*U.S. Soccer has announced that more than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the 4 p.m. March 26 visit of Argentina to New York’s New Meadowlands (live on ESPN2 and Univision). Ticket holders can expect to see Lionel Messi, but no Carlos Tevez after the South Americans announced their roster for the game.

The U.S. roster for the match will be announced later this week.

*Chivas USA announced their local broadcast schedule today. Local broadcasts include 17 games on Prime, five on Fox Sports West and another five on local channel KDOC. With the national television broadcasts previously announced, that means only the television details surrounding the Aug. 6 game against the Revs in New England are uncertain. Christian Miles and Allen Hopkins man the booth for the second season in a row.

*Finally, do you think they are getting psyched in Seattle for Tuesday’s MLS season curtain raiser between the Sounders and the Galaxy. Oh, yeah.

Incidentally, I’ll have a run-down on every MLS team in a comprehensive preview a little later today, so check back here for more.

Updated

MLS unveiled the terms of its Direct Kick package today. A total of 221 games will be shown – that’s 61 more games than last year, an increase of 38% – for $79, the same price as last year.

There will be a free preview Saturday when there is a slate of eight games. The MLS schedule is available at top right.