MLS

Major League Soccer received a record $500 million expansion fee to field an expansion team in San Diego for the 2025 season, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the local Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation are the owners of the new San Diego franchise, which will be the league's third club in Southern California after the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.

Updated chart of @MLS expansion fees:

The latest Salary Guide has been released by the MLS Players Association (MLSPA), revealing the highest paid MLS players 2023. There could be a change when the Secondary Transfer Window opens from July 5 to Aug. 2, but for now 31-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri has reclaimed the top spot after Lorenzo Insigne's record 2022 salary of $14 million was almost cut in half (the Italian has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 all-time league appearances).

Winning is great, but it’s even better when it’s against a rival. Goals mean more, away games are more demanding and everything is personal. Though the matches count just as much in the table, it's a day the fans circled on their calendars as soon as the schedules dropped. MLS Matchday 12 featured red cards aplenty, late winners and fans who went home filled with an anger that can only be felt after a loss in Rivalry Week. 

The Colorado Rapids suspended midfielder Max Alves on Wednesday for an alleged connection to an illegal sports gambling plot, according to the Denver Post and ESPN.

Alves, a 21-year-old native of Brazil, is under investigation by prosecutors in his home country for being associated with match-fixing, per the reports. One of those matches reportedly was a Rapids game, and Alves allegedly was paid by match-fixers who asked players to shift their performance to the benefit of sports bettors.

Since its foundation nine years ago New York City FC has been looking for a place to call home. On Wednesday, the club took a massive step toward that reality by unveiling the latest renderings of their $780 million, 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Queens' Willets Point neighborhood (right next to the New York Mets' Citi Field).

The culmination of this week’s midweek U.S. Open Cup matches ensured that 14 of the teams in the tournament’s Round of 16 will be from Major League Soccer, equalling a record set in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for the most MLS representatives at this stage of the competition. The two non-MLS representatives are USL Championship sides Birmingham Legion FC, who beat fellow USLC side Memphis 901 FC 3-0, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, who pulled off the round’s only “cupset” as they knocked off Bruce Arena’s New England Revolution 1-0.

CF Montreal announced Wednesday that the visitors' section at Stade Saputo will be closed for Saturday's match against Toronto FC following a fight between the teams' supporters in Toronto on Tuesday night.

Videos circulating on social media showed a small group of supporters exchanging punches in the nosebleed seats at BMO Field during Montreal's 2-1 win in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals.

Shock results rocked the boat in MLS Matchweek 11, with upsets happening from Seattle to Miami and San Jose to Charlotte. Frontrunners have emerged in both the league standings and the MVP race as several big names set the scoresheets alight and dazzled in front of packed crowds. 

Given the limelight on Sunday afternoon to show viewers why they'd gone winless through the opening 10 matches of the MLS season, Sporting Kansas City disappointed everyone who was looking for more of the same by beating the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at Lumen Field.