Sleeping Soundly in Seattle?

It has been a very bad year to be a sports fan in Seattle. Baseball's Mariners raised expectations by talking a good game and assembling a roster costing some $117 million, but have been the worst team in the sport for most of the year. They currently find themselves planning for next year, with an interim field manager and interim general manager, having sacked the incumbents from the season's start. Just last week, the NBA's Sonics upped sticks and left Seattle for Oklahoma, after spending forty-one years in the Pacific Northwest. Under the terms of the court settlement, the city of Seattle will receive $45 million in compensation. While the NFL's Seahawks have enjoyed some success in recent years, that season has yet to start, and most Seattle sports fans are, quite obviously, counting the days until it does.

In late 2007 it was announced that Seattle would be the latest city to receive a Major League Soccer franchise as part of the MLS's expansion plans. Seattle has more of a football heritage than most American cities, having boasted a team in the North American Soccer League, the Sounders, from 1974 until 1983 (a team of the same name currently plays in the USL first division, to all intents and purposes, an independent league). Football is, as in many parts of the United States, a popular participation sport in the northwest, but in addition, it seems to hold a deep cultural resonance too. The region is not unique in this, as similar pockets do exist across the nation; however, in the context, it has meant that anticipation is growing ahead of the return of top flight football to Seattle.

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I was at a bar in the city of Bozeman in Montana - nothing more than a tiny dot on the map in American terms, and a million miles from any major league sports franchise - enjoying a boozy conversation with three guys who worked locally. They were electricians who worked twelve hour days, drank until the bar closed each evening, and spent their weekends camping and hunting. One was from Washington state, one from Montana, and one from South Dakota. None of them had ever been outside the United States, or more than three states in any direction. In short, they were what many outside observers might consider stereotypically insular middle-Americans.

We chatted for a while about all sorts of things: conservative politics, internal migration of Californians to Montana, Native American reservations, hunting, and sports. I hoped that with the broaching of the latter topic I might finally be able to contribute a bit more to the conversation, but being based in Montana, none had any real interest in talking about the professional sports. College football, about which I know nothing, was the preferred conversation fodder.

The night wore on, and alcohol took its toll. While two of his colleagues were deep in conversation, one of the electricians took me to one side:'You're from Ireland, so you must like soccer, right? I have to tell you something. It's the greatest thing, and I never get to tell anyone about it.'

As it transpired, he originally came from Spokane, Washington. In the 1970s, he had lived for a time near Seattle, when the NASL Sounders were all the rage. In 1976, when the Kingdome (a horrible multipurpose arena) opened in Seattle, the New York Cosmos played an exhibition game against the Sounders. My acquaintance recalled clearly being behind the goal when Pele performed an immaculate bicycle kick, which crashed into the net off the crossbar. 'It's one of the greatest memories I have, and I never get to tell anyone about it. It's great to be able to talk to someone who understands.'

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Major League Soccer will come to Seattle for the 2009 season. There have been a number of very encouraging signs already to suggest that there is a large appetite for football in these parts, which harks back to the glory days of the 1970s and the NASL.

In April, an online vote was held to allow fans to determine the name of the new team. The three options presented to voters were Seattle FC, Seattle Alliance, and Seattle Republic. A forth option allowed those voting to write in a preferred name. This they did, with 49% of the total 14,500 voters opting to bring back the Sounders moniker. The name will effectively be transferred from the current USL outfit, and a number of the latter team's current players are expected to make the same switch. It shows the great affection which the people of the northwest have for the Sounders and their history.

There is a definite buzz in Seattle in anticipation of the new MLS season, even though that is over eight months away and the Sounders have as yet signed only one player [the Frenchman, Sebastien le Toux]. Advance season ticket sales have been very good. Already, 14,000 tickets have been sold of 24,500 available seats, with deposits being taken on a further 3,000. The organization has devised a unique ticketing system, allowing fans to choose which section of Qwest Field they would rather be seated in, based on criteria such as whether they enjoy singing at games or not, whether they prefer to sit or stand, and which European team they follow. The Sounders brass seem to want to do this the right way, and in addition, they recognise the football knowledge and appetite of the local population.

Aside from season ticket sales, there are other good indicators of the current interest in football. A number of international friendlies were held at Qwest Field to raise awareness of the sport. The Brazil-Canada game in June attracted 47,000 fans, while the meeting of Mexico and China brought 56,000 spectators out. Geoff Baker, baseball writer for the Seattle Times, recently noted that the Sonics' departure left a 'sports vacuum' in the city. Having attended the Canada-Brazil game, he was surprised to note how educated the fans present were. Baker also
remarked upon the buzz created throughout the city by the recent European Championships, a trend exemplified by favourable television ratings garnered by the tournament nationally.

The Sounders will never replace the Sonics in Seattle, and it is questionable whether any of their players (sorry, their player, singular) will ever be able to compete with the city's sporting icons like Ichiro Suzuki, Matt Hasselbeck, or Felix Hernandez. However, it seems certain that there is a very solid foundation to be built on here, with an intelligent and informed ownership team led by Adrian Hanauer combining with a deep rooted love and folk memory of the game dating back to the seventies. The story of the Seattle Sounders FC so far has given good cause for optimism, and flies in the face of opinions spouted by those who claim that Americans will never truly 'get' what Europeans call football. It is clear that the people of the Great Northwest do, and following one of the worst weeks in the city of Seattle's sports history, the success of the Sounders would be much deserved.