USL announces revenue-sharing deal, Baribo makes Team of the Match Day, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday! A friend has asked me to watch the Manchester Derby with her this weekend (or at least as much as we can before the Spirit game, OF COURSE), and I’m not sure what I should do to prepare. How do I decide who to root for? Do I need to learn about men’s soccer? In ENGLAND??
United Soccer League Introduces New Revenue-Sharing Model as Part of Broader Vision for Growth (USL)
This deal should get some more money to clubs on the men’s side of USL. Will that stop them from collapsing in the off-season? We can only hope.
Team of the Matchday: Cavan Sullivan, Antoine Griezmann again prove heroic (MLS)
After his brace against Columbus Crew, Tai Baribo was a shoo-in for midweek Team of the Match Day. He’s also climbing the Golden Boot leader board, currently in 5th place with 14 goals.
There is some unfortunate news for D.C. United, though. Jason Anderson reports Peglow will be suspended for Saturday’s match due to yellow card accumulation:
Loudoun United FC Acquire Forward Liam Butts on Loan from Atlanta United 2 (Loudoun United)
Liam, who’s played for the Guyana National Team, seems like he could be a good goal-scorer for Loudoun.
Saloons, school and specialty coffee: NWSL players enjoy new era of side hustles (The Guardian)
NWSL players no longer have to work second jobs to make ends meet, but some of them are choosing to anyway. Our own Gabby Carle features, as she plans her post-play career in medicine.
What does Racing Louisville’s NWSL future look like — and does the club even have one? (ESPN)
Grim times for Racing Louisville. I’d hate to see them move (especially to Ohio, which is already getting an NWSL club in the coming years), but ownership doesn’t seem particularly motivated to put in the resources and effort to build a fanbase.
For some Friday fun, here’s a shifting map of the closest MLS team to each county over the years. You know I love a good info graphic.
Finally, your schedule of events for the weekend. We have two days of matches at Buzzard Point!
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Loudoun United | Sat., Sep. 12 at 7 p.m. | Pittsburgh, PA | Paramount+ |
| D.C. United vs. Atlanta United | Sat., Sep. 12 at 7:30 p.m. | Washington, DC | AppleTV |
| Washington Spirit vs. Boston Legacy | Sun., Sep. 13 at 1 p.m. | Washington, DC | ESPN |
| DC Power vs. Dallas Trinity | Sun., Sep. 13 at 7:30 p.m. | Dallas, TX | Peacock |
Have a good weekend!
The US Men’s Eagles XVs play in the Pacific Cup Semifinal tomorrow at 6:05 AM ET against the host nation Japan. The game will be streamed on Paramount+. USA vs Japan is a historic series going back to their first meeting in 1985. Japan has gotten the better of the US in the more recent results including a smack down last year. But the overall series is 13 US wins – 12 Japan Wins – 1 Draw.
The winner of tomorrows match will play the winner of Fiji vs Canada in the 1st place match while the loser will play the loser in the 3rd place match.
Only logical solution to your conundrum is to wear a half and half kit, Annie
Kinda mind boggling that even as late as 2014, the closest MLS team to Miami was…DC United. Oh how times have changed.
I am curious about NWSL expansion. Agreed that I do not Ohio to have two teams. Logically I think Philly deserves a team. However, I want to keep some balance between East and West so maybe Minnesota gets one?
I had the same thought watching that. The fact that the closest team to most of Florida for like half of the time the league has existed was DC is wild
Well there was the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion in the early days of the league but those both got folded by the league.
If only the Fusion still existed, then we wouldn’t have to deal with The Pink Ones
If we had the original Miami and Tampa would Orlando be in the league?
I could certainly see a world in which the Fusion and Orlando both exist. Fusion, Mutiny, AND Orlando though might be a bit of a tall ask. Orlando had good support in USL though, so it might have been possible
What about 2 teams in Miami like we have 2 in LA and 2 in the NYC metro?
I could certainly see it being a NYRB/NYCFC situation, where you would have a smaller amount of the old, diehard fans that support the Fusion and the new bandwagon fans that support Inter Miami. But at that point I would hope MLS would expand to new markets before adding a second team to more cities
I would love to see Minnesota get a team. However, I (and I think most of Minnesota) want it to be the Aurora. If it’s not then I think it’s dicey how well a team would do.
Sticking with MLS — they do have a lot of teams, and the Don thinks there won’t be too many more added. That said — Minnesota probably covers too much area, and a Detroit team would help with that, but not sure that’s in the offing. However two teams cover almost the entire north-south spread of the US: RSL and Colorado. Las Vegas and or Phoenix would limit that reach, especially Phoenix.