In light of the (panicked, in some cases) talk about cutting costs and a shrinking roof, Philadelphia Union fans are invited to remember the long process the franchise has come through, the leadership the ownership group has provided through the ups and downs and ultimately where the team is now – standing five days from the first exhibition in the club’s short history.

Yesterday’s report about D.C. United seeking new “investment partners” did not set off alarm bells among Major League Soccer fans in the nation’s capital. It probably should have.

Major League Soccer’s player allocation model is stuck in purgatory, with SuperDraft on the one hand and a system that allows clubs to keep a few select the players they develop in house on the other. Niko Gkionis says it’s time to pursue the latter–and let the former fall by the wayside.

Curt Onalfo’s first move in charge was to bring back former fan favorite Troy Perkins. The move looks great on paper and D.C. United needed a goalkeeper badly, but the acquisition could be bittersweet if Perkins leaves for national team duty this summer. The team still has other glaring holes and did little to address these in today’s MLS SuperDraft.

Chicago Fire owner Andrew Hauptman could have gone the safe route and hired Tom Soehn to be the team’s new coach. Fans surely would not have many complaints with a former player coaching their team. But Hauptman went the exact opposite route:. Carlos de los Cobos is not a coach that is going to be controlled by his owner. The choice of de los Cobos is a bold move. But as with all bold moves, it could backfire.

The immediate catalyst for this editorial was a post last month by A More Splendid Life, but really this topic has captivated us for some time.
As anybody in or near the media industry knows, there simply does not appear to be any way of making money as a provider of original (print) content. The Web [...]

After all the mock draws and speculation (and more mock draws) it is finally time for the real thing. At noon EST today, FIFA will draw the groups for next summer’s World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa. Conspiracy theories abound and pundits are prepared for the worst. Nonsense. Our motto should be ‘go ahead, make our day’ or ‘bring it on’!

American Soccer News is going “social media.” In the first of what we hope will be a series of roll-outs for all team pages, we today added Web 2.0 functionality to the New York Red Bulls and U.S. Men’s National Team pages.

Fox Soccer Channel today put out a press release on the growth of its ratings numbers over the past year, its first as a Nielsen-rated channel.
Among reports of increases in Serie A and English Premiership viewers, the statement also points out that “Major League Soccer audiences are up 89%, averaging 51,000 viewers last month vs. [...]

One of ASN’s beat writers praises the Sounders’ impact on the local sports scene and hopes the best is yet to come.