S.D. IN RUNNING FOR MLS TEAM
With opening day approaching Saturday, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber expressed hope to pick a 30th team by the end of the year and defended an expanded playoff format in which 18 of 29 clubs make the postseason.
Speaking Wednesday during a kickoff event at the league’s new television studio built together with Apple TV, Garber said he felt relieved MLS avoided the difficulties faced by other sports preparing for the possible bankruptcy of Sinclair Sports Group’s Bally Sports regional sports networks.
MLS has nearly tripled in size from 2004, when it was a 10-team league. St. Louis, the 29th team, starts play Saturday at Austin.
“We do need more teams. The 30th team will come at some point soon. Hopefully, we’d like to get that announced by the end of the year,” Garber said. “We say we’re going to stop at 30 but the other major leagues are larger than that. I never say never in Major League Soccer. There are many other markets that are opportunities for us. I think San Diego and Las Vegas are the most likely opportunities for 30.”
He mentioned Detroit, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Tampa, Fla., as other expansion possibilities.
Garber defended the playoff format, announced a day earlier, in which 62 percent of teams reach the postseason. In other U.S. sports, 14 of 32 teams make the playoffs in the NFL, 12 of 30 in Major League Baseball, 16 of 30 in the NBA and 16 of 32 in the NHL.
MLS used a mixture of two-leg and single-elimination rounds from 2003-18, then went to a knockout competition the last four years. The league is switching to single-game wild-card matchups and a best-ofthree round — last used in 2002. The playoffs revert to a knockout competition for the final eight.
There will be a maximum of 33 games, up from 13 last year.
More soccer
Alex Morgan and Mallory Swanson scored and the United States defeated Brazil 2-1 in Frisco, Texas, to win the SheBelieves Cup for the fourth straight year.
Japan, which defeated Canada 3-0 in the earlier match at Toyota Stadium, was runner-up in the fourteam, round-robin tournament. All four SheBelieves Cup teams will play in Women’s World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand.
Morgan’s curling goal sailed out of reach of Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena. Morgan now has five goals alltime in SheBelieves matches.
It was Morgan’s 14th goal since the birth of her daughter in 2020, giving her the national team record for most goals as a mom.
Swanson scored her fourth goal of the tournament and seventh overall goal this year, matching her total of all of last year.
• Panama claimed the 32nd and final place at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New
Zealand with a 1-0 playoff win over Paraguay
Tennis
Novak Djokovic has asked American authorities for special permission to enter the United States to play tennis tournaments in California and Florida despite being unvaccinated against the coronavirus, the top-ranked Serb said.
The Transportation Security Administration has said the requirement for foreign air travelers to be fully vaccinated against the disease would be in place at least until mid-April. The tournament in Indian Wells will be played from March 6-19 and the Miami Open is scheduled from March 20-April 2.
• Saudi Arabia is entering a female team for the first time at an International Tennis Federation tournament — this week’s Asia/Oceania pre-qualifying event for the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors in Sri Lanka.
NFL
New Tennessee Titans General Manager Ran Carthon started clearing up some much-needed salary cap space.
The Titans announced
they released three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan for a failed physical and also released veteran wide receiver Robert Woods
and kicker Randy Bullock.
They later released linebacker Zach Cunningham also for failing a physical.
• New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has added 29-year-old Nick Rallis as the team’s defensive coordinator. Gannon and Rallis worked together on the Philadelphia Eagles’ staff over the past two seasons. Gannon was the defensive coordinator while Rallis was the linebackers coach.
Also
The L.A. Sparks re-signed former No. 1 overall pick Chiney Ogwumike.
The two-time WNBA AllStar enters her seventh season in the league and fourth with the Sparks. Ogwumike has averaged 11.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and one steal per game in her career.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill setting Nov. 14 each year as a day to remember the plane crash carrying Marshall University’s football that crashed, killing 75.