don’t know what’s going on in these negotiations. I don’t know who’s being reasonable and who’s not. But this is repugnant behavior by the league. Truly gross.
The Player’s Association had this to say:
Sean Johnson speaks on new opportunity with DC United (The District Press)
Donald spoke to Sean Johnson about his move to DC United, leadership, and his work with Black Players for Change. Also available in podcast form!
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami visit White House to celebrate 2025 MLS Cup championship (Yahoo! Sports)
I guess this is what it takes to get Messi to DC! It sounds like it was a pretty bizarre event, but that’s kind of par for the course nowadays.
WAFCON 2026 postponed fewer than two weeks before planned start date (The Athletic $)
We already knew this tournament was likely being postponed, but now it appears it will be rescheduled to July 25th. This will impact several NWSL teams, including the Spirit, but I think the more important story is how cavalierly the federation and the countries involved are treating these players.
Washington Spirit’s Haley Carter had plenty to say on that subject over on bluesky:
Leagues Cup 2026 schedule: Stage set for MLS vs. LIGA MX showdowns (MLS)
D.C. United finished (well) short of qualification, but this year’s Leagues Cup schedule is out.
Good news for USWNT fans; bad news for people hoping Washington Spirit’s home opener would be as easy a win as their last match against Portland:
FIFA selling World Cup qualifying intercontinental playoff tickets for less than $20 (The Athletic $)
I’m not jealous. Not at all!
USA vs. Colombia, 2026 SheBelieves Cup: Scouting Colombia (SSFC)
The final day of SheBelieves Cup matches is almost here, and it’s one I have been looking forward to. USWNT vs. Colombia matches have become spicy. Let’s just hope Trinity Rodman is more in “back-the-f-up” mode than getting-injured mode.
England, Arsenal star Chloe Kelly honoured with special edition Barbie doll (ESPN)
Chloe Kelly will be one of eight female athletes being honored with a Barbie for this Monday’s International Women’s Day.
NWSL Team Values 2026: Angel City Leads, Average Jumps 77% (Sportico $)
It’s never clear how real these are, but I do think Washington’s lack of any property hurts them in these valuations. Not that they haven’t been hoping to change that!
Finally, here’s your match schedule for the weekend. We are finally back to two games! (Loudoun United would’ve had their season opener this weekend but for a weather postponement, so we have one more week to see if they can start on time.)
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC Power FC vs. Brooklyn FC | Sat., Mar. 7 at 2 p.m. | New York, NY | Peacock |
| D.C. United vs. Inter Miami | Sat., Mar. 7 at 4:30 p.m. | Baltimore, MD | Apple TV |
Its a little strange to me that the USL is doing this. How do they expect to get support from fans if they treat players like crap? Also they want to launch a tier 1 league to compete with MLS. So if they are doing with the players in their current top league, how are they going to act and make agreements with the players in the new top league? I’m assuming that the USLPA will cover players in all of their leagues to include the new tier 1 league.
Think the answer is, they want to break the players’ will to fight and try to entrench structures as well as precedent that they’re in charge. And this is not a climate where this will trigger federal oversight. They will never get a clearer window to cow the PA into obedience.
If they can win decisively sometime this year, they’re likely hoping they can continue forward and continue to build up a league where the PA is unable to challenge them, and whatever fanbase develops further won’t know unless an OG tells them.
I do think this is such a gallingly cynical and underhanded move that it does not achieve the effect with the individual players leading to an avalanche of submission they were hoping for. The PA can, should, and probably will fight this bitterly for as long as they can. The fans in the know will probably largely feel they’re in the right.
I do hope they are successful, but they likely don’t have outside forces coming to their defense anytime soon.
Can’t remember where I read it, but the letter wasn’t at all well received by the players and doesn’t seem likely to lead to a mass exodus crossing the picket line. Given how little some of these guys earn, this is probably far more damaging to the league than the players.
You hit it on head with your last sentence. They can all (most) make more in the private sector.
I think the players are going to tell them to stick it.
I feel like lockouts (and other similar bargaining-related practices) stand a far lower chance of succeeding in favor of the league in soccer compared to most, if not all, other major sports. You don’t let the players play in your league? Cool, there’s hundreds of leagues around the world they could go join. And in USL, where the players I think mostly make less than $100k, just not playing soccer anymore and making more money is even an option. They work in NFL, NBA, MLB because that’s the highest possible level of play, and players won’t make nearly as much money trying to play elsewhere (if that’s even an option) or working “real” jobs. I don’t see a way in which this really ends well for the league. Just give the players what they want.
MLS released current GAM totals for each team today. DC is sitting at $2,137,599, which presumably includes $1M for being on the 2/4/2 roster build. Certainly enough though to be able to make some moves later in the year. It looks like this is good enough for 14th highest in the league currently. SKC currently has over $6M, and the Galaxy are in last with $0.00
I figured I’d share some Major League Rugby News articles.
New Referee Review System (3/5/2026):
https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/rrsbloghttps://www.majorleague.rugby/news/mlrrrsreleaseOld Glory DC Adds Fumi Reyes as a Skills Coach (2/27/2026):
https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/old-glory-dc-adds-proven-leader-fumie-reyes-to-coaching-staff2026 Major League Rugby Championship Game returns to Seat Geek Stadium in Chicago (1/28/2026):
https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/major-league-rugby-names-chicago-as-host-of-2026-mlr-championship-game
I would take orange and brown at this point if it meant actual clarity on what the Spirit’s brand is