{"id":184064,"date":"2026-02-28T04:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/184064\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:49:10","slug":"safc-2026-will-the-players-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/184064\/","title":{"rendered":"SAFC 2026: Will the players strike?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio FC is scheduled to begin its regular season with a home opener at Toyota Field in just seven days. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">However, contract negotiations could prevent the season from starting on time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to a social media post on X Friday, the United Soccer League Players Association stated 90 percent of players rejected the league\u2019s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement proposal and authorized a strike if a deal can\u2019t be reached by the time the regular season starts. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Players have spoken.<\/p>\n<p>Players have overwhelmingly REJECTED the league\u2019s latest CBA proposal \u2014 and AUTHORIZED A STRIKE if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t about extras.<br \/>It\u2019s about basic professional standards.<\/p>\n<p>The message is unified.<br \/>The players are ready. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J01j7rnU8D\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/J01j7rnU8D<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 USLPA (@USLPlayers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USLPlayers\/status\/2027414445824118808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Earlier Friday evening, the USL responded to the current negotiations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The United Soccer League and the United Soccer League Players Association have been negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement since 2024. The previous CBA expired on New Year\u2019s Eve. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The USL and the USLPA have been negotiating minimum salaries, standard health insurance across the league, housing, travel, contract buyouts and much more. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/story\/_\/id\/48050987\/uslpa-authorizes-strike-season-kickoff-looming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/story\/_\/id\/48050987\/uslpa-authorizes-strike-season-kickoff-looming\">ESPN<\/a>, the USL offered more than a 20% increase to the contract minimum, but the USLPA is asking for a 40% increase. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">SAFC defender Mitchell Taintor had this repost on X Friday:<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After years of players\u2019 sacrifices, it\u2019s time for the USL to give them dignity and respect on the job. The players make the league possible\u2014and they\u2019re ready to strike!\u00a0 America\u2019s unions stand with them in their fight for a fair contract and professional standards. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jvyk15JezB\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/Jvyk15JezB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 AFL-CIO \u270a (@AFLCIO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AFLCIO\/status\/2027486124180984215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Although a strike has been authorized by the USLPA, a strike has not yet occurred, and both sides will continue work on a deal to prevent any possible delay of games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The USL Championship regular season opens one week from today with a Friday, March 6 match between Lexington SC and Louisville City FC. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">San Antonio FC is slated to open the season the following night, on Saturday, March 7 at Toyota Field when they host Phoenix Rising FC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">There will be fireworks after the match, and fans are encouraged to wear red in celebration of the team\u2019s new jersey kits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">You can see some of the new SAFC jersey kits and team reaction that streamed this week on KSAT Sports Now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ksat.com\/video\/sports\/2026\/02\/27\/spurs-hope-to-extend-their-winning-streak-to-11-plus-safc-reveals-new-jerseys-for-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.ksat.com\/video\/sports\/2026\/02\/27\/spurs-hope-to-extend-their-winning-streak-to-11-plus-safc-reveals-new-jerseys-for-2026\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">When reached for comment, SAFC confirmed they will play their final preseason game this weekend and continue preparations for the start of the 2026 regular season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">More SAFC News:<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio FC is scheduled to begin its regular season with a home opener at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[29245,16595,82,43043,84,83,39610,73650,73649],"class_list":{"0":"post-184064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-ksat-sports-now","9":"tag-safc","10":"tag-san-antonio","11":"tag-san-antonio-fc","12":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","13":"tag-san-antonio-news","14":"tag-toyota-field","15":"tag-united-soccer-league","16":"tag-usl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}