Over the past few weeks, we’ve all seen Seattle take its place at the center of the soccer world. My social media feed has been full of people talking about not just how great of a World Cup host Seattle is, but how amazed they are at the soccer culture.
I’m not going to try to pretend as if Sounder at Heart is the reason that's true, but I do think we play some part. We’ve now been independent for almost exactly three years. During that time, we’ve dramatically expanded our offerings and helped re-define what is possible as an independent soccer media organization. No MLS or NWSL team, I’d argue, enjoys the breadth of coverage that we play a significant part in providing for the Sounders and Reign.
Support independent soccer journalism by becoming a subscriber to Sounder at Heart.
On top of our normal beat coverage, we’ve made it our mission to find new and interesting voices and pay them something like a fair rate, while also being able to attract more established writers. We’ve also consistently expanded our offerings and provided readers with new content in a variety of ways.
This year, for instance, we acquired a studio space which we’ve used to record podcasts as well as Lobbing Scorchers’ videos. We also launched a print publication, producing the first two issues of IV: The Sounder at Heart magazine. That's in addition to dramatically expanding our coverage of the Men’s World Cup, traveling more often with the Sounders and paying for virtually every piece of content that runs on the website.
It’s only made possible by the support of readers like you.
Due to particulars of when we went independent, it’s this time of year many of your subscriptions are due to renew, which makes it a good time to remind everyone that we need that continued support. As of this writing, more than 85% of our funding comes from subscriptions and magazine sales. This funding model allows us to provide first-in-class coverage without all sorts of annoying pop-up ads that have become all too common on digital media. It also allows us to be only accountable to our readers, not some mega-corporation who would almost certainly prioritize clicks over quality.
If you’re not already a subscriber, you can become one for as little as $30/year or $3/month. Right now, you can also get a 10% discount on the annual subscription by using this link. That basic level of membership gets you access to everything we produce on the website, either in podcast or written form.
If you’re interested in upgrading your membership, there are some added perks at higher levels. The most popular feature is access to our members-only Discord server that comes at the Supporter level, which costs $75/year or $7/month. In addition to being a very active community that allows you opportunities to engage with both fellow readers and writers, it’s also the only way to submit questions to the Nos Audietis mailbag episodes (one of which is coming soon!). As an added bonus, you can even get free stickers! Right now, we’re offering a 10% discount on this membership, too.
At the Advocate membership level ($20/month or $215/year) you get a complimentary membership to Backheeled.com in addition to everything else.
Above all else, becoming a subscriber to Sounder at Heart allows you to do your part to support independent soccer media and make sure quality coverage of the Seattle soccer scene remains best in class.
