Category Archives: Seattle Reign

Attendance, MLS, NASL Sounders, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Reign, Seattle Sounders FC

Big Crowd. Big Cause.

Without question the best, most dramatic match I ever witnessed live was played before less than 1,500 fans and ended near midnight. The largest crowd to which I was a party was for a scoreless affair under a scorching midday sun. And five of the eight biggest attendances for matches played in Seattle didn’t matter at all.

That’s what makes this coming Sunday such a beautiful convergence of the masses with the most meaningful afternoon of footy our state has ever seen. When the first whistle pierces the mid-autumn air for Sounders v Toronto, CenturyLink Field will be teeming with people who came to be part of history, part of a unique experience in Seattle sporting culture: One game to determine the champion of an 8-month marathon known as MLS.

No doubt, that’s what sparked the run on tickets, fans seeking to seize the moment. When the Reds took down Atlanta and soon after the ticket link went live to season ticket holders, no one needed a clever hashtag or promotional gimmick to go online. Seattle became a soccer capitol long, long ago; like their playing heroes, the fans are smart and opportunistic, and soon the lower bowl inventory was exhausted, and folks took aim on getting tickets for friends in the upper deck. Within 48 hours, the CLink was full-up.

Bigger match, bigger crowd. It stands to reason.

The Kingdome’s first sporting event, a Sounders friendly vs. New York Cosmos, was also the first U.S. soccer attendance of 50,000 or more.
Continue reading Big Crowd. Big Cause. →
Know Your History, NASL Sounders, Seattle Reign, Seattle Sounders FC

Sometimes You Gotta Get Away

Professional sports travel in North America can be arduous what with all the time zones and long distances between destinations.

But sometimes the road is where a team discovers itself, its character. Within the confines of airliners, buses, hotel rooms and shared meals can come a newfound camaraderie.  Constant interaction can act as an incubator, speeding the development of relationships, on and off the field. Of course, this all assumes the chemistry elements are correct in the first place.

The Reign just returned home after playing four consecutive road matches. They have seven more points than when they last played at Memorial.

The Sounders, meanwhile, are outbound to a pair of imposing away matches at Toronto and Portland. The Reds have apparently sorted things out and are coming off a 3-0 win over Philly. The Timbers have won three straight, scoring six goals in their last two home wins.

Continue reading Sometimes You Gotta Get Away →

MLS Sounders, NASL Sounders, Seattle Reign

Slow Starts Are Nothing New

It’s got to be the rain? During a long, dreary winter it results in rust that can’t be easily shaken off. That has to explain Seattle’s predisposition for poor starts, right? Because here we are. Again.

For the third successive spring, the Sounders are stumbling out of the gate. It’s not so much alarming as annoying. To the fans and certainly the players and coaches. There’s an underlying faith that the fortunes will turn, but it’s just so frickin’ frustrating.

One need not be a longtime fan to feel this is déjà vu all over again. Three league matches, three defeats. All this after starting 1-1-3 last year and 1-3-1 in 2016. Compounding matters is the 270 scoreless MLS minutes. You have to go back 41 years to find a longer goal draught to open a league season.

Laura Harvey and the Reign’s inaugural start rates as the rockiest, so far. (Courtesy Reign FC)

Since the beaches haven’t yet opened there is ample time to warm-up the wayback machine and check-out some of the more yawn-inducing starts in local history, then scratch around for some telling stats and comments.

Humble Beginnings Continue reading Slow Starts Are Nothing New →

Know Your History, NW Collegiate Soccer, Seattle Reign, Washington Soccer

Washington’s 2015 Top Team Performances

As daylight dwindles on 2015  and we seal this calendar’s time capsule, why not thumb through the best team performances, and determine which will best prevail against the test of time.

Some Washington sides made some remarkable accomplishments in the past year, and here are the best of the best:

SeattleUnitedlogoSeattle United B98 Copa – In April they defeated Crossfire Premier to become the state’s first Dallas Cup champion, and the boys just kept going, winning the state and regional titles before reaching the USYSA U16 final match in July

imgres-6Seattle Reign – First professional club to win back-to-back regular season league championships, going 13-3-4 in NWSL despite losing Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe to national team duty for the better part of three months

imgres-3Puget Sound women – Despite being eliminated in the Division III second round, the Loggers allowed only three (3) goals in 22 matches and became the state’s first unbeaten (17-0-5) women’s collegiate program Continue reading Washington’s 2015 Top Team Performances →

Attendance, MLS Sounders, Seattle Reign, Sounders 2

Has Seattle Reached Soccer Market Saturation?

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First we starved, then we feasted. Now it appears we’re pushing ourselves away from the table.

Perhaps Puget Sound’s appetite for watching professional soccer has sated, at least if the recent ambivalence toward the offering of extra courses is any indication.

Make no mistake, Seattle remains a North American attendance phenomenon, averaging about 6,000 more fans per game than the next-best crowd count in MLS. Sounders FC is currently pulling 40,236, and that number will only grow with CenturyLink Field’s full capacity available for four summer dates.

Continue reading Has Seattle Reached Soccer Market Saturation? →

Know Your History, MLS Sounders, NASL Sounders, Seattle Reign, USL Sounders

Best & Worst of Seattle Openers

Now that the all-clear has been sounded for Sunday’s Sounders opener against New England, it’s time to look back on some of the best and worst first games for Seattle clubs. Ready, let’s roll.

Best Theatre

March 19, 2009 – Sounders FC 3:0 New York

Seattle_Sounders_FC_First_Game_ECS_OverheadFrom the unfurling of that first tifo to Montero’s bomb (see below)–all before a national audience–it was more than anyone could’ve imagined, pulling Seattle’s soccer community together again.

Best Home Team Performance

March 28, 1981 – Sounders 3: Los Angeles 0

It was nearly a 7-month wait to get payback after a dreamy 25-7 season ended in premature playoff elimination in a shootout loss to LA. Sounders made short work of Aztecs, scoring three times in first half-hour.

Worst Home Team Performance Continue reading Best & Worst of Seattle Openers →