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Soccer

Team 33: Seattle Sounders Smells Like Soccer Success

Unlike the old North American Soccer League, the amount of due diligence done by Major League Soc...



Team 33: Seattle Sounders Smel...
Soccer

Team 33: Seattle Sounders Smells Like Soccer Success

Unlike the old North American Soccer League, the amount of due diligence done by Major League Soccer means David Beckham's new Miami franchise is built on more solid ground than the type of lustrous sand that populates the area's shoreline.

But if Miami are to look at how to get things right when launching a new MLS franchise, the place to look is Seattle, where the Sounders have been a major success on and off the pitch.

Their success was something I looked at on Team 33 this week with sportswriter and communications consultant Mike Gastineau, author of Sounders FC: AUTHENTIC MASTERPIECE: The Inside Story Of The Best Franchise Launch In American Sports History.

In the stands, their large fanbase accounts for an average attedance of more than 35,000 supporters, while back in 2015, Forbes had listed the Sounders as the most valuable club in MLS and the one with the highest revenue.

On the pitch, they've won four US Open Cups since their official launch date in 2009, and reached the MLS pinnacle by winning the MLS Cup in 2016 and almost repeating the feat last year.

Yet, prior to their announcement as an MLS expansion franchise, they had existed in the old NASL of the 1970s and early '80s alongside the iconic New York Cosmos before folding.

Yet the Sounders legacy lived on and the organisation is now a successful example of a phoenix club.

You can listen to the full chat with Mike on the podcast player or stream/download on iTunes:   

Recent interviews on Team 33 include former Man United cult hero Andrei Kanchelskis, ex-England international Carlton Palmer, former Newcastle and Everton left back Alessandro Pistone, Chelsea legends Bobby Tambling and Paddy Mulligan, Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, ex-England striker Darius Vassell, Liverpool legend David Fairclough, former Ireland midfielder Mark Kinsella and former Everton forward Tomasz Radzinski. Plus our in-depth chats with Tony CotonPackie BonnerNobby SolanoRon Atkinson and Alan Curbishley are still available on iTunes. You can find them all in one place by subscribing to Team 33 on iTunes.

And that's all from this week, Joe and Derek also chatted about matters on and off the field: 

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