Seattle sings $4m jersey deal with Microsoft

They are still 10 months away from their first MLS kickoff, but the Sounders just got a large investor. Microsoft has signed on to be the official jersey sponsor of the new Sounders, however don't expect to see the four-color floating paper. Instead, 'Xbox 360 LIVE' will appear on the front of the kit. The five year deal is worth $4m annually.

This is not a huge surprise as one of the main investors in the club is Paul Allen, i.e. the Chairman of Microsoft, but it is still a big move for the club. The $4m figure places them on the upper end of MLS jersey deals (only LA's deal appears to be worth more). It also means that their entire MLS salary is covered with about $1.7m left over. That's some good starting money for a designated player.

"We all felt the best place to start in Seattle was Microsoft," co-owner Joe Roth said. "It's an international company but also a local company, which is what soccer should be."

With 16,000 season tickets already sold, a solid shirt sponsor and the ability to take some players from their USL side, Seattle might just break the expansion team curse.

MLS Expansion - The Seattle naming conspiracy

I normally try to shy away from conspiracy theories when it comes to soccer, however I think this idea might have merit, so hang with me.

Last week saw the three 'focus group' names leaked to the local Seattle paper. Sure enough, a majority of Seattle fans were upset because none of the names were the Seattle Sounders.

In response to this negative reaction, MLS Commish Don Garber insists that although he respects the value and history of the 30-year-old Sounder name, the league is looking for a name that will still be meaningful '20 years from now or 50 years from now.'

I noticed two things about this statement. First, it doesn't make sense. How can a name with a 30-year track record be thrown overboard for a name that has been 'focus group' tested for only a couple months? Second, why is it that the commish is making this statement and not the ownership group? When the name controversy raged in Houston a few years back, it was Houston President Oliver Luck that faced the press, not Garber.

Anyway, we move forward to the actual voting. After making such a big deal about Seattle FC, Seattle Republic and Seattle Alliance being the best names ever they do something very interesting with the ballot and allow people to write-in a name. Since they already allowed people to submit names months ago, why allow this second round of 'write-in' ideas?

Perhaps this is the reason:

Fans will be allowed one vote per unique email address. MLS Seattle season ticket holders will be given the privilege of receiving the same number of votes as deposits purchased.

And this brings me to the conspiracy. Could it be that the Seattle group decided to manufacture a bit of controversy to increase their email and season ticket lists?

If Sounders had been one of the three 'approved' choices, no one would have paid much attention as it would be a forgone conclusion that it would win, but since it was not there, people got angry and tuned in. This added attention is all but assured to increase the vote (ie submitting email addresses) because no one seems very interested in the three official choices. Also note how you can buy additional votes with a season ticket deposit.

Which brings us to the announcement of the name on 7 April. Since none of the Seattle ownership group have dissed the 'Sounders' title, they will have no need to back pedal as they say 'Due to an overwhelming show of support by the soccer fans of Seattle, we are pleased to announce the Seattle Sounders as our 'new' name.'

In the end, the fans feel they have won a victory by getting the name they've wanted all along while the owners come out looking good for actually listening to the fans, plus they will have all those email addresses for future marketing purposes.

So is this off the wall or might I be on to something? I will be the first to admit that I have no real proof of this, but something does seem off.

MLS Expansion - Seattle names down to three, Sounders not an option - Poll

The future MLS team based in Seattle is very close to announcing a name, but first they want a vote. Starting next Thursday, March 27, through March 31, the team will allow fans to vote on the team’s name.

As far as the names from which voters will be selecting, "(t)he three naming options will be announced Tuesday, March 25, and were chosen through fan focus groups, internal committees and fan suggestions, but will not include Sounders."

So no, no to Sounders, but what are the other choices? Obviously nothing official as yet, but the Seattle Times has them pegged as Seattle FC, Seattle Alliance and Seattle Republic.

