A primer on MLS in Seattle
Ownership
It isn’t known how much of the pie belongs to each owner, but the majority owner is movie studio executive Joe Roth. Minority owners are current Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer, actor Drew Carey and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Sports & Entertainment. Hanauer will be the new team’s general manager.
Soccer at Qwest Field
The upper bowl at Qwest Field will be covered, so the stadium’s capacity will be 24,500 seats in the lower bowl. The surface will be the same as football: FieldTurf.
The nickname
Whether the new club will pick up the Sounders as its nickname hasn’t been decided yet. The team will ask fans to submit suggestions on the team’s Web site, www.mlsinseattle.com, and the name will be chosen by next spring. The Seattle Times is also soliciting your opinion at www.seattletimes.com/soccer
The Sounders
The Sounders will play their final United Soccer League season in Seattle in 2008. The USL is interested in relocating the Sounders to another Northwest market, possibly Poulsbo, starting in 2009.
The Sounders, who play in the next-best tier after MLS, were founded in 1994. They took their nickname from Seattle’s original soccer team, which played from 1974-83 in the North American Soccer League, now defunct. Between 1985 and 1990, FC Seattle Storm played in the Western Soccer Alliance and the American Professional Soccer League.
Drafting players
There will be an expansion draft for the Seattle team, and the other expansion team yet to be named in 2009. MLS will allow the Seattle team to protect some of the Sounders players, though the details haven’t been finalized. Hanauer said he would love to keep Sounders star Sebastien Le Toux, the USL First Division MVP last season.
Signing players
Players will begin to be signed in the 2008 calendar year in accordance with MLS rules. The MLS SuperDraft is held every January, and the Seattle team will make its first pick in the 2009 draft.
Television
The league has TV deals, but Seattle’s situation is undecided. Every MLS match was televised either regionally or locally in 2007. ESPN, which has broadcast some of the league’s games since 1996, first paid rights fees in 2006, and Univision broadcast some games this season, along with Fox Soccer Channel.
Tickets
Deposits for season tickets can be placed at www.mlsinseattle.com, or by calling 1-877-MLS-GOAL, or at the Qwest Field box office 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A $50 deposit is required, and that money will be applied to the cost of tickets. The first game will be in April 2009.
Web site
It’s now up: www.mlsinseattle.com
- José Miguel Romero