Seattle Major League Soccer team
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| Year founded | 2007 | |||
| League | Major League Soccer | |||
| Nickname | ' | |||
| Stadium | Qwest Field Seattle, WA | |||
| Coach | ||||
| Owner | Joe Roth Adrian Hanauer Paul Allen Drew Carey | |||
| First Game | ||||
| Largest Win | ||||
| Worst Defeat | ||||
| All-time Top Scorer | ||||
| Supporter Groups ' | ||||
| MLS Cup | ||||
| Supporters' Shield | ||||
The Seattle Major League Soccer team is a professional soccer club to be based in Seattle, Washington that will begin play in Major League Soccer in 2009. The team will play its home games at Qwest Field[1].
Contents |
[edit] Ownership
The team ownership is split among several investors. The majority owner is Hollywood producer Joe Roth, with minority owners Adrian Hanauer, current owner of Seattle Sounders; Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers; and Drew Carey, a comedian and game show host.[2] The Seattle franchise is believed to have paid a $30 million expansion fee, $10 million more than the last expansion fee paid by the San Jose Earthquakes team.[3] More than 11,000 season ticket deposits have been made since becoming available.[4] Notable season ticket holders include Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.[5]
Drew Carey's involvement with the team came with two conditions: the Seattle MLS team will have a marching band, making it the only professional soccer franchise in America with a marching band, and the ability for fans to buy membership in the team giving them a say in the running of the team and a vote on the general manager, similar to FC Barcelona.[2]
[edit] Team name
The name of the new Seattle MLS team and the future of the USL Sounders is uncertain. "The Sounders name has value, but on the other end of that, lately it has been associated with a Division 2 team," said Robin Waite, member of the Sounders ownership group. "I don't know if they want to rebrand or not. They tried that in San Jose and then went back to their original name."[3] The official team name will be announced by the spring of 2008, for which fans can make suggestions on the team's website.[6] Hanauer predicts that the team's name, logo, and crest will be revealed between March and May 2008.[4]
[edit] Players
Players will begin to be signed in the 2008 calendar year in accordance with MLS rules which also allows Seattle to have first pick in the 2009 MLS Draft held in January 2009.[6] The ownership team has not confirmed any specific players they would like to sign but there has been some comment about potential players. Hanauer expects some of the key players from the Sounders, including Sébastien Le Toux, Taylor Graham and Kenji Treschuk, to transfer to the MLS team [7] based on MLS Competition Committee rules. Roth's is considering the impact Asian players could have on the new team, "...I hope that we'll be able to bring in the same caliber of player as Ichiro Suzuki with the Seattle Mariners."[8] In independent interviews, European players and Washington natives Marcus Hahnemann[9], Kasey Keller and Preston Zimmerman, have expressed interest in playing for the new Seattle team.[10]
Recently it was stated by MLS officials that in the 2009 season Seattle would be allowed to promote part of its roster to MLS from the USL without applying for a discovery signing. The number is said to between 5 and 8 players.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Major League Soccer (2007-11-13). "MLS awards Seattle expanison team for 2009". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ a b "Carey signs on to invest in Seattle expansion team", ESPNSoccernet, ESPN, 2007-11-12. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- ^ a b Stone, Larry. "Big-time soccer coming in 2009", Seattle Times, 2007-11-10. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ a b Matthew Gaschk. "Seattle MLS passes 10,000 season tickets", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Romero, José Miguel. "NW Briefs / Tickets for Seattle's MLS team top 9,300", The Seattle Times, 2007-11-27. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
- ^ a b MLS in Seattle. MLS in Seattle. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
- ^ MLS Seattle. Prost Amerika. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
- ^ Moroney, Laurence. "MLS announces expansion in Seattle", MLS.net, 11-13-2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ Ubha, Ravi. "Marcus' Plans", Seattle PI, January 1, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
- ^ Gaschk, Matthew. "Seattle MLS Buzz, Volume One", GOALSeattle, 11-14-2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
Seattle Major League Soccer team | |
|---|---|
| Seattle, Washington
| |
| The Club | Ownership • Team name • Players • External links• References |
| Stadiums | Qwest Field |
| Key Personnel | Owner: Joe Roth • Adrian Hanauer • Paul Allen • Drew Carey |
| Honors | |
| MLS Cup | |
| Major League Soccer | |
| Seasons (0) | 2009 |
| Website: www.mlsinseattle.com | |
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Sports teams based in and around Seattle | |
|---|---|
| Baseball | MLB: Seattle Mariners - PCL: Tacoma Rainiers - NWL: Everett AquaSox |
| Basketball | NBA: Seattle SuperSonics - WNBA: Seattle Storm - IBL: Everett Explosion • Seattle Mountaineers • Tacoma Jazz |
| Football | NFL: Seattle Seahawks |
| Hockey | WHL: Everett Silvertips • Seattle Thunderbirds - NorPac: Seattle Totems |
| Soccer | MLS: Seattle MLS - USL-1: Seattle Sounders - PDL: Tacoma Tide - PCSL: FK Pacific |
| Rugby | RSL: Old Puget Sound Beach RFC |
| College athletics (NCAA Div. I) | University of Washington |
Main Article: Sports in Seattle | |
es:Seattle MLS
