A Seattle MLS Team in 2009

By: Bob | September 27th, 2007

The Seattle Sounders play the Atlanta Silverbacks in the USL First Division final on Saturday and it could very well be their last game in the league. Ives Galarcep is reporting that Seattle will be the next city to receive an MLS expansion team. I have heard a similar story from my admittedly less credible sources. The league will announce that a team will begin play in 2009 in a couple of weeks.

The current version of the Sounders have been successful on the pitch in the U.S. lower divisions. They won the league title two years ago and have consistently been among the better teams in the USL. It is expected that the owners will remain involved with the MLS ownership.

What kind of MLS city will Seattle be? It is hard to say. If based on current performance it won’t be great. If based on potential it could be one of the better cities in the league. The lower division Sounders have never really been able to garner much attention or support in Seattle. They have consistently averaged around 3,500 fans in the 67,000-thousand seat Qwest Stadium. That number will undoubtedly increase with an MLS side. Seattle has shown that it is will turn out to watch high level international friendlies and the Pacific Northwest is a large untapped market for MLS.

Long term, the team will need a stadium to call its own. Qwest Field is a great facility but not when it is only a quarter full. That is the direction the league is taking and I imagine it won’t be the direction a new franchise will take either.

And then there is the regional rivalry issue. Seattle, Vancouver and Portland have been rivals since the NASL days and for those who live in the region (that would be me) it just won’t be the same without the Sounders squaring off against the Timbers and Whitecaps. Portland’s new owner has a father with deep pockets. Vancouver’s owner made a mint in technology. Here’s hoping they keep a close eye on how MLS develops in Seattle. The league would really benefit by having a team in all three cities.

Your thoughts on Seattle as an MLS franchise?

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Category: MLS, World Football

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Steven

I say hurrah! I think we deserve it... but WOW could we use a SSS...
Portland Blows

The best thing about this news is that it is yet another indication that Portland, and perhaps the entire state of Oregon, is inferior to its northern neighbors in all things related to sports. Without Phil Knight, no one would even know Oregonians do anything more than refuse to pay taxes and measure their girlfriends leg hair.
GOALSeattle.com

Come join us as we talk about Seattle Sounders in the USL-1 FINAL...and MLS in 2009!
Ian

I have to agree that the idea of taking a year off to "hype up the fans" makes no sense, and so fits perfectly with the MLS marketing strategies of the past 5 years.
Abby

I know there are downsides, but...fuck it, I'm gleeful. I've been hoping for an MLS team here and it's impossible for me to not be excited. And I definitely believe there's a market here for it.
Ian

rooting for the sounders makes me want to share a toast with Tzofit Grant.

Gold.
Lucas

the Seattle Sounders will stop playing after this season in order to give the market a season to build up momentum for the new MLS franchise.

Great idea. Need to pump up momentum in a market that is 99.9% unaware that a soccer team even exists in their town? Cancel the season! Pure genius.

And the idea that the MLS sounders are going to have fans coming from Portland? I would never root for any team from seattle in the first place, but the idea of rooting for the sounders makes me want to share a toast with Tzofit Grant.

Absolute. Joke. The End.
Christian

Come on you Timbers! Here's hoping Portland will be next, otherwise Shi**le's neatest rivals will be the Earthquakes.
bluemeanies

You want to put USL in the superliga? What are we adding the Mexican second division too because they'd then be the only Mexican teams to be willing to show up?

Does this indicate that the starfire?? plan is part of it. Because Quest is not a long term situation and MLS is not seeking to get into short term situations with no out.
Shane

It's gonna take another 20-50 years for a promotion/relegation system. Too much money to be lost. 3,500 fans are not enough for a pro team to survive. It's different in England where some of the cities/towns stadiums only hold that much or less sometimes. USL and even MLS teams should have those types of stadiums to start off with. Then grant the top USL team into the Superliega to make that league more meaningful. Then one of the USL teams can put in a bid to become an MLS team along with other cities when the MLS is looking to expand.
Laurie

Offside blogger party at the first home game! I'll buy the first round.

Although I just went into the Galarcep article and I can't understand why they're considering NOT playing in 2008. The Sounders team this year has been amazing. Fully MLS quality. MLS should figure out a way to manipulate the rules and allow promotion.
Ian

I have mixed feelings. The league is maybe a decade away from being able to support three teams in the Pacific Northwest, and this essentially kills the Sounders' rivalries with both Portland and Vancouver. But, I am extremely excited about having a team in at least a 6-hour radius.
mel

Wait, are you suggesting The Sounders become the MLS team or that they disband? Um, if they are just going to be "rebranded," then I'd like to add that this feels like a crude version of relegation. See, we *do* have it the US. The Sounders are going up!
Laurie

Oh, happy news! :-)