By Ben Nicholson
November 24 – Scottish giants Celtic could be on the verge of taking one of their regular season Scottish Premier League home games to the US. Their proposed opponents Dundee FC are already on board with the remaining obstacle being obtaining Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) approval.
By Paul Nicholson
November 20 – Organisers of the Copa America Centenario to be played in the US next year have selected 10 metropolitan areas across the country to host matches.
November 17 – CONCACAF director of sports integrity Dr Laila Mintas (pictured) is leaving the confederation. Mintas, one of the world’s most experienced experts in the battle against match-fixing, set up the integrity department in probably the world’s most challenged confederation when it comes to integrity.
By Ben Nicholson
November 13 – While FIFA insist that sports and politics are separate, the US has been exposed as using sport to host patriotic displays honoring American soldiers. A government oversight report released information detailing that the Department of justice had paid $6.8 million to sports teams for military tributes.
By Ben Nicholson
November 13 – LAFC, the newly formed Californian MLS club that has picked up their berth from the now defunct Chivas USA, look poised to have sorted out a new-build stadium to play in. While in Texas, the city of San Antonio has put down a stadium marker in its bid to land a new MLS franchise.
By Ben Nicholson
November 12 – In response to a pending lawsuit regarding concussion protection amongst youth ‘soccer’ players, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has changed its practices so as to improve concussion awareness and education, and ban heading altogether for U10s.
By Ben Nicholson
November 12 – David Beckham’s plan to build a stadium in Miami is again faltering following comments made by Tim Lieweke (pictured), who is leading negotiations for Beckham’s group. This time three private parties are holding out on selling their property and holding up Beckham’s MLS franchise dream.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 5 – The pay equity issue between men and women’s football could be solved by making the women’s game a much bigger business, said Sunil Gulati, president of the US Soccer Federations (USSF) and a FIFA executive committee member.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Like Jeffrey Webb before him, former Brazilian powerbroker Jose Maria Marin pleaded not guilty to corruption charges when he appeared in a federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday following his extradition from Switzerland.
By Ben Nicholson
October 30 – Miami’s public education authority wants a piece of the Beckham action, having pitched Beckham’s group on the idea of developing a high school on the 10.5-acre city-owned site in Little Havana.
By Ben Nicholson
October 27 – The MLS has broken its season long average attendance records, improving on last year’s mark by 12.7%. The league’s growing visibility overseas upon acquisition of ageing legends has had a positive domestic influence, as evidenced by the total 7,335,053 attendance for the year.
By Ben Nicholson
October 27 – Minnesota United FC has announced its intention to make St. Paul its home. After competing with Minneapolis to provide domicile to the MLS expansion franchise, the team owner, Bill McGuire, and St. Paul Mayor, Chris Coleman, announced that its 20,000-capacity soccer-specific stadium is destined for the Snelling-Midway redevelopment site in St. Paul.
By Paul Nicholson
October 27 – CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have moved swiftly to source new marketing partners for the Copa América Centenario 2016 following the announcement that agreement had been reached last week with the US federation to host in the US.
October 26 – US Club Soccer has named Fit for 90 as its Official Player Monitoring System, integrating it into its Players First platform that is designed to give players an improved club experience.
By Paul Nicholson
October 26 – After a week of clearing out existing sports agencies, the 2016 Copa America Centenario will take place in the US with the US federation effectively taking central control of the tournament from marketing rights to ground selection.