The Price is Right

For this blog, I wanted to look into an up and coming league so I chose the MLS. The MLS is a fast growing league thanks to the help of the international popularity as well as those players coming to the United States to play on our club teams. Two notable European stars to come over are Thierry Henry of France and David Beckham of England. The MLS needs exciting new owners to promote this new attraction to Americans. A good start is the passionate Drew Carey.

As I have learned in Bad Sports, most owners in sports do not know anything about the sport or the team they own. Some owners inherit the teams from an heir and then almost have no choice but to run the team to keep it in the family. Other owners get wealthy in the business world and then put in millions of dollars into a team just because they can. Drew Carey is a bit different. Drew is a minority owner of the Seattle Sounders FC. Drew first became interested in the game of soccer by going to an MLS match, quickly followed by international matches in Spain. Drew Carey was fascinated with not only the traditions of the major clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, but also the main office ways as well. On these Spanish club teams, leadership roles are voted on by the members. Drew Carey adopted this role and implemented it into the Sounders association. A significant position that Sounders members vote on is the fate of the general manager every four years.  This will keep the team on its toes and ready to make necessary moves for the team's success. An asset to the Sounders is their stadium. They pair with the Seattle Seahawks to share the now named Century Link Stadium. The Sounders average a sellout every home game averaging over 39,000  fans, nearly 12,000 more fans than the second leading team in attendance. With such a large venue at hand, Carey decided to give a new look to the MLS. His new idea was a 53 member marching band called the Sound Wave. Before each home game, the Sound Wave marches from a local park into the stadium with thousands of fans following. Carey is implementing new ideas and forming new traditions to make the Seattle Sounders and the MLS to become more than a "one-night stand" experience. The Sounders are still a young team having since joined the MLS as an expansion team in 2007. Although they have not won an MLS Cup, they have reached the playoffs in three out of the past four years. This is a young club with a minority owner that is trying to put the MLS on the map with many new ideas accumulating. Oh, he also hosts the famous show The Price is Right as his day job.

http://www.soundersfc.com/team/staff-members/drew-carey.aspx
http://mlsattendance.blogspot.com/
http://www.soundersfc.com/matchday/march-to-the-match.aspx
http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2010