Here's a thread to briefly profile both who you think will be Seattle's audience and also where you fit in that group. I'll start. I am 45, and generally a sports fan but I'd say that soccer is my viewing passion. So, I'd put myself in the category of Seattle fans who will be coming to matches out of love for the sport and the desire to see the new team succeed / grow into something special. I live in Kitsap County so I'll be with the fans who must travel around an hour each way to get to matches.
Now that we are close to the 12,000 mark in deposits...anyone care to wager the make-up of that group? Is it a balance of soccer families and 'hard-core' support? More of one than the other?
There has been nothing new on that for a while now. If the Sounders did somehow move to Kitsap County that would split me three ways as I also follow the Tacoma Tide of the PDL. I'd just have to hope for a minimal amount of same-day matches.
I turn 42 in a few months. I live in West Seattle with my wife and two daughters. I am as ugly as sin, and I talk loud in restaurants. I am a sports nut, and I have been since I was six years old. I enjoy baseball, football, hockey and of course, soccer. I am fairly fanatical about all of them. My favorite soccer squads include UNAM (Pumas), Arsenal, any CONCACAF club in World Cup play and now of couse MLS Seattle. I've lived in five different countries in my time, born originally in London, England. Of all places I've lived, Seattle is my favorite, the place I have called home now for thirteen years.
If I might, I'd like to wager an outsiders answer. I am a long time Sounders fan, but not a Washingtonian. I am a 32 year old male, single and loving it. I was born and raised in San Diego, have also lived in Phoenix and Tampa Bay, as well as small-town NC and VT. I now live in Pittsburgh, and we have a Div. 2 team, the Riverhounds. I remain a Seattle USL 1 fan (I have family in Woodinville), but I fear rumors of Seattle MLS espousing that mouthful of a name Emerald City Seattle FC. I wish it were ECFC or SFC, or indeed, the Sounders. We also have a new supporters group, the Steel Army, and they intend to facilitate various trips to away Hounds matches, Columbus Crew matches, and USMNT matches, from what I understand. As for me, I'm a fan of all levels of sanctioned soccer, MLS, USL, NCAA (M and W), so I'll probably sample a little of this and a little of that. I am drawn to the history and various cultures of soccer. I may not pay attention to every player's stats, or the latest trades, but I am an obsessed soccer fan. Take what you like and leave the rest. If I lived in Puget Sound, I'd certainly support the Sounders, and UW (my other uncle, now a BC resident, taught there), and hopefully this MLS team, if it progresses well. What others will come? Well, if the Sounders indicate, then Seattle MLS will have a very healthy supporters group culture, but with tons of room for the AYSO crowd, and that's what an American team should be. I just hope the SMLS FO stops upsetting people, like it seems as if they are doing. For now, Go Rapids.
A few vocal fans on these boards have definitely been miffed by some of the new FO's actions, but I think most all of that revolves around a main issue. There are plenty of other areas where the club is doing 'all the right things,' such as with the launch, publicity, partnering with the Seahawks to sell tickets, etc. Hopefully Seattle will win you over from the Rapids!