Comments on: DIY or Prefab? Portland, Seattle and Success in American Soccer Culture

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:51:38 +0000

The odd thing is, I think the reason why Seattle loves its Sounders is because it’s such an authentic fan experience. The article seems to diride them for the opposite, though.

By: FC Dallas: We Are NOT Spectators | Pitch Invasion

FC Dallas: We Are NOT Spectators | Pitch Invasion — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:59:33 +0000

[...] Dallas obviously have a serious deficit of such supporters, and given the success of Seattle’s marketing campaign, they and many other MLS teams have wisely chosen to try to appeal more to your active soccer fan. [...]

By: MLS Cup and the Geography of Soccer in Seattle | Pitch Invasion

MLS Cup and the Geography of Soccer in Seattle | Pitch Invasion — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:04:35 +0000

[...] the story of the Sounders’ business success this year has been well-told by others. So I found myself thinking about the whole thing in relation to the broader scope of soccer in [...]

By: RJ

RJ — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:09:58 +0000

An interesting article Benjamin.

Speaking as an Englishman who recently attended his first Sounders game, I can assure you that the stadium announcer does not have a posh accent, authentic or not. I would hazzard a guess that he comes from somewhere in Lancashire such as Bolton where such flattened tones are common. His accent is almost comical and if you’ve ever watched the tv programme Phoenix Nights then you may understand what I mean.

Other than this – I think the club/fans have created an interesting experience – a lot of passion and effort has gone in and I’m pleased that this has been rewarded by such great attendances. Whilst it’s not really ground-up match experience, the club is only 1 year old afterall and some of the English premier league clubs I’ve visited could benefit from this kind of passion and organisation.

Good luck Sounders!!!

By: Q&A with the Portland Timber’s Amos Magee | Pitch Invasion

Q&A with the Portland Timber’s Amos Magee | Pitch Invasion — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:15:32 +0000

[...] pjw: Can you compare the Seattle/Portland rivalry to anything else you’ve experienced? How will Portland differ from Seattle culturally in MLS? [...]

By: What’s Happening in Major League Soccer » The Ozarks High School Sports Zone

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:55:16 +0000

[...] positive news, one of my new favorite soccer sites is Pitch Invasion. They did a recent story on building a soccer culture in America, using Seattle and Portland as recent [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:00:50 +0000

Finnfann . . . Good points, I am quite entralled by the success and involvement in Seattle . . . (as described in my “mistress” post on soccersoapbox) . . . and shouldn’t have underestimated the home-grown aspect of ECS in that commentary. I’m very hopeful that we get a great Portland/Seattle rivalry to really push the issue for the other teams in MLS. Cheers . . .

By: Summertime and The Blogging Ain’t Easy « Soccer Soap Box

Summertime and The Blogging Ain’t Easy « Soccer Soap Box — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:02:14 +0000

[...] that appears to be calling my mistress ugly. (See Major League (Soccer) Mistress.) Basically, this excellent blog posting looks at a local Seattle Sounders Portland Timbers comparison. Portland looks to join MLS in [...]

By: finnfan

finnfan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:01:28 +0000

Bob, the supporters (ECS and TA) are just as home-grown and do-it-yourself in both cities. The difference in my view is that in Seattle the FO has more gimmicks that attempt to get the rest of the crowd do “supporter-like” things. The only thing that has worked so far is to have them hold their scarfs up during the Golden Scarf ceremony, although even that has died down considerably lately in comparison to the inaugural game and early season in general. The Pemco sponsored chanting of “Sounders ’till I die” at the 74th minute appears to have failed completely. The gimmicks don’t work, but the FO keeps pushing them on us anyway.

In contrast, the stadium wide “Seattle – Sounders” cal response was started by the ECS without any FO involvement, and has REALLY taken off. There are a couple other things that seem to be growing from the ground up here.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:42:37 +0000

Great stuff, ridiculously interesting. Good questions raised about home-grown versus club directed supporters. I wonder though if a “promoted” club could use view club-support for a supporters group as a way to kickstart the following, which would later take on a unique, homegrown flavor. Maybe it’s not one or the other forever?