Ship's Log, July 26: It's hard to care

Dave Clark -

Tonight the Seattle Sounders start another Leagues Cup journey.

There are a lot of available seats. In some ways it's kind of like those Group Stage CCL matches against Central American teams you hadn't heard of until the Sounders visited them and loss. A crowd of 15k in a stadium that doesn't look right until there are 30k+.

In other ways it's a look at what might happen if early Open Cup matches were held at Lumen. People aren't going to show up in strong numbers for Phoenix or Louisville. They hardly filled out Starfire.

But both of those are tournaments with long histories.

The Leagues Cup is not. And Seattle's first opponent isn't one that's unique. We've seen Minnesota United (2-0 win on June 15, when Jordan Morris and Paul Rothrock scored). The interesting match is Necaxa.

So here we are, on a Friday night with perfect Puget Sound summer weather with a match that might hit 20k or so because the tournament isn't compelling, the opponent isn't compelling and that last loss wasn't compelling.

Everything that could go wrong with Seattle's Leagues Cup business is.

On the pitch the team has done well in this more-than-friendlies event in the past. They made the Leagues Cup final in 2021. They own a Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup trophy.

And yes, this does mean more than a friendly. Three spots in the Champions Cup are on the line. Not advancing would be bad, because teams at this stage in a season don't get better by not playing games.

MLS clearing the lane for Leagues Cup isn't working.

Several teams that are chugging along will fade because soccer players aren't used to two-week breaks in middle of a season.

There need to be changes to this thing – it should be the tertiary tournament, not the US Open Cup. It should be the thing that doesn't include CCC/CWC teams. Leagues Cup should be in the calendar when teams are already weakened by absence due to continental national tournaments (Euros, Gold Cup, Copa, etc).

Stop trying to tell us this match is a big deal. The "Face Value" for this ticket is, for some absurd reason, considered more valuable than a majority of the regular season. But no fan thinks that. The empty seats will be obvious.

I'll be in the stands tonight. But it'll feel like a preseason game until the players force me to think otherwise.

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