With an MLS-record five teenagers starting, the Sounders manage to overcome the absence of 10 players to win, 1-0, at Austin. Fifteen-year-old Obed Vargas becomes the third-youngest player to ever appear in a league match. Joining Vargas are fellow teens Reed Baker-Whiting (16), Ethan Dobbelaere (18), Danny Leyva (18) and Josh Atencio (19). Also, Sam Adeniran gets his first MLS start while on loan from Tacoma. Altogether, the lineup average age is 21.4 After coming off the bench, Raul Ruidiaz scores a stunning winner from 40 yards.

Tacoma lands a Major Indoor Soccer League franchise after securing primary tenant rights away from a bid by the Sounders. Tacoma ownership buys the mothballed Denver Avalanche franchise for an undisclosed price via bankruptcy court just over four months before the season starts. The 13-man ownership group features form Sounders general manager John Best and Tacoma business leaders John Long, Howie Meadowcroft, Gary Milgard, Bill Weyerhaeuser, George Weyerhaeuser, Lowry Wyatt and Dave Young.

U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo, widely regarded as the top player at her position in the history of the women's game, is not elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first appearance on the ballot. Solo, whose career ended in 2016, received votes on 57.3% of ballots for the class of 2020. The minimum requirement for selection is 66.7%.

Sounders FC majority owner Adrian Hanauer outlines a six-year growth strategy while also naming experience sports executive Hugh Weber as president of business operations. Weber, a Tacoma native, comes from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, where he served as president for the parent company of the NBA Philadelphia 76ers, NHL New Jersey Devils, Prudential Center and other holdings including Premier League club Crystal Palace. Peter Tomozawa, who had served as Sounders president of business operations, has been appointed CEO fo SEA 2026, the local World Cup organizing committee.

Seattle is included in the list of 23 finalist cities chosen as potential hosts for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Seventeen of the venues are in the United States, with the others in Canada and Mexico. The Sounders led MLS in overall attendance their first eight years of operation before falling to No. 2 behind Atlanta last season. Seattle did not rank among the finalist for the 1994 World Cup.

Michelle Akers is invited to try out for the Orlando Lions men's professional team in the American Soccer League. Akers is also training occasionally with an NFL placekicking coach to gauge her prospects there. She makes a pair of 52-yard field goals. With the Lions, she impresses but is part of the final round of cuts.