Feature Story

A Season at a Glance

Even though the Seattle Sounders FC inaugural season ended Sunday with a 1-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo, the Sounders’ still have a lot to be proud of.

The Sounder’s finished their first regular season with a record of 12 wins, 7 losses, and 11 ties. They finished third in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer and advanced to the conference semifinals of the MLS playoffs before losing to Houston.

The Sounders’ are the 15th team in the MLS and only the second team in the 13-year history of the MLS that an expansion team has made it to the playoffs.

Even though this may have been the Sounders’ first season, they sold more season tickets than any other team in MLS history. All 22,000 season ticket packages offered by Sounders FC were sold out, giving them the most season ticket holders in MLS.

Due to the high demand for tickets and the many sell-out games, the Sounders’ opened up more seats at their stadium, the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, eventually there were enough seats for 32,400 people.

Tommy Sullivan was one of the many fans that were able to attend a game this year.

“I know Qwest Field is known for its noise in the NFL but I never thought it would turn out like this for the Sounders’,” Sullivan said. “I can’t believe they actually ended up opening a bunch more seats for all the fans, its awesome.”

The Sounders’ have also set a new MLS record for average attendance with 30,943 fans per game. Also, all 15 Sounders’ MLS regular season games, their one playoff game and their 4 U.S. Open Cup matches were all sold out.

The Sounders’ set more records by being the only MLS expansion team to win their first three games. They didn’t even allow an opponent’s goal during these three games.

Taylor Jacobs, a season ticket holder for the Sounders, is very impressed with the way the team started its first year in the MLS.

“I expected them to be a decent team, but to come out and win your first three games and not allow a goal is very impressive,” Jacobs said. “I can’t believe they made the playoffs their first year, I think the Sounders’ have a bright future ahead of them.”

Not only did the Sounders’ win a few games in a row but also are the second team in MLS history to win the U.S. Open Cup in their first season.

Much of this was achieved by the help of the loyal fan base that the Seattle Sounders’ have drawn.

The Sounders’ have also put much originality into their franchise by adding a 52-member marching band consisting of brass and marching percussion. They are the only team in the MLS that has a marching band. The name of the marching band is the Sound Wave.

Josh Goldman is very impressed with the atmosphere and the marching band.

“I have been to a few soccer games over in Portugal and Europe,” Goldman said. “The atmosphere over there is crazy and the Sounder’s are about the closest thing to it with their band and sell-out crowds.”

The Sounders’ are set to start their second season when they host the Philadelphia Union on Thursday, March 25th, 2010.


Sources

Tommy Sullivan – 425-941-7752

Josh Goldman – 206-255-6345

Taylor Jacobs – 425-269-9708

www.SoundersFC.com