SHORT TAKES
• The National Women's Soccer League finally has its first real-deal national TV contract. The league and A&E Networks announced that Lifetime will carry an NWSL game of the week at 4 p.m. every Saturday. That's much better than the league's old deal, which placed a handful of random games onto FOX Sports. It calls to mind the WNBA, which also once had games on Lifetime.
• Of the 12 cities that submitted MLS expansion bids, the league has to be the most excited about those from San Diego and St. Louis, both of which just lost their NFL teams to Los Angeles. Both cities have a long history with soccer and would fill a hole on their community sports landscape. With one or two exceptions, though, all the bids seem decent. Makes you wonder if MLS is headed for 32 or more teams.
• Minnesota United has a long way to go in the social media arena. Local soccer writer Bruce McGuire looked up the follower counts for every MLS team and found that the Loons have, by far, the smallest Twitter following. They rank 20th of 22 in Facebook followers.
