Lion Links: 8/6/25

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is also match day as Orlando City takes on Liga MX squad Club Necaxa in a Leagues Cup bout. Hopefully you can make it out to Inter&Co Stadium to support the Lions. If not, you can follow the match on The Mane Land’s Bluesky account. For now, let’s get to the links.

A Long-Awaited Return

Simone Charley played in her first NWSL match in over two years in the Pride’s 1-1 draw against the Utah Royals. Charley came on in the 79th minute for Julie Doyle and she almost immediately scored a goal to give Orlando the victory, but the attempt went right into the keeper’s hands. Regardless, Charley was all smiles after the difficult road back, having suffered two Achilles tears in back-to-back years. Hopefully, she can give a boost to the Pride’s anemic attack.

OCB Signs Dylan Judelson

Orlando City B has signed Orlando City Academy midfielder Dylan Judelson to an MLS NEXT Pro contract. This is the Canadian youth international’s first professional deal, which runs through 2027. Judelson has already appeared 13 times for OCB, including eight starts. The 17-year-old midfielder was a key player during Orlando City Academy’s U-18 Generation Adidas Cup run and captained the MLS NEXT All-Star Game’s East squad.

MLS News

You’re probably aware that Major League Soccer has a partnership with Apple TV+ to stream all league matches. What you might not know — or maybe you suspect — is that match viewership is down versus when the matches were on ESPN in 2023. Despite criticism, MLS Commissioner Don Garber thinks everything is fine and would be better if people would quit pointing out the issues surrounding the deal. See, the problem isn’t that there’s a subscription model; it is that not enough people have subscribed, and also just stop complaining already.

In slightly ironic news, MLS is now collaborating with Amazon to make MLS highlights and archival footage available to fans for free on compatible Fire TV devices. The league also announced the 2025 United We Play pre-match jersey by Adidas. The jersey celebrates the diversity of the league, including the over 80 countries represented by the league’s players.

Standing Up for Referees

Mexican referee Katia Itzel García received death threats after officiating a Leagues Cup match between FC Cincinnati and Monterrey. The match in question had a controversial offside call, and a no-penalty decision that saw Cincinnati emerge with a 3-2 victory. Following the online threats, every party from the Monterrey front office to Concacaf to FIFA correctly condemned the threats. There is no room for such behavior in sports or out of sports for that matter.

Free Kicks

• In the “You just hate to see it.” column, it looks like Lionel Messi potentially suffered a hamstring injury that may see him miss up to 3-4 weeks, meaning he won’t play against Orlando City on Sunday. I’m just so heartbroken.
• No Orlando Pride players made the CBS Sports Team of the Week roster, but given the lack of goals against the Utah Royals, it isn’t very surprising.
• You’ll be shocked to hear that a large market club is signing a high-profile player. LAFC is expected to sign South Korean national team captain Son Heung-min for an MLS-record transfer fee. The rich get richer.
• Dutch foundation Justice for Players has started a class action lawsuit against FIFA over compensation claims surrounding transfer rules. I’m pretty sure I know which side are the good guys.
• The lawsuits keep coming as the NWSL denied all allegations contained in a lawsuit brought by former San Diego Wave employees.
• Just Women’s Sports has extended its deal with the NWSL through the rest of this season. The deal gives the outlet rights to distributed game highlights.
• I really hope that Orlando Pride Sporting Director and Vice President of Soccer Operations Haley Carter has our Zambians’ visas secured.

• Ed Sheeran has been assigned a first-team kit number for Ipswich Town ahead of the 2025-2026 Championship campaign. Sheeran is a stakeholder in the club, but don’t expect to see him get a run out, though I wonder what position he plays.
• He’s not cleared to play for Orlando City yet, but Tyrese Spicer is in training with his new club.

That will do it for today. Check back for our coverage of tonight’s match. Vamos Orlando!