Seattle is the Barcelona of MLS

By: Bob | November 13th, 2007

With the expansion fees in place, celebrity owner on board, ginormous stadium with fake turf already built, Seattle officially joined the merry band of North American cities that are home to Major League Soccer clubs today. The yet-to-be nicknamed club (Sounders? Boca Seattle? Seattle 1860?) has already distinguished itself from the rest of the flock by promising its fans a say in how it is run.

This might not seem especially innovative to those who support clubs in Europe or those of us who own our very own team, but it is a novel concept for a sports team not named the Green Bay Packers in the United States. The idea was apparently the brainchild of the comedian-turned-owner Drew Carey.

The team will launch a supporters club patterned after the FC Barcelona model which boasts the largest membership base for a football fan club worldwide. Carey will be actively involved in the club and the overall fan experience.

“I’m proud to be working with forward-thinking people like Joe, Adrian and Tod. And we’re all excited about bringing democracy to sports in America,” said Carey.

And all this time I thought that democracy could only be brought about through war!

Every four years the supporters club will have a say in who is the organization’s general manager. Beyond that, the details are still being flushed. Even if the fans’ influence is minor, I can think of fans of a few teams (I’m looking at you LA and New York) that must be jealous.
What do you think? Should fans have a say in how clubs are run? Is this a future model for MLS? Would this make you more likely to support a club?

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Lendog

Not sure what will change in Seattle. Will anyone know there is a team there after the first season?
Barnacle Brian

Real Grasshoppers Seattle Dortmund USA United FC
Lucas

They should just keep it Sounders
Aaron

Seattle 2007 does have a pretty sweet ring to it. Or Kashima Antlers USA.
Jon

F**K Seattle indeed.
Abby

FK Seattle is the name of my personal MLS daydream team. After all, it's not quite as ridiculous as an American-style name, and we have a bit of a Scandinavian tradition here, so it makes some sense. I also think that with the right promotion Seattle can become a true soccer town. Personally, I'm really excited about this development. I just wish it wasn't at Qwest Field- that was okay when it was Real Madrid playing, but they had Beckham then. I don't want to see however many we get rattling around that massive stadium when there's no reason for it to be like that.
Nick

It looks as if Drew Carey has decided to bring in his own management team...

http://www.veronicastory.nl/_i...
bartw

Anyone have a sense as to what season tickets should cost in Seattle?
Nick

Couldn't agree with you more Jon. The fact that MLS matches are played over 'faded' gridiron is just plain lousy.Especially last weeks Houston/KC match, with the logos for the mighty Houston Cougars in plain sight. Just lame!
Chris

Can somebody tell me if it's a difficult process to erase the football yard lines for a soccer match? I wouldn't think it would be that hard. Watching the games for the NYRB on TV is disgusting with those lines! Hopefully they clean that up in Seattle.
Jon

Oh, and the sight of (1) football lines (2) on a fake turf surface (3) in a giant, echoing stadium (4) with 50,000 empty seats is gonna be great for the league, too. Ugh.
Jon

Kinda hard to have a supporters group make big decisions when your team has no discernible supporters. When Carey came up with this idea in his head, I doubt he realized it would just be three Sounders fans sitting in their parent's basement making these decisions.
Nick

I just can't see the whole thing being viable in a 67,000 or so seat stadium. The Sounders crowds were pitiful for a city the size of Seattle and the fact that they produced a strong team year in, year out.
Lucas

Neat idea, fans picking the GM. Now they just need to find some fans.