MINNEAPOLIS — It’s one of the best rituals in Minnesota sports. After every Loons home victory at Allianz Field, Oasis’ hit song “Wonderwall” plays over the sound system. Fans and Loons players sing while rocking from side to side. The volume is turned down for the chorus as everyone continues singing.

Considering the Loons went 5-5-7 at home this season, there weren’t many opportunities for a full-throated celebration of victories.

And there’s a bigger problem as Minnesota United ended its 10th year in MLS: Fans want to sing "Wonderwall" at an MLS Cup final. That would require winning a championship, which the Loons have been unable to achieve and really haven’t even gotten close much.

This year, their chances of making the playoffs were slim. They nearly pulled it off, winning their final three games to finish 11-12-11, but they needed Seattle to give up one more goal Saturday night and the Sounders didn’t.

“Overall, I think we’ve made some really great strides,” said Loons fan Alicia Pedersen, who is also the vice president of the Dark Clouds supporters club. “I had hoped that we would have brought home some kind of hardware by now and would be playing at a slightly higher level.”

The capacity of Allianz Field is 19,600. The Loons averaged 19,308 at home this season, or 98.5% of capacity. According to figures supplied by the Loons, they have operated at 99% capacity since moving into the stadium in 2019.

This is a fanbase whose loyalty is being tested. The Loons must do more for the folks who come to the Midway, pack the beer hall, bang drums, chant and sing. When you have a packed house every game, you’ve got to give ‘em a good show. And the Loons struggled to do so this season, missing the playoffs after reaching the Western Conference semifinals in 2024 and ’25.

And they have not done it for most of their 10 seasons.

The big reason why: They don’t spend enough money on the right players.

According to Spotrac, the Loons are 23rd in the 30-team league with a $15.5 million payroll. They finished 15th in MLS with 56 goals scored, with a goal differential of minus-2.

At the top of the list for next season should be a goal scorer. Or a creator. Or both.

But Loons majority owner Dr. Bill McGuire has thoughts on spending more.

“It’s just more complicated than just saying, oh, you know, do we spend enough money on players?” he said. “You can always spend more money on players. I’m not sure it makes you any better. I mean, we can go around the league and look at a lot of clubs and spend a whole lot of money on players that are not very good.”

This has been a consistent message from the organization since it joined the league. They meet quarterly with supporter groups who constantly ask them to upgrade the roster. They have been told that the Loons are never going to be a team that spends a lot of money.

“We’ve had those conversations with them before,” Pedersen said, “but we definitely will say, like, ‘What’s happening? Are we making moves?’”

The Loons did make one sizeable move when it landed midfielder Emanuel Reynoso from Boca Juniors in 2020 for a club-record $5 million.

Reynoso is considered the most talented player in franchise history, but the club moved on from him four years later when he simply would not show up for work. They haven’t made a move like that since.

They don’t have to bring in a Lionel Messi. If they can find another Reynoso who punches the clock, they will be fine.

Minnesota United entered MLS in 2017, the same year as Atlanta United. And the two franchises could not have approached things more differently. Allianz Field was privately funded, which affected what ownership could spend on players. And the ownership group does not act like it has deep pockets now.

Atlanta United was founded by Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank. The team plays in Mercedes-Benz Stadium and aggressively pursued top players. It won the MLS title in 2018, only its second year of existence. The Loons have won 124 MLS matches all-time while Atlanta has won 120. But Atlanta has a title.

The Loons got close once, blowing a 2-0 lead over the final 18 minutes of the 2020 Western Conference finals and losing 3-2.

The Loons shocked the soccer world by signing Colombian star James Rodríguez earlier this year. But that ended up being for only six MLS games before the World Cup. He might end up as the most famous player in Loons history.

So drafting and development is the only way the Loons will add talent.

Forward Marcus Caldeira, the Loons’ 2024 first-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft, has seven goals in 16 matches and has a promising future. The Loons say they have devoted more resources into their youth program in recent years. They do have a couple of prospects worth watching in forward Darius Randell and goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich.

If they aren’t going to buy a top player, they must draft one or make one. Several MLS teams are doing that better than the Loons.

“We’re going to find ways to win by being smart on and off the field, by maximizing our resources,” said Manny Lagos, a former Loons coach who currently is chief development officer and senior technical adviser. “And that doesn’t mean not spend. We have spent, and we’ve got some really nice players that come in here. But it’s always making sure it’s within the reality that we don’t want to pretend we’re something we’re not.”

Ten seasons without a championship. That’s a lunch break compared to the title droughts for other professional men’s sports teams in the area. All Loons officials can point to is the great atmosphere at Allianz while the trophy case gathers dust. How long will they be able to tout that?

That atmosphere is going to be tested next year. MLS is playing a “sprint season” from February to May 2027, then changing its schedule to fall in line with the FIFA calendar. Games will be played in July through December before a “winter” break before resuming in mid-February.

Outdoor soccer here every November, December, February and March?

Free handwarmers and scarves might not be enough for fans if the team isn’t competitive and they can’t sing “Wonderwall” after wins.

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