Major Link Soccer: Could 'Americas' Champions League be in the works?

Seattle

Do yourself a favor and get to the game early on Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting town. The city says fans attending the Sounders game at 7pm should expect significant traffic delays. If you're interested in catching a glimpse, here's where Xi Jinping is scheduled to appear.

Tacoma educator (and big Sounders fan) Nathan Gibbs-Bowling was named Washington's 2016 Teacher of the Year. He'll get to meet President Obama in the spring, and his classroom will be visited by the Chinese President during his visit this week.

S2 travel to take on the Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the opening round of the playoffs on Friday at 6pm.

Washington Youth Soccer announced the Elite Player Development (EDP) pools for 2015-2016, which provide an opportunity to advance to the Olympic Player Development (ODP) regional pool.

MLS

There are rumblings that LAFC might not enter MLS until the 2019 season. This could leave MLS with 21 teams (with Atlanta coming into the league 2017), and fail to give the Western Conference an expansion team to beat up on for another season.

That Western Conference expansion team may come soon elsewhere though, as Minnesota United is getting closer to securing funding for their soccer-specific stadium, and are pushing to enter the league as soon as 2017. The team appears to have found new political allies in Governor Mark Dayton and State Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk.

Renovations at FC Dallas' Toyota Stadium will limit its capacity by 4,000 seats. FC Dallas expects sellouts to be the norm under their new temporary capacity, as the team as averaged 16,535 over the last two seasons under the stadium's current 20,500 seat capacity.

America Soccer Analysis introduced its Playoff Seeding Projections, predicting a first round matchup of Seattle travelling to SKC. According to the model, Seattle now has a 94.5% chance of making the playoffs, and a 0.1% chance of winning the Supporter's Shield (NYRB are favorites at 62.2%).

Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen rewarded Revs fans who made the away trip to Montreal, challenging a few to some pre-match Mario Kart.

USA

The NCAA is at it again, this time using its rigid player endorsement policies to push EA to remove 13 female players from three national teams (Mexico, Spain, Canada) from FIFA 16, otherwise causing the players to risk forfeiting their eligibility.

ESPN is starting annoy some colleges and conference executives, as references to points spreads and over/under lines become more integrated into some of their programming.

World

MP&Silva co-founder and President Riccardo Silva wants to create an Americas Champions League, combining the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL club competitions. While the idea sounds financially enticing for both broadcasters and clubs, the logistics of such a competition are difficult to fathom.

The first step in Jack Warner's extradition proceedings took place, with Trinidad and Tobago's Attorney General signing Authority to Proceed documents; the case was adjourned until Friday.