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Vibe check: What to make of this MLS season
Major League Soccer began its 31st season yesterday, with the entire league in action. How’s the league doing? The answer is somewhere between “pretty good” and “fine.”
📈 In the positive corner:
The league keeps on growing, reaching 30 teams last year from an initial 10. Expansion has not remotely diluted the value of the existing teams, which are growing like tech stocks.
MLS fans are younger and more diverse than fans of the larger North American sports leagues.
Watching lots of games is easier than ever now that MLS and Apple have revamped their media deal. There’s no more paywall within Apple’s existing paywall.
The league will soon pivot its calendar to play from summer to spring, akin to European leagues.
There’s a World Cup on American soil this year, which can only be good for soccer’s domestic popularity.
Leo Messi’s Inter Miami just won the MLS Cup and looks like it’s top-class again.
📉 In the negative corner:
Some of that valuation growth is just because teams can’t get relegated and have been able to make money selling players to European clubs.
Its partnership with Apple has so far been enough of a mixed bag that the parties agreed to scootch up the end of their current deal from 2032 to 2029. (MLS wants to go back to the market sooner.)
Attendance was down 5 percent last year, not catastrophic but not ideal.
To the extent Messi has boosted the league’s status, it’s an open question if he’ll have lifted the baseline once he’s gone.
The Athletic senior writer Paul Tenorio is literally writing the book on that Messi question and covers the league’s operations as intently as anyone. I asked him for the most compelling business storyline he’s following around MLS this season. Here’s his answer:
💬 “MLS missed a gigantic opportunity to use the World Cup as a sort of rebrand and chance to sell a ‘new MLS.’ The board didn’t vote to flip the calendar in time — the plan instead is to do so in the summer of 2027 — and roster rule changes that go in hand with that calendar shift should push the league forward.
“Considering that they missed the timeline, it will be worth watching how aggressive MLS teams are in the summer transfer window with restrictions still in place on how to spend. Is there a push from the league to go after big-name players that might move the needle ahead of the 2027 ‘relaunch,’ for lack of a better term? Will it matter if they do?”
I asked Paul for an overall league health grade. He started at B- but settled on C+. Much more from Paul and other experts here, predicting how this season will go.
News to Know
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
The Quad God’s catharsis
After weeks of hearing commentators in hushed voices tell you the following seconds will define a person forever, the figure skating gala provides a chance to decompress. It was nice to watch Ilia Malinin skate out his emotions while dropping a few of the moves that make him, on most days, unbeatable, while Alysa Liu — who didn’t seem to ever want to leave the ice after her gold medal-winning performance — charmed again. Read about it and see the clips here.
Also yesterday, Norwegian cross-country ski god Johannes Høsflot Klæbo broke the record for golds in a single Winter Olympics, with six. Make time for Jacob Whitehead’s killer exclusive on how Klæbo dominated so many races, including the one part of his body that hurts.
Oh, and after all the drama, the Canadian men’s curling team won gold. More here.
Duke wins duel of title favorites
In a bit of serendipity, No. 3 Duke and No. 1 Michigan played a neutral-site men’s basketball game the same day the NCAA selection committee put them atop its current top 16 seeds. In the end, the Blue Devils leaned on a dominant all-around performance from Wooden Award frontrunner Cameron Boozer to snap an 11-game Wolverine winning streak. Selection Sunday is three weeks away.
More news:
Vikings receiver Rondale Moore died at age 25. Full story here.
Despite recent signs Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum could be nearing a return, Tatum said he still hasn’t decided if he’ll play this year. Read his explanation.
Broadly remembered — a bit ironically — as the guy who hit a home run in the precise scenario every kid imagines himself in, legendary Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski died at age 89.
Saint Louis and VCU were fined by the Atlantic 10 after Friday’s late bench-clearing fracas that left VCU with only four players to finish the game out. More here.
As Jon Rahm continues to resist paying a financial penalty for his departure to LIV Golf, his future availability for the Ryder Cup is in question.
Sewage leaked into the New York Yankees’ mostly carpeted spring training clubhouse, and fans had to walk around stinky pools of water. Yuck.
Manchester City edged Newcastle on the strength of two early Nico O’Reilly goals to pull within two points of Arsenal. The leaders make the short trip to floundering Spurs for today’s North London Derby (11:30 a.m. ET on USA). Here’s the updated table.
Watch Guide
📺 Olympics: Men’s hockey/closing ceremony
8:10 a.m./2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
A Games-capping gold medal showdown between Canada and Team USA might be the most-watched hockey game ever. Follow along with our live blog. Later, let yourself be transported to the festivities at 2,000-year-old Verona Arena while you make peace with the fact that you’ll be 2 1/2 years older the next time the Olympics are on.
📺 NBA: Cavaliers at Thunder
1 p.m. ET on ABC
One of several potential finals matchups. It’s the second game out of the All-Star break for both teams. They’re No. 6 and No. 3 in our post-break power rankings.
Get tickets to games like this here.
Pulse Picks
Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Otto Greule Jr / Getty Images
Former Seahawks running back Robert Turbin had the best NFL combine interview general manager John Schneider has ever seen. Can others learn from it?
I’m way late to the game — spoiler, she already completed it a few weeks ago — but @tarynsmithmovement on Instagram just completed a solo row across the Atlantic, and it was wild to go back and watch the journey. People can be so cool sometimes. — Levi Weaver
Serena Williams will be eligible to compete on the WTA Tour and at Grand Slams later this month. Charlie Eccleshare answered all the FAQs about her potential comeback.
There’s plenty of debate to be had amid the fallout from Canada’s loss in the Olympic women’s hockey final. Marie-Philip Poulin’s greatness is not one of those conversations, as Hailey Salvian writes.
I own no less than 22 (!) cooking spoons, but, hands down, the one I reach for most is this spoon-spatula hybrid. It has a flat edge that makes it just as good at scraping as it is stirring, and it’s comfortable enough to hold for hours. — Maki Yazawa
Don’t get Insta-scammed for a $100 digital air pump. I got this bad boy for 25 bucks and it works awesome. It’s damn near cute. Pumping balls and tires with one touch like a boss competent human. — Chris Sprow
I recently saw (and obviously bought) a pretzel challah for the first time. Basically a giant, fluffy soft pretzel. — Torrey Hart
On this week’s episode of “The Athletic Show,” our hosts debate the hardest coaching job in sports with Jets reporter Zack Rosenblatt, and Derek VanRiper gives a full MLB spring training preview. Stream it on Fire TV, The Athletic app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Lindsey Vonn’s leg update (with that X-ray).
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.