Sounders expected to spend most of preseason in region

UPDATE (Feb. 26): Sounders will spend the bulk of preseason in the region, but will travel to Southern California from April 6-11 where they will play three matches against USL opponents.

Unlike previous preseasons that have taken them to places like Spain or Mexico and almost always include at least a week or two in Southern California or Arizona, the Seattle Sounders will be sticking much closer to home ahead of the 2021 MLS season. While some teams have already announced plans to do a sort of preseason bubble in places like Orlando, Sounder at Heart has learned that there are currently no plans to do overnights outside the region between the start of preseason training camp on March 1 and the beginning of the season in mid-April.

Players have already started doing voluntary in-person sessions at Starfire Sports Complex, but likely won’t be able to do full sessions until March 8, after a league-mandated seven-day quarantine period.

Even if the Sounders don’t have any plans to spend an extended period in a warmer environment, it should not be assumed they’ll be limited to intrasquad matches between the first team and Tacoma Defiance. Even if playing matches against local colleges would break quarantine, the Sounders will likely be able to same-day travel to most Western Conference stadiums, similar to how they traveled for regular-season away games last year.

This story originally stated that the Sounders would spend all of preseason in the region.