Although I have a feeling Seattle FC will win, I really hope it does not. Between Dallas and Toronto, the league has enough FC's in it, especially for Major League Soccer.

As far as Alliance or Republic, it's like Star Wars all over again. Damn that Rebel Alliance and their desire for a New Republic.

Anyway, I like Republic, because it relates to the historical idea of a separate Northwest state such as Cascadia. A nice tie in to local history, even if it is only subtle, is always a good thing. The downside, fans would probably be called Republicans and that might not go down so well in Seattle.

Alliance is better then FC, but I'm not really sure what they are aligning.

In the end, it will probably end up Seattle FC with some sort of nickname like the 'greens' or 'emeralds of the pitch.'

So what is your choice?

MLS Expansion - Philadelphia sells 2,000 season tickets in a week

In just one week, the new Philadelphia MLS side has sold more then 2,000 season tickets for their inaugural 2010 campaign. Not bad for a team that doesn't have a signal player, coach or date for any games.

This is a really strong showing, however I'm sure more then a few folks in Seattle are unimpressed with Philly’s numbers since they sold 3,000 season tickets within the first 24-hours of their MLS announcement. That said, Seattle has a built in advantage as they already have a strong soccer team in the market (USL's Seattle Sounders), they have a stadium (Quest field) and they had less time till their kicked off their MLS life (15-months compared to 25 for Philadelphia).

One other thing, why is there no link off MLS's home page to the new Philadelphia team? Seattle is linked up top, why not Philadelphia?

If you are interested in buying season tickets for 2010 or just learning a bit more about the future team, here is the Philadelphia MLS web site. On a side note, why is there a picture of Columbus Crew fans on the Philly 'reserve your tickets now' link? I would think the Sons of Ben would be only too happy to give them a local born image.

MLS Expansion - Seattle passes 10,000 season ticket mark

In yet another example of the power of soccer in Seattle, the MLS club that is still 15 months away from their first match has passed 10,000 season ticket deposits. This is an outstanding number that could easily end up above 15,000 before everything is said and done, which would fill a large portion of the bottom bowl at Qwest field.

MLS Expansion - Seattle has sold 3,000 season tickets

In a little over 24-hours, fans of the new MLS Seattle team have snapped up over 3,000 season tickets for the 2009 season. With the new team set to play in a 24,500 seat version of Qwest Field, this is a significant number. Fans need to put down a $50 deposit to secure a season ticket.

The club has also received suggestions concerning their name from 2,000 fans.

You can submit your own name suggestion at the team's web site.

MLS Expansion: Milwaukee's dream looks to be dead

In a major blow to Milwaukee's hope of landing a MLS expansion squad, Peter Wilt has left his post as chief executive officer of Milwaukee Professional Soccer LLC.

Wilt, who was the former general manager for the Chicago Fire, had hoped to work with local financiers and politicians to bring top level soccer to Wisconsin, however, there just was not enough of a push to make it happen.

"Despite having a broad base of support, 8,000 season-ticket equivalents and what I feel is the best pro team/amateur youth sports association partnership in history, we haven't been able to secure the necessary governmental support or the development rights for appropriate land in the desired time frame," said Wilt in a statement.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Wisconsin would be a successful Major League Soccer market and that Milwaukee and its citizens would benefit from a team and stadium as part of a major mixed-use development."

Wilt had been working on the project since 2005, but his efforts to land a stadium location proved to be extremely elusive. Perhaps he is best known for his idea to use the Milwaukee Mile racetrack as a soccer pitch.

With Seattle landing a team this week and Philadelphia or St. Louis on the cusp of getting a club (not to mention the Portland, Las Vegas, Phoenix and New York City options), the idea of the league expanding to a city where the team would play at a race track must have finally seemed to far fetched for Wilt.

Thankfully he will still be involved in soccer, as he will work with the Chicago team in the new professional women's league.

