Quote:
Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates
Even the sounders get amazingly large crowds.
Not sure where the notion Seattle isn't a strong sports market comes from.
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Gotta scratch my head on how Seattle isn't a big sports market. I would agree that big league sports isn't religion here since there are so many more people and activities. It is simply diluted with everything else in a big city.
Seattle is a bigger market than Denver, Minnesota and Miami all of which have all four major league plus Division 1 college. Heck, WSU and Gonzaga play their some of their "home" games at Key.
Also there is simply a lot of people who live in the area. To put into context, the Seattle-Tacoma-Everett area has 1 million more people than the Lower Mainland or even if you combine the metro populations of Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg...heck throw in Regina and Saskatoon, it still wouldn't be as big as the Seattle MSA.
It is a big pool of humanity with a vibrant and strong grassroots hockey following. I didn't think MLS would do well when they came back a few years ago but like a lot of NA, there is/was a strong grassroots soccer community here and now the Sounders are a big ticket event even though you don't hear everyone talking about it.
People follow hockey and are passionate about it, but it is one of many activities to do and diluted as such. No other country follows hockey with the same laser focus the way Canadians do.