Sporting Kansas City has signed 26-year-old defender Ethan Bartlow by way of free company, the membership introduced at the moment. Bartlow spent preseason on trial with Sporting KC and has signed a one-year MLS contract by way of the 2026 season with membership choices by way of June 2027 and the 2027-2028 season.
Bartlow spent the primary 5 seasons of his skilled profession with the Houston Dynamo, logging 96 appearances in all competitions, together with 80 in MLS regular-season motion the place he tallied three assists as a middle again.
“We are happy to welcome Ethan to the roster,” President of Soccer Operations & General Manager David Lee stated. “Ethan performed well and fit into the group seamlessly during preseason. He provides good MLS experience from his time in Houston and he will offer our coaching staff depth and competition at center back.”
Bartlow joined Houston as the sixth total choice within the 2021 MLS SuperDraft on a Generation adidas contract out of the University of Washington. After lacking nearly all of his rookie season by way of damage, Bartlow debuted for Houston on April 2, 2022 in a 3-1 victory over Inter Miami.
After logging 17 whole appearances for the Dynamo in 2022, Bartlow’s function grew in 2023 as he grew to become a common starter for Houston – making 32 appearances throughout all competitions. Bartlow performed in 5 of Houston’s six matches as the membership gained their second Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title in 2023, solely lacking the ultimate attributable to damage, and helped his aspect attain the MLS Cup Playoffs for the primary time since 2017.
The Woodinville, Washington native appeared in one other 47 matches throughout all competitions for Houston in 2024 and 2025, serving to the crew attain the postseason as soon as once more in 2024.
Collegiately, Bartlow made 38 appearances for the Washington Huskies from 2018-2019 and have become the first-ever Washington defender to win Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore whereas additionally being named an All-American Second Team choice. The Huskies posted 22 shutouts in Bartlow’s 38 video games, recording a stout 0.68 objectives in opposition to common.
Bartlow beforehand represented the U.S. Under-17 National Team, incomes three caps for the crew in 2016.
Sporting is making ready to kick off the 2026 MLS season with a journey to tackle the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park this Saturday, Feb. 21 at 9:30 p.m. CT earlier than returning to KC for the membership’s house opener in opposition to the Columbus Crew at Sporting Park on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
With the addition of Bartlow, Sporting now has 22 gamers below contract for the 2026 season. For a full listing of the membership’s offseason roster strikes, go to sportingkc.com/transactions.
- Goalkeepers (4): Stefan Cleveland, Jack Kortkamp, John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe
- Defenders (7): Ethan Bartlow, Zorhan Bassong, Ian James, Wyatt Meyer, Jansen Miller, Jayden Reid, Justin Reynolds
- Midfielders (6): Kwaku Agyabeng, Jacob Bartlett, Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jake Davis, Manu Garcia, Cielo Tschantret
- Forwards (5): Stephen Afrifa, Taylor Calheira, Calvin Harris, Dejan Joveljic, Shapi Suleymanov
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) signs defender Ethan Bartlow as a free agent.
VITALS
Ethan Bartlow
Number: 23
Position: Defender
Birthdate: 2/2/2000 (26 years outdated)
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185 lbs.
College: University of Washington
Hometown: Woodinville, WA
Birthplace: Woodinville, WA
Citizenship: USA
Instagram: @ethanbartlow23