MLS Expansion - Seattle announcement on Monday

It looks like next Monday might be the day Seattle gets a MLS club. Goal Seattle is reporting that a local footy pub is hosting a 'special "local professional soccer" announcement next Monday, November 12th, from Noon to 2:00 PM.'

He also adds that after talking with the pub, they confirmed the announcement involves MLS in Seattle and that this will be a 'pre-announcement of the official announcement of the team at The Colombia Tower on Tuesday.

The timing makes perfect sense, as the league normally likes to use MLS and All-Star weeks for such major news.

If you are in the area and want to attend the Monday event, it is at:
George and the Dragon Pub
Located in the Fremont area of Seattle
206 North 36th Street, Seattle WA 98103
Tel: (206) 545-6864

No word on any plans in Philadelphia or St. Louis.

MLS Expansion - If Seattle gets a team, Poulsbo might get the Sounders

If Seattle lands an expansion team as expected, the Sounders might end up staying in the USL. What that means is the MLS team might not take the name Sounders with them and if they do not, at least one member of the Sounders' ownership group want to keep the team alive.

Robin Waite would be willing to build a soccer specific stadium in Poulsbo (a city on the Kitsap Peninsula, which is located on the west side of the Puget Sound), for a new version of the Sounders. It is about 15 miles away from downtown Seattle.

"Yes, it's a possibility," said Robin Waite of Tracyton, part of the Sounders' ownership group who has been actively trying to build a soccer-only stadium with the hopes of luring a USL franchise to the region.

Waite is zeroing in on nearly 13 acres of land in Poulsbo after a recent attempt to purchase an eight-acre parcel of land in Olhava fell through.

"We're under contract right now on the land," Waite said of the site he's currently zeroing in on.

There are, he said, some wetland issues.

"We can put a stadium on it," he said of the property where he would like to build a 6,500-seat stadium that he estimates will cost him about $2.5 million. "The question becomes what do you do about parking."

The team would be very removed from the Seattle home they have come to know, but it might work. Still, the relatively small population density in the area might make it a bit difficult to draw a large crowd.

But this brings up a different issue, if Seattle lands a team, should they be able to keep the name Sounders? With more and more USL teams getting a look over as possible candidates for MLS, this might be an issue that repeats itself. So provided that all the legal issues are resolved concerning the name, what do you think?

MLS Expansion - Don't expect any news soon

MLS released a statement today concerning expansion and to sum it up, don't expect any announcements anytime soon. That said they still plan on expanding to 16 teams by 2010.

"MLS does not have a set deadline to make that announcement," said the statement released by MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche. "Thus, it may be early 2008 before both teams are announced."

The main issue with waiting concerns stadium construction. If any of the expansion teams is to start their first season in a new stadium, they will need 16-24 months to build the site, making spring '08 the latest possible date for such an arrangement.

Still, this bit of news seems to push the idea of a MLS Cup announcement out of the way, which will give fans in Seattle, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Portland a little more time to argue about which is the best home for a top team.

MLS Expansion – Philadelphia bid gets $30m boost

The Sons of Ben are a little closer to having a team to cheer on as 'Delaware County has agreed to spend $30 million for the construction of a soccer stadium on the Chester waterfront, bringing a Major League Soccer franchise closer to the Philadelphia region.'

And whom do soccer fans in the area have to thank for this money? The gambling industry. "(T)he $30 million would come from revenue generated by the new slots casino in Chester." So could a new Philadelphia team be called Philadelphia Slot Jockeys?

In addition, the Chester Redevelopment Authority will donate part of the land for a stadium.

Now that the expansion group as the backing of the locals, they are hoping that the state government will join in.

"This is the county piece, and we are still pursuing the state piece," said Charles G. Kopp, an attorney for the investors group. State aid is crucial to the plan.

In total, the cost for bringing a team to the area will be around $150 million. The investors seem willing to place some of their own money on the table, but I'm guessing they would like a $20-40 assist from the state. Pennsylvania governor and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell has said that he is in favor of the idea but no money has been yet promised.

