USL News Release

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

TAMPA, FL – It was announced today that defending USL First Division (USL-1) champion Seattle Sounders will return to play their 15th season in the league as the market prepares for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in 2009.

“USL congratulates Seattle Sounders’ owner Adrian Hanauer on his role in bringing a MLS franchise to Seattle,” said USL Executive Vice President and COO Tim Holt. “It is a bittersweet moment for our league with the positive news of the Sounders returning to defend their 2007 USL-1 Championship partially offset by the loss of Seattle as a USL professional league market in 2009. Overall, soccer fans in Seattle are the winners and we take great pride in the fact that the Sounders numerous successes over the past 14 seasons of competition in USL have elevated the profile of Seattle as an elite American soccer city. Certainly, we are grateful to the Sounders ownership group’s dedication to the growth of USL and professional soccer over the years.”

Established in 1994 under the name of the former North American Soccer League team, the Sounders have seen their greatest success in USL-1, winning four league championships in 1995, 1996, 2005 and 2007. In their 14 USL-1 seasons, the club has a regular season record of 224-118-35 with only two missed playoff campaigns. Including the NASL era, the Sounders will be playing their 25th season of professional soccer in Seattle. In their 10-year history in the NASL (1974-83) the team was 151-124-3 with appearances in the Soccer Bowl championship game in 1977 and 1982, both losses to the New York Cosmos.

"The Seattle Sounders have had a great run in USL and we hope to have one last successful season here in Seattle,” said Sounders Owner Adrian Hanauer. “We will do our best to defend our USL First Division Championship in 2008."

Continued success in Pacific Northwest a priority for USL First Division

Although the Seattle market will debut in MLS starting in 2009, it may not be the end of the USL First Division’s presence in the Pacific Northwest.

“Beyond continuing to have two of the nation’s most vibrant professional soccer franchises in Portland and Vancouver, we have undertaken the process of exploring all possibilities with respect to landing a USL-1 franchise in another Pacific Northwest market, including working with several members of the current USL-1 franchise ownership group for the relocation of the Sounders franchise rights,” said USL President and Founder Francisco Marcos.

“Our search for a new USL-1 franchise in the region will accompany our increased focus on the aggressive growth of USL-1 in support of franchise owners who have experienced similar success on and off the field in their markets such as Montreal, Portland, Vancouver and Rochester. Our teams have proven on the field over the years through the US Open Cup that the gap between the level of quality in USL-1 and MLS is minimal. USL-1 serves not only as the home to high-caliber professional soccer, but as the pinnacle for many of North America’s elite clubs.”

“Off the field, more and more of our teams are growing in fan support and are establishing themselves as vertically-integrated soccer clubs, becoming a part of the community by expanding into youth and women’s soccer to the point that half of the USL-1 organizations in 2007 fielded W-League teams, including three of the four W-League semifinalists.”

“Seattle’s championship opponent, Atlanta, is but one excellent example. The Silverbacks have created a comprehensive club structure from the ground up since their re-birth in 1999 to include a vast recreational program for all ages, a youth development program in the Super Y-League, a Premier Development League team and a W-League team that reached the W-League championship this past August. The centerpiece of their efforts is the privately-funded Atlanta Silverbacks Park replete with soccer stadium and training facilities.”

“Atlanta is not alone in the area of stadium development. Charleston Battery was the first U.S. professional soccer franchise to build a privately-financed soccer stadium in 1999 and the Rochester Rhinos debuted their new home last season. The new stadium for the Montreal Impact is already near completion for next year and, it is further expected that the new Whitecaps stadium will obtain the necessary public approvals to be built in the near future in Vancouver.”