Olympia Time

History, politics, people of Oly WA

Category: Soccer (Page 4 of 6)

No MLS Cup on KOMO

November 16, 2007 / / 0 Comments

We buy 3,000 season tickets since Tuesday, but no MLS Cup on KOMO this Sunday:

Kaylor, Doreen
to Emmett O’Connell
date Nov 15, 2007 4:54 PM
subject RE: MLS Cup this Sunday?

KOMO will not be airing the MLS Cup on Sunday. The FCC regulations on Children’s programming are extremely strict. Part of the requirements for retaining a broadcast license is that stations must air a specific amount of children’s programming each week during a specific window of time. ABC booked so many hours of sports programming this weekend that it was necessary for us to pre-empt some of the sports programming and air FCC children’s programming.

Unfortunately ESPN was not able to find another home in the Seattle market to air the soccer match – either on cable or broadcast television.

“Barcelona model” not actually Barca and socis

November 15, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Just a short note, even though I’m excited about the selling of memberships of the new Seattle MLS team and the prospect of that actually giving fans a voice in the team, it doesn’t seem likely to me that anyone outside of Drew Carey, Joe Roth, Andrian Hauner and Paul Allen will actually own a stake in the team.

It won’t actually be a fan-owned team like FC United of Manchester, Yokohama F.C., or the Green Bay Packers.

In the Barcelona example, over 150,000 individuals, through the payment of yearly dues, own the Football Club Barcelona. Even though we’ll pay dues to the Seattle club, we won’t be owners. Any powers we have can be revoked by the owners.

Fan owned Seattle MLS?

November 13, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Goal Seattle:

Details were not made clear, but Carey was sold on the idea when Roth told him Seattle MLS would like to use ‘the Barcelona model’ of letting fans own part of the club and have voting shares. I am sure we’ll hear more about that soon.

Seattle PI:

And here’s another radical idea: Fans will be able to buy membership in the team, which will give them the power to vote out the general manager. That, too, came from Carey

Greg Roth on BigSoccer:

One of his stipuations is that the fans will own a small piece of the team very much like the current FC Barcelona model. The fans will have the opportunity to become members of the club. Fans can pay in (an mount to be detrmined). In return, fans would get T Shirts, discounts on tickets, special events etc. Every 4 years the fans or club members will have a vote on who should be the team chairman.

The Sounders would be the only major league team, outside of the famed Green Bay Packers, that have turned over any portion of the team to the fans.

List of Fan Owned Teams

In some ways, the way this entire thing is turning out, with the MLS coming to Seattle, with the announcement that the team will, in part, be fan owned, seems strange to me. While on one hand we have this caustic drama with the Sonics that is sapping the souls of any basketball fan in Seattle.

On the other hand, we have this hope-filled world opening up. Feels good.

Save Our Sounders (Saints)

October 22, 2007 / / 0 Comments

The arrival of a top-flight mens’ soccer side to Seattle should not be at the expense of a top-flight women’s side.

Adrian Hanauer, the current owner of the USL-1 Sounders and one of the three investors in the all but official MLS Soccer franchise, has (or did he?) pulled out of the ownership of the W-League Sounders Saints, the womens soccer team in these parts. Without in an influx of revenue, the team that finished in third place nationally this year might not exist in 2008.

Lacking a similar top-flight league as the MLS since the failure of the WUSA, the top womens’ soccer league in the United States has been the semi-pro W-League.

The Seattle Women’s Soccer Initiative is raising funds for the team:

The Seattle Women’s Soccer Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and developing top level women’s Soccer in Seattle by raising grass roots financial support for the semi-pro USL W-League program and development of an amateur feeder program that will provide the best players in the area to face the highest levels of competition available.

Go here to donate.

Although it is sad that investors (Hanauer?) have walked away, it would be great if this effort evolved into a European type Supporters Trust, a fan owned team.

Save Our Sounders

October 20, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Feels strange that the MLS would ever walk away from a 33-year old local brand name, but just in case, make sure to sign the Save Our Sounders petition.

SOS:

This effort has grown out of the many rumors surrounding the potential for Seattle being granted a Major League Soccer franchise for the 2009 MLS season. And, also the rumors regarding plans for professional soccer for 2008.

It has been speculated that there may be an announcement regarding Major League Soccer at the MLS Cup on November 18th, 2007 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC.

It has also been rumored that either the Sounders identity will move to MLS or that there will be a “Name the Team” campaign to be announced later.

Eric does a great job representing Sounders on MLS talk

October 20, 2007 / / 0 Comments

MLS Talk:

Eric Gilbertson a fan of the Seattle Sounders since the mid 1970s joins us to discuss the history of the franchise as well as the probable move of the team to MLS in 2008 or 2009. We also review the US-Switzerland game with Jonathan Starling and give Bob Bradley the props he deserves for putting so much faith in young players and those playing their club football outside MLS and the Premier League.

Download here.

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