So where does Philadelphia stand on the expansion order? Seattle seems to be all but a lock and with commissioner Don Garber suggesting that the team to come into the league with Seattle will be from the East coast, it would seem Philadelphia is very close. Still, the St. Louis stadium proposal still seems a little further along, but with Gerber also suggesting that 2 more teams could come into the league as soon as 2011-2012 (he said this on ESPN last Thursday), maybe he is willing to wait on the team from the Midwest.

If the league hopes to annouce the two new sides by MLS Cup, the next three weeks should be very interesting.

MLS Expansion - Garber says Seattle and an East Coast city next

MLS commissioner Don Garber was impressed with what he experienced in Portland yesterday, but it looks like Seattle will be the city to earn one of the next expansion teams.

"The league probably will name Seattle and an East Coast city as sites for the newest franchises, to begin play in 2009, Garber said. Portland is vying for one of two more expansion teams that would begin play in 2010 or 2011, he said. The competition includes Atlanta, Montreal, San Diego, St. Louis and Vancouver, B.C."

This is the most definitive statement I have seen from Garber concerning the next two expansion teams. Now he did say 'probably' to allow some wiggle room, but it looks like Seattle is indeed on. But what about the East Coast city? If you're in Philadelphia, you got to like the sound of that. The other possible cities are New York or Miami but neither of those cities seems to be as close to a deal as the city of brotherly love.

Which makes me wonder about St. Louis as things have been looking really good there. The City of Collinsville is taking a lot of steps to get the land annexed and rezoned for stadium use and the bond package doesn't seem to be hitting major roadblocks, but then again, maybe more is happening behind the scenes in Pennsylvania.

But back to the article, it seems that PGE Park is a good option for MLS but a few things are needed such as 'grandstand seating on the stadium's vacant east side, a new playing surface and more restrooms and concessions.' If this happens, it means the baseball team needs to move, which would require a new facility to be built, costing around $30 million.

On the plus side, it appears that those in city government are interested in making it happen, however not at the cost of basic services.

MLS Expansion - Seattle and Portland could both get teams

MLS senior vice president Dan Courtemanche has made it clear that just if one of the Northwest cities get a MLS club, that doesn't mean the other will not get one soon after.

"If by chance we do finalize an agreement to bring a team to Seattle, that would not preclude us from bringing a team to Portland."

This should not be much of a surprise to anyone, however I do think it again shows the league leaning towards a Seattle franchise since Courtemanche specifically says Seattle. However, Portland still makes a good case and could beat out Seattle if MLS decides playing at Qwest Field is not the way they want to go.

With PGE Park needing around $20 million of changes to make it suitable for the league, it work not be that difficult to make this happen. In addition, if a team came to town, Merritt Paulson, who owns both the Portland Timbers and the Portland Beavers (baseball), says that he would be open to building the Beavers an 8-9,000-seat stadium elsewhere in the city if he was given a MLS franchise. That would mean that for most of the soccer season, PGE would be soccer only.

Seattle seems to still have the inside track, but Portland is making it hard for MLS to ignore them.

Seattle Sounders USL First Division Champions

If Saturday night's championship match against Atlanta was indeed the final match of the Sounders in USL play, what a way to go out. They took their fourth title with an impressive 4-0 win over the Silverbacks.

Interestingly, as the players were celebrating their victory on the pitch, the fans chanted 'one more year' in reference to the rumor of the team going dark for the 2008 season.

Anyway, no matter what happens with the club in the next few months, they can be sure of at least one thing, they played a near perfect match to win the cup.

Congratulations to the Seattle Sounders.

MLS Expansion - Gonna bring a team to Seattle, MLS says no, no, no

MLS officials are denying reports concerning the expansion team in Seattle.

