The U.S. Open Cup Third Round draw took place Thursday night following the conclusion of the previous round. Eighteen Major League Soccer clubs join the competition at this stage of the knockout tournament. Along with the top flight teams, 30 other lower level clubs also make up the 48-team field for the third round. While […]

Supporters and members actually owning part of their favorite clubs is not uncommon across the soccer world. In some places, such as the German Bundesliga, it's actually a league rule. But fan ownership in MLS is impossible. A practice that allows a community to directly control its own local club seems a logical idea. So […]

US Open Cup returned with the 1st round and teams across the United States. Some of them feature amateurs and semi-professionals dreaming of a fairytale run in the oldest ongoing national soccer competition. These games as well as a handful in the next couple rounds, are available via Bleacher Report. Here's what happened in the […]

This month, in the United States men's club soccer scene, three different professional third divisions kick off 2023 campaigns. USL League One kicks off this weekend. Then, MLS Next Pro the following weekend. Finally, NISA the weekend after. What exactly is a third division in a system with no promotion and relegation? Well, It’s a […]

Between the USL Championship and USL League One, there will be 620 live matches during the 2023 season, all of which are available on ESPN and its platforms. Note that this does not mean ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. Instead, the vast majority of these games are available on ESPN+, the paid streaming platform from ESPN. […]

The United Soccer League, or USL, renewed its media rights contract with ESPN for an additional year. First reported by World Soccer Talk, the agreement will extend the partnership through the upcoming 2023 season. In the agreement, ESPN will carry all USL Championship and USL League One games on ESPN+. The mammoth sports media company […]

American soccer has always done things a little differently from the rest of the world. Whether it's experimenting with the rules (countdown clock, 35-yard offside line, and shootouts), the lack of promotion and relegation, or using playoffs to decide a champion, we've always been at least a little out of step with the rest of […]

Another four years have passed and the FIFA World Cup is once again upon us. Like clockwork, the sport of soccer will see a sharp rise in overall interest in the United States during the tournament, with fans packing bars and public spaces all over the country to take in the matches. Even casual fans […]

Memphis 901 FC was founded in January of 2018 and has competed in the USL Championship since March of 2019. During that time, they have played at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, home of the Memphis Redbirds (the AAA affiliate of MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals). But news broke from the Commercial Appeal in October that Memphis […]

ESPN+ has a hefty number of soccer games coming in June. For most of the world, the summer months are time for friendlies and international competitions. Of course, with the World Cup scheduled for November of this year rather than the summer, there might seem like even more of a void than usual. However, this […]

And this meant something. Bruce Arena fielded a somewhat — though not very — weakened team against the USL conference's basement dwellers and most likely expected to end up taking a comfortable lead down to Bayamon for the return leg. He won't be. The Islanders went on to smash the Galaxy 4 goals to 1, […]

I had the sudden realization Sunday that if aliens descended on my town and were asked to find any life of Major League Soccer in South Florida, the only thing they would find is MLS trading cards in the bargain bin of the local dollar store. Seriously. Sadly, Major League Soccer is extinct in South […]

Professional Soccer has often been a spottingly available product across North America, and MLS, as a Premier Division, cannot fill the gaps by itself.  This is where USL has often filled in, in the past, although USL has often been perceived as small market, for good reason in many cases. The reformed NASL aims to […]

An End of Year, Cleaning out some files post A bit of an older article by Fake Sigi illuminates some of the correct linkmachinizations that occur beyond the pitch that surround clubs and stadiums. Bill Archer's post, The End of the Beginning, is a good piece on the labors issues in MLS. Mike Woitalla of […]

You know, I think the Honda Fit is a cute car. I think that every time I see the banner ad on the front page, what irks me about it is the fact that I can't really fit — no pun intended — my 6'7″ body in one without feeling like a sardine, oh well. […]