The Seattle Sounders won the MLS Cup (soccer née football) this week.
The intense support for the team – record attendance, leading the league in season ticket sales – was built over only seven years. Shortly before the club first played in the MLS, I walked into the café at work at lunchtime to uproar.
Drew Carey, sometime TV personality and Sounders shareholder, was running a contest to see who could scream Goal for the longest time on one breath. There can’t have been more than fifty people in the room.
As in music, fan bases are earned one fan at a time, with dues paid through long miles on the road to get the fire started. Of course a winning penalty when the chips are down helps fan the flames.