State of the Site: Entering Year Three of The Blazing Musket

2024 was a great year for The Blazing Musket and hopefully 2025 will be even better.

2024 was a great year for The Blazing Musket and hopefully 2025 will be even better.

We have grown a lot since our rebirth. Last year we had a dedicated team covering the New England Revolution, Revs II, Hartford Athletic, and Rhode Island FC.

J. Alexander Dolan

and I also continued to drive over three hours to cover Vermont Green FC. Toward the end of the year, we also built out our Portland Hearts of Pine and BOS Nation FC as we continue to be your home for ALL things New England soccer.

We couldn't provide the coverage that we do without all the writers and photographers who labor either behind a computer or a camera.

Josh Nye

suffered through Revs II in 2024.

Seth Macomber

is always breaking news,

Jake Catanese

,

Thomas Pinzone

, and

John Usseglio

provided great commentary on the Revolution,

Andy Judd

data analysis is something to behold.

Oliver Scholes

did a fantastic job covering Hartford in his first year with us,

Stephen Gadbois

and

Liz McGowan

followed Rhode Island from their first-ever match all the way to nearly winning a championship in The Tide’s first season in existence. Our coverage of Portland and BOS Nation FC got boosted by the great reporting from

Jackie Contreras

and

Kelsea Durham

while

Shawn Fecteau

and

Ryan Bell

are keeping us up to date on all things Hearts of Pine and soccer throughout New England.

We also have partnered with a variety of podcasts. Revolution Recap is the preeminent podcast covering the Revs, Raising Anchor has you covered for all things RIFC, and United In Green keeps us up to date on what is happening in Vermont.

Once again I want to thank all of you for the support. From that infamous day, I received the email saying the site wouldn’t be funded, we have heard about what TBM has meant to you and how much you value us. Whether it be reading and sharing our work or becoming a paid subscriber, everyone here at The Blazing Musket thanks you for your support.

So what’s in store for 2025?

The New England Revolution will look to bounce back after one of their worst seasons in recent history, Rhode Island FC will open up its new home stadium, Hartford Athletic will look to make the playoffs, Portland Hearts of Pine will kick off its inaugural season, and the Northeast division will likely continue to be the toughest division in USL League Two.

Essentially there will be a lot of soccer and we will be there to tell you all the stories whether it be on or off the field.

We are also always looking for ways to provide more value to our readers. That’s why we partnered with Backheeled and will be providing free annual memberships to our paid subscribers who do so via the TBM Supporter plan. If you haven’t already, make sure to fill out this form to claim your free annual subscription to Backheeled.

Additionally, I want to be upfront and say that you will have noticed that our paywall has been gradually more of a presence on the site. Moving into the third year of The Blazing Musket, various articles will be moving behind the paywall as we look to provide value to our paid subscribers along with recognizing the value of the work we put out.

My 3 thoughts will be behind the paywall along with portions of Jake Catanese’s Know Thy Enemy. Additionally, some longer-form content such as Andy Judd’s incredible data analysis will be paid subscriber exclusives.

Coverage of all non-MLS teams will be in front of the paywall and additionally, Revolution match coverage will not fully be behind a paywall.

So thank you for coming along for the ride. If you haven’t, I might be biased but it is worth the price of admission.