Latest news with #non-MLS
New York Post
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Sounders players protest MLS's Club World Cup ‘cash grab', fair player payments ahead of match
MLS players are not letting the fight over Club World Cup bonuses go away. The Seattle Sounders held a player protest over the issue Sunday ahead of their match with Minnesota United, wearing shirts that read, 'World Cup Cash Grab.' 'FAIRSHARE NOW' was written across the back of the shirts. Every member of the Sounders squad wore the shirts during warmups. 3 Cristian Roldan walks onto the field before the Seattle Sounders' match June 1. Getty Images The shirts were in protest to MLS players' concerns over the cut of bonuses they'll receive from their participation in the upcoming Club World Cup, set to begin later this month in the United States. Inter Miami, the Sounders and LAFC will all represent MLS in the 32-team tournament, and FIFA announced in March that MLS teams would get $9.5 million alone just for participating. There are also additional bonuses for teams when they win or tie, setting up the possibility for the MLS clubs in the tournament to come away with large sums of money from the Club World Cup. 3 Seattle Sounders players warm up before their match June 1. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect However, a clause in the current MLS collective bargaining agreement — Article 10.8 — limits how much players get from non-MLS tournaments, which caps it at 50 percent of the tournament prize or up to $1 million. 'The MLSPA and all MLS players stand united with the Seattle Sounders players who tonight demanded a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money. FIFA's new tournament piles on to players' ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being. In order to seize this additional calendar territory, FIFA had to commit historic amount of prize money to secure club and player participation. As a result, MLS will receive an unprecedented financial windfall,' the MLS Players Association said in a statement in support of the Sounders' protest. 3 Seattle Sounders players jog onto the field for warmups before their June 1 match. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect 'Despite the windfall, the league has refused to allocate a fair percentage of those funds to the players themselves. For months, the players have privately and respectfully invited the league to to discuss bonus terms, yet MLS has failed to bring forward a reasonable proposal. Instead of recognizing the players who have brought MLS to the global stage, the league — which routinely asks the PA to deviate from the CBA — is clinging to an out-of-date CBA provisions and ignoring longstanding international standards on what players typically receive from FIFA prize money in global competitions. 'It is the players who make the game possible. It is the players who are lifting MLS up on the global stage. They expect to be treated fairly and with respect.' MLS did not have a comment when reached by The Post. FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post. The Sounders begin the group stage of the tournament on June 15 when they face the Brazilian club Botafogo at Lumen Field in Seattle.
New York Times
23-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Farewell to the Yankees' 50-year-old beard rule. Plus, why 4 Nations worked
The Pulse Newsletter📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Befriend a sentient pastry today. More best-on-best international hockey, please. The 4 Nations Face-Off was so much fun, mainly because it was just so intense. Thursday's U.S.-Canada championship game felt like the most serious thing ever, not the culmination of a four-team round-robin tournament that had not existed until this month. Why was this tournament, and Canada's overtime win, such a massive deal? A few things heated up the rivalry this go-around: And that amounted to the most-watched NHL-sanctioned game in decades. Our reporters have written so many good stories from the 4 Nations. Having grown up in Pittsburgh in the time of Sidney Crosby, I'm a sucker for this one by Chris Johnston. Also, Sean McIndoe was right, and Canada's health edge played a key role Thursday. Good rivalry, good hockey. Let's fast-forward to Milano Cortina in 2026. Facial hair in the Bronx? The Yankees have finally parted ways with perhaps the most antiquated rule in all of major sports. Owner Hal Steinbrenner announced Friday that New York has amended its notorious 1976 facial hair policy, now allowing 'well-groomed beards' among players. Steinbrenner had begun mulling the change 10 years ago, but the addition of closer (and staunch facial-hair advocate) Devin Williams appears to have been the final straw. Surprisingly, Yankees of past and present aren't unanimously overjoyed by the rule change. MLS season kicks off I would venture to guess approximately zero non-MLS fans know North America's top soccer league features as many teams as the NBA and NHL. MLS kicked off its 30th season with a 13-game slate yesterday, while the brand-new San Diego FC will make its debut tonight against the LA Galaxy. (More importantly, check out our staff's new kit superlatives for all 30 teams. My personal favorite: the Galaxy's 'Rizon' gear.) More news One of the last vestiges of the Astros' two-time championship core departed last week, when Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman signed with the Red Sox. (Read some good reporting here on Boston's pursuit.) By win percentage and World Series win, if the Dodgers are this era's 1A, the Astros are the clear 1B. But things have been weird lately. Consider: Baseball Prospectus projects 87 wins. FanGraphs projects 84, which likely misses the postseason. The Astros will run the league's seventh-highest payroll and have the second-worst farm system in MLB, per Keith Law. What gives? I checked in with The Athletic's Astros beat reporter, Chandler Rome, who broke the news of Bregman's signing with Boston. He explained the franchise is caught between baseball reality and ownership's desire to keep making an effort: 💬 Owner Jim Crane is fond of saying the championship window will always be open as long as he owns the team. This is a front office trying to fulfill his wishes, trying to rebuild a barren farm system while sustaining a major-league roster that keeps shedding superstars. Trading your best player and letting another bolt to Boston … while signing a first baseman to a $60 million contract is confounding, but crucial to keep Crane's promise. Admirable but sticky. Also, Altuve might be a left fielder now. Strange times in H-Town. WILD BERRY GAVE SISTER JEAN A FIST BUMP!! [image or embed] — Sickos Committee (@ February 22, 2025 at 10:25 AM A very important, very online-in-2025 update: Wild Berry Pop-Tart fist-bumped 105-year-old Sister Jean at Loyola men's basketball's win over Dayton on Friday. John Hollinger has a fascinating look at the latest tactical trend in the NBA: the 'Euro stop.' How closely did you follow news across the sports world this week? Test your knowledge with The Athletic's weekly quiz. Melanie Anzidei detailed Catarina Macario's cathartic return to the pitch for the USWNT versus Colombia on Thursday after years of injury woes. Advertisement After ESPN and MLB opted out of their TV deal, Andrew Marchand penned a searing column on the news that 'sent shockwaves' through baseball and sports media. In the red light district of Paris sits a viral, visually stunning basketball court that has become revered, as Eduardo Tansley writes in a fun story today. With the NFL Scouting Combine coming up this week, Bruce Feldman revisited his annual Freaks List and gave us the 40 players he's most intrigued to see perform in Indianapolis. Most-clicked in the newsletter Friday: Juan Soto gifting new Mets teammate Brett Baty a car in exchange for his No. 22 jersey. Most-read on the website yesterday: Elise Devlin's journaling exploration with Michael Phelps.
