Friday will be “a day for capturing moments never seen in Seattle” when the USMNT and Australia meet in the group stage of the World Cup, according to Tim Booth of the SEATTLE TIMES. Events such as Friday “don’t come around here often.” The idea of a soccer match being the biggest single sporting event in a city “is counterintuitive to American culture and sporting norms.” But it is the international component of the World Cup “pushing this to the top -- and it could be topped again in just a couple of weeks when a Round of 16 match is played in Seattle, potentially with the U.S. involved in that game as well” (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18).
SOCCER CITY: In Philadelphia, Jonathan Tannenwald noted Seattle is “rich with a half-century of soccer history,” from the NASL’s Sounders to the MLS version, “always drawing big and passionate crowds.” In recent years, the NWSL’s Reign have joined them, “with their own robust fan base watching stars of the women’s game” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/18). USMNT MF Cristian Roldan, who plays for the Sounders, said, “The city is ready. The city is energized. You’re going to feel the crowd, feel the energy, and it’s about feeding off it.” SOCCER AMERICA’s Mike Woitalla noted that soccer is “immensely popular” in many American cities with “intriguing histories, but soccer fandom in Seattle feels more omnipresent than in most” (SOCCER AMERICA, 6/18).
IN THE ARCHITECTURE: In N.Y., Brian Lewis writes Lumen Field is “one of the loudest stadiums on the planet.” Seattle is “arguably the most soccer-mad city in the country,” and it is about to host “the biggest game in its history.” The extensive use of concrete and aluminum seats “makes sound reverberate and amplify throughout the bowl.” The compact footprint puts fans close to the field. And 70% of the seats are covered by “big, curved metal canopies, acting as parabolic sound mirrors that bounce noise straight onto the field.” It is an “acoustic attack the U.S. and its fans will weaponize against the Aussies” (N.Y. POST, 6/19).
AD CAMPAIGN: In Seattle, Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton wrote Desert Green Turf in Moses Lake, Grant County, was “the star of a recent commercial that aired last week” during the inaugural World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa. A FIFA spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the business supplied Seattle Stadium “with its turf.” Per the spokesperson, the company “also provided turf to Los Angeles Stadium” (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18).
ON STRIKE: In a separate piece, Boyanton wrote unionized employees at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square are “on strike over faltering contract negotiations during the FIFA Men’s World Cup.” The picket line by Unite Here! Local 8 workers, the union that represents “around 7,000 workers” in Washington and Oregon’s hospitality industries, began at 6:30am Thursday. Only unionized workers, about 117, at Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square were on strike Thursday. The strike comes as Seattle “buzzes with visitors and soccer fans during its moment on the global map as a host city of World Cup games.” With the USMNT-Australia match set for Friday, it was unclear “how the strike will affect services at the hotel” (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18).
