Merry Christmas everyone! Yup, we’re still churning out content for you through the holiday because that’s just what we do. Enjoy!

• 🗓️ 2025 MLS Schedule Release

• 💭 MLS Musings

• 🇺🇸 Americans Abroad

• 📺️ Netflix & FIFA Deal

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

2025 MLS Schedule

The 2025 MLS schedule is out. With San Diego’s inaugural season, the league now has 30 teams. Each team will play its conference opponents twice and have six non-conference games, for a total of 34 matches. For a full schedule of your team, go here.

The season kicks off on Saturday, February 22nd in Miami with Javier Mascherano’s Inter Miami squad taking on NYCFC. All 30 teams will play on opening weekend.

A few interesting tidbits on this schedule:

The Columbus Crew will play a ‘home’ game in Cleveland on April 19th against Inter Miami. The Haslams, owners of both the Browns and the Crew, will welcome Messi in their 68k seat stadium in Northeast Ohio. Of course, Crew fans aren’t happy they’ll have to drive four hours roundtrip to attend one of the biggest games of the year. The Club has tried to make up for it by offering benefits like a pre-match party at the Dawg Pound but ultimately it’s just about selling more tickets.

MLS will pause play from June 15th - 24th for the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup.

Leagues Cup will take place between July 29th - August 31st. However, unlike previous seasons the MLS regular season will not stop for the tournament. Leagues Cup games will be played in the middle of the week just like tournament games are in Europe.

The league has responded to fans complaining about the majority of games having a Saturday 7:30 pm kickoff time. In 2025 there are early Saturday kickoffs every week till June and then starting again in September. Sunday games also make up 9.61% of the schedule compared to 6.09% last season. Friday games are up 2.35% as well. This is a much needed change so us real MLS sickos can watch more games.

More MLS Musings

It’s been an eventful week since free agency started. Let’s get you caught up on everything.

The New England Revolution acquired striker Leo Campana from Inter Miami for $2.5M of GAM, an MLS trade record fee. The Revs are also sending two international roster spots and potentially another $750k of add ons. Campana will slot right into the center forward role in their 4-2-3-1 formation, with the sole role of finishing chances created by Carles Gil, Luca Langoni, and Tomas Chancalay. Meanwhile this provides some roster flexibility and cap relief for Miami.

The Campana trade would not have been possible without the Revs also reportedly being close to selling Esmir Bajrakterivic to PSV for around $6M. The 19 year-old winger heads to the Netherlands to further his development and New England continue their streak of selling talented young players to Europe.

Real Salt Lake are busy too. They traded forward Anderson Julio to FC Dallas for $500k in GAM and defender Sam Junqua. Then they immediately replace Julio with Elias Manoel from NY Red Bulls. They traded $700k in GAM for Manoel and 4 SuperDraft picks.

Atlanta United have named Ronny Deila as head coach. Deila won MLS Cup in 2021 with NYCFC and has since spent time managing in Belgium and the UAE. He returns to MLS in the most coveted job available as Atlanta are prepared to spend and have two open DP spots.

Atlanta have also acquired Mateusz Klich from DC United for the #23 pick in the SuperDraft and $50k of GAM. Atlanta will also inherit $300k of his contract but he will still occupy a DP spot on DC United’s roster.

LAFC have signed forward Jeremy Ebobisse to a three-year contract. The 8-year MLS veteran will provide depth at striker and be a solid option if the Giroud signing doesn’t work out as planned.

Americans Abroad

Another active week for some of our American boys across the pond. Several players are continuing to develop quickly and it’s a joy to see. I loved this clip of Eric Wynalda explaining what he’s heard about Mauricio Pochettino’s influence on the USMNT attackers.

Weston Mckennie scored on a volley off a corner kick while playing at left back for Juventus. Mckennie and Weah are the first USMNT club teammates to each score 4 times in a season since Clint Dempsey and Brian McBride did it for Fulham in 2007-08.

Malik Tillman continues his impressive club form with another outside-the-box banger (see below). He had 4 shots, 2 chances created, 2 tackles won, and 3 ball recoveries, an all-around performance for Tillman. He now has 10 goals across all competitions this season.

Tyler Adams was impressive against Manchester United in just his 5th start of the season. He notched 7 duels won, 5 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 2 clearances in Bournemouth’s 3-0 win. He now has the most successful tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League.

Brendan Aaronson had a goal and assist in Leeds 4-0 win. He now has 6 goals and 2 assists in the Championship division this year. I’m sure Leeds fans are happy to have him back.

Netflix’s World Cup Play

Netflix and FIFA have agreed to a deal to give the streaming service exclusive broadcasting rights in the US for the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031. The 2027 World Cup will be held in Brazil and the location of 2031 is to be determined but the US and Mexico will likely make a joint bid.

After securing a deal with the NFL for the Christmas Day games and streaming the Tyson vs Paul fight, this is another big step into live sports for Netflix.

But is this good for women’s soccer? It’s hard to say right now but many fans are worried it may be harmful for its growth by limiting games to only viewers who can pay. And that’s understandable. The counterpoint is that there may not be a better partner to help promote the Women’s game. Netflix successfully hooked millions of American’s into F1. And then they got 60M of us to watch a fight between a retired boxer and a YouTuber. It’s only fair to believe they’ll do a better job at promoting the women’s game than traditional cable networks.

Netflix is also set to produce a documentary series about the women’s game in the lead up to both tournaments.

I’m optimistic and hopeful that this deal will lead to further growth for the Women’s game in the US.

Goal of the Week

A beautiful curler

Meme of the Week

LOL

Quick Hits

• Every team’s selections from the 2025 MLS SuperDraft (Link)

• San Diego FC reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Brandon Vazquez from Monterrey (Link)

Now get back to spending time with your family🎄 

Max & Mason