As Soundermania continues to grow in Seattle (see wild celebrations from the crowd at Tuesday's Open Cup win in the video above) some fans and folks within the Sounders organization have now openly questioned US Soccer's decision to award the US Open Cup Final to DC United's bid over Seattle's.
Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer told the Seattle Times "U.S. Soccer had a chance to raise the profile of the tournament," he said. "We would have sold out Qwest Field."
In a lengthy article from Don Ruiz Hanauer openly states “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was frustrated and somewhat skeptical of the process. I don’t think D.C. has played a game in the Open Cup on the road in two years. They had a road through all lower-division teams to get to the Open Cup Final. I’m not in the know … enough to be able to raise any real issues, but I’m frustrated and I wish U.S. Soccer would explain why one bid wins over another. Our fans deserve some answers.”
The Sounders' bid for the final apparently was for a Tuesday 1:00 PM kick off at Qwest Field on September 1st. The early time was due to a Mariners game later that night next door. US Soccer instead chose the DC United bid for Wednesday night September 2 at 4:30 PM Seattle time at RFK stadium.
In a brief email exchange Hanauer told SounderatHeart.com "The decision making process for US Soccer is based on the most compelling bid. The change of date did not seem to be an issue, but I am not certain exactly why we did not win vs DC United. Because the bidding is “objective” and “closed”… it is unlikely that we will ever know the reasoning. I can only assume that DC bid more money."
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Meanwhile, US Soccer has also been busy playing bully with the best and only US Open Cup website, run by fans of the tournament. Laurie over at Seattle Offside looks at that.
Comments
The question is, why didn't seattle bid more money? If Seattle can sell 40000 more tickets that DC can, then why cant they out bid them? Greed i guess.
40K more? We seat 32K and on a Tuesday afternoon I would be hard pressed to say we get that. Evening game here we would, but the Marines hurt that bid. Saturday will be a test to see the problems of having 2 sports going on at the same time across the street from each other.
My theory is it is all about the time and maybe factor in money from FSC. They would pay more for a 7:30 game then a 4:30 game.
nice sounders sleeve in the video
It's a conspiracy against the Sounders. I mean, US Soccer didn't let Seattle play any Open Cup matches at home except for half of them. That's outrageous! Seattle raised the profile of the USOC by playing those matches in Tukwila where I understand soccer is now massive.
what's the big deal with the Mariners game being on? are they worried about crowds? I looked at Mariners weeknight attendances and they only get around 20000 for those games. If Seattle scheduled a US Open Cup game next door at night, so what? the combined attendances coming to the area would be less than a Seahawks game. I think it could be handled.
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