Winning titles is still the focus, but the mechanics of building the roster have changed.
www.sounderatheart.com
The article is subscriber only, but this info is before the paywall applies: In the last 14 months, the Sounders made sales that netted almost $8M in cash and GAM. From 2016 through 2024, they only had 3 total sales worth at least $200k, and none more than $750k.
My addition: between 2016 and now, the Sounders rank third in points per game (excluding San Diego's 39 total games) at 1.59 PPG, behind LAFC (1.74) and NYCFC (1.60).
So the Sounders and us are functionally tied. But in the 2016-2022 period, before NYCFC started regular selling without timely replacing, the Sounders had 1.58 and NYCFC was at 1.66. In the period 2023 to now, NYCFC drops to 1.47, and the Sounders are at 1.64.
If Seattle maintains its PPG pace after changing their roster funding model, then NYCFC's performance in the last 3-4 years looks worse. If Seattle falls off, then NYCFC's recent performance is more understandable, if still disappointing.