"I spoke with (MLS President) Mark Abbott yesterday in Kansas City and asked him if we have a deal in Seattle and he said 'no,'" said league spokesman Dan Courtemanche. "Our goal is to announce the fifteenth and sixteenth teams by the end of 2007 or in the first quarter of 2008."

So could it be that this is another bad rumor or might the deal be just about done and someone from the Seattle organization leaked the news in order to drive up attendance at tonight's championship match? If Seattle doesn't get a team, this story could be almost as embarrassing as Klinsmann getting the US National job.

Billionaire new co-owner of Seattle Sounders

The Seattle Sounders have some big pockets in their new ownership group, as Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen is indeed part of it, however Q is the senior partner. I'm guessing the $18 billion bank account was one of the big reasons MLS officials went with this group over that of Atletico Seattle Management.

With Allen in the picture, it is pretty clear that the team will continue to play their matches at Qwest Field. However, with the league pushing to move all clubs to soccer specific stadiums, it will be interesting to see how long this lasts (side bet on which team gets a sss first, Seattle or New England).

Current owner Adrian Hanauer will stay involved with the club, and that is a very good thing.

So there are most of the big pieces of the story, but still I wonder, what does it mean for MLS in the Northwest over all?

First off, the idea that people from Portland or Vancouver might become Sounders fans just because they are a MLS club seems a little off to me. I could see those folks showing up for some of the bigger games but my guess is it would be to cheer on the opposition.

Then there is the figure of Allen. It is great that he has a lot of money and is already involved in the Northwest sports scene, however I wonder if, much like the Kraft family and the Revolution, the soccer team will always be a secondary to their NFL team? The one element that seems to point away from that is Roth being the main investor, but still, it is a concern.

Finally, now that the Seattle option has been awarded, what would stop the two (or was it three) other groups that wanted the team to look down south a little bit at Portland? Just a few months ago it appeared the Northwest franchise would go to the Keston family who were interested in either Seattle or Portland, but obviously they lost out for whatever reason. With Portland having a great fan base and a stadium that, with some upgrades, could be MLS ready within a year, it would seem like a smart bet. Are there any billionaires in Oregon that are interested?

MLS Expansion - Seattle gets a team!

Major League Soccer is coming to Seattle starting in 2009!

According to Ives Galarcep, the league will announce Seattle as their 15th team in two-weeks. As part of the move, the USL First Divison's Seattle Sounders will stop playing after this Saturday's championship match against the Atlanta Silverbacks (the link says Puerto Rico but that is who the Sounders beat to get to the final). As if the championship game wasn't enough to get fans going, now they will also be saying farewell to their much beloved club (at least in its current form).

The franchise fee is expected to be around $30 million and the ownership group will involve the owners of the Sounders. No word on the stadium status.

Congratulations to Seattle on earning a team, but does this mean the Portland Timbers new main rival is the Vancouver Whitecaps?

MLS Expansion - The Vegas odds

The Las Vegas Sun offers up their odds for the 13 cities often mentioned in MLS expansion talks. They are looking at things in a 'how does Vegas' fit in kind of way, but they don't seem to let the homer symptom overly influence their thought process. Anyway, here are their odds:

Atlanta: 100-1
Cleveland: 60-1
Las Vegas: 10-1
Miami: 35-1
Milwaukee: 75-1
New York: 8-1
Philadelphia: 6-1
Phoenix: 20-1
Portland, Ore.: 40-1
San Diego: 100-1
Seattle: 3-2
St. Louis: 4-1
Vancouver: 70-1

They have a lot more information on the reasons behind these odds, so if you have a moment, you really should read the article.

As far as my thoughts on the odds, they look pretty much like they should, however I think St. Louis has better odds then Seattle. That said, it really doesn't matter much because both those cities would be my top 2 as well.

