Seattle has a strong soccer history in the Pacific Northwest. They have been active in almost every league that has tried to ingrain itself into America’s sports culture. The first professional team began playing in 1974 as a part of the North American Soccer League, but this team, the original Seattle Sounders, was forced to stop selling tickets in 1984 after the leagued ceased to exist.

It would be years until another league would star, but the Seattle Sounders happily joined the USL First Division in 1994 and have been playing there ever since, at least until this latest move. Starting in 2009, the Seattle Sounders became Seattle Sounders FC and moved from the USL to the top league, selling soccer tickets in the MLS Western Conference. The team will play at Qwest Field and will sport blue and green uniforms with a shield emblem logo that incorporates the Space Needle.

This season the Sounders will sell tickets to games to see Sebastian Le Toux, Freddie Ljungberg, and many others in the team’s inaugural season. This team has a clear advantage over other expansion teams in the past- it may be new to the MLS, but the Sounders are hardly an inexperienced franchise.