Seattle Sounders

Seattle Sounders Football Club, or simply Seattle Sounders, is a football club from the United States, based in the city of Seattle, Washington. It is the home of one of the main franchises of Major League Soccer, playing in the Western Conference since the 2009 season. The team plays its home matches at Lumen Field.

The current incarnation of Sounders FC was created on 13 November 2007 as the 15th expansion team of Major League Soccer. The fans chose the name through an online poll in 2008, thus becoming the fourth football club in Seattle to bear the name.

The majority owner of the club is the Hollywood producer Joe Roth, and its minority partners are Adrian Hanauer, Paul Allen and Drew Carey. The two-time MLS Cup winner Sigi Schmid is the coach of the team. Together with several organized groups, a 53-member band called "Sound Wave" supports the club at every home match. Seattle's rivals are the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps; both also compete in Major League Soccer.

Sounders FC played its inaugural match on 19 March 2009, defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-0. Seattle has set new MLS records in average attendance, has led the league in ticket sales, and qualified for the MLS Playoffs in each of its first five seasons. Sounders FC has led MLS in attendance since its inaugural season, with average attendances exceeding by 50%-60% those of the next best-supported team in the league, LA Galaxy. The team had an average attendance of 44,038 spectators per match at Lumen Field in 2013.

In 2009, Sounders FC became the second expansion team in MLS history to win the U.S. Open Cup, and in 2010 the first team in the league to repeat as champions. Sounders won its third consecutive cup in 2011, defeating Chicago Fire 2-0. In 2012, the Sounders reached their fourth consecutive Open Cup final, losing to Sporting Kansas City on penalties. In 2014, Seattle won its fourth U.S. Open Cup, defeating Philadelphia Union 3-1 in extra time and equaling the number of titles won by Chicago Fire, the most successful team in the tournament that currently competes in Major League Soccer.

In 2014, the team won its first MLS title, being crowned winner of the MLS Supporters' Shield, the title awarded to the team with the best points total during the regular season.

In 2016, the team was crowned champion in a penalty shootout by 5-4 after defeating Toronto FC, winning the championship for the first time in its history.