The New York odds seem a little high, but that might have to do with the article speculating not just on the 15th and 16th MLS clubs but also on the 17th and 18th. Fred Wilpon, an owner of baseball's New York Mets, is interested, but since the plan that seems to be out there calls for a soccer stadium to be built on the current site of Shea Stadium, they will need to wait till 2009 before they could even begin building such a project (that is when the new baseball stadium will open). That said, MLS wants a derby in New York and if there is a chance to have a stadium in the city, they will hold out for it.

It does seem like the Vegas odds are also a bit kind, but maybe they have some inside information (or maybe they are just hearing more about it and thinking it might come true). I would put their odds more at 20-1 with Miami and Portland a little bit behind them. The Miami bid really depends on Boca Juniors. If the club fully gets behind a bid, chances are good for them. As far as Portland, Seattle has very much climbed over them in the current race, but there is a good group of fans in the area and a Northwest derby would be a solid outing. Also, they already have a stadium that, with some improvements, could host games for the first few years.

The Phoenix option is very interesting and I'm guessing the reason heat was not listed in the piece is due to the talk of a stadium with a retractable-roof. There are two good groups going after this bid and both have good pedigrees. It might not have the glitz of a Vegas or the history of St. Louis, but they do draw some good crowds for big games. The problem is, most of those games involve Mexico and as has been proven in many other locations, international match draws don't always mean good local match draws. Still, I agree that they are the city most likely to surprise.

As far as the rest, I think Milwaukee has a slightly better chance then suggested while Cleveland has a little worse. Atlanta should be doing better but no local money seems interested, so their bid looks to be stalled. Philadelphia is probably the city MLS most wants to get into so if the stadium deal moves forward, it should happen. Vancouver seems like a natural fit, however with all the development issues that have been kicked up ahead of the 2010 Olympics, getting a stadium might be a little difficult. San Diego to me seems to be the longest shot due to stadium situations.

What do you think?

MLS Expansion - Seattle group looking at 7 locations for stadium

One of the three groups trying to bring a MLS side to Seattle says they have 7 possible sites for a soccer stadium in the area.

Atletico Seattle wants to purchase enough land to, wait for it, build a mixed-use real estate development along with a stadium. This is very similar to the idea the San Jose, St. Louis and DC ownership groups are looking into.

None of the seven sites are in downtown Seattle, but all of them are located in the same county (King). There are "three sites in Tukwila, two in Renton and one each in Kent and Des Moines." (click on the map to see where these are located). Renton and Tukwila are each about 8-miles from downtown, while Des Moines is closer to 10 and Kent is around 14.

In other news, the group led by Adrian Hanauer, managing director of the Seattle Sounders, is still very interested in being part of the MLS, but the hang up with him might have to due with his stadium choice. He would like the new MLS team to play their games at the 67,000-seat Qwest Field.

"I think Qwest Field would make a good venue because it's in the heart of downtown Seattle," Hanauer said. "It was built with soccer in mind. The sightlines are great, the width of the field is appropriate, you're close to the action and the team and fan facilities are great."

The third bidder in the Seattle business is Jason Keston, but it is unknown if he is still interested.

MLS Expansion - Seattle is very close

According to the Seattle Times, the city of Seattle is very close to landing a MLS franchise for the 2009 season.

"There's pretty high-level conversations going on right now about MLS," (Sounders managing partner Adrian) Hanauer said earlier Tuesday on KJR radio about MLS expansion to Seattle. "There's a lot of progress being made and lot of conversations happening.

"I'd say this thing is further along than it's ever been. There's a high, high likelihood that MLS will be here in the not-too-distant future."

In another bit of interesting news, US goalkeeper Kasey Keller was in attendance to watch the Seattle Sounders pound the Colorado Rapids last night. Keller, who currently has no club to call home has been approached by the Sounders to play for the club.

He has ruled out a move to the USL in the past, however, here comes my wild speculation, if Seattle was given a MLS team to start play in 2009, maybe Keller would play a year in the USL with the Sounders knowing that he would move up to the MLS the next year. He has said that he would love to play in the MLS if there was a team in Seattle so maybe it might happen.