When I first decided to take Sounder at Heart independent almost three years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Through the first 14 years of the site’s existence, it had always been ad-supported and available for free and I had no real experience running a business.
I’m happy to report that heading into the 2026 Sounders and Reign seasons, we could hardly be in better shape. I believe we are continuously producing great content, are amplifying voices of lots of talented creators and running a sustainable operation while ably managing our mission of covering the Seattle professional soccer scene.
In an effort to keep improving, though, we’re also continuing to push ourselves. We just successfully launched a magazine (our release party is on Friday!); our podcast network just added a fourth show; and we are moving into an office that will serve as our base of operations and function as a recording studio. I genuinely think this is part of what makes us the gold-standard of independent MLS coverage.
It also carries a degree of risk.
While I wouldn’t do any of this if I thought it might lead to some catastrophic failure, it also bears repeating that it will only work if readers like you continue to support us. If you want us to keep writing in-depth analysis, doing original reporting and highlighting new and interesting voices, it requires your help.
To help entice you, we are running 10% discounts on our two most popular plans.
Our Backer membership usually costs $30/year and gives you access to everything we write and record.
Our Supporter membership usually costs $75/year and comes with the added bonus of an invite to our members-only Discord and discounts on merchandise, including $5 off our new magazine.
Beyond the material benefits of membership, you can also feel good about being part of a burgeoning independent media scene that includes team-focused sites like SixOneFiveSoccer, The Blazing Musket and Five Stripe Final and national outlets like Backheeled, American Soccer Analysis, Tactics Free Zone and Scuffed.
While so much of the news media is being run almost like editorial arms of gambling sites, we are generating content that is designed explicitly for our readers.
As monumental as 2026 has already been, we have even bigger things planned in the coming months. We can’t wait to share them with you.
