Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). Sounders FC was established in November 2007 as an MLS expansion team, making it the 15th team in the league. Fans chose the Sounders name through an online poll in 2008, making the Seattle Sounders FC the third Seattle soccer club to share the moniker.

The club's majority owner is Hollywood producer Joe Roth, and its minority owners are Adrian Hanauer, Paul Allen and Drew Carey. Two-time MLS Cup winner Sigi Schmid is the club's head coach. Sounders FC home matches are played at CenturyLink Field. Along with several organized groups, a 53-member marching band called 'Sound Wave' supports the club at each home match. Seattle competes with rival MLS clubs Portland and Vancouver in the Cascadia Cup.

Sounders FC played its inaugural match on March 19, 2009, winning 3–0 over the New York Red Bulls. Seattle has sold out every league match, set MLS records for average attendance, led the league in season ticket sales, and qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs in each of its first three seasons. In 2009, Sounders FC became the second expansion club in MLS history to win the U.S. Open Cup, and in 2010 became the first ever MLS club to repeat as Open Cup champions. Sounders FC won a third consecutive Open Cup in 2011, defeating the Chicago Fire 2–0.

Clinton Drew "Clint" Dempsey (born March 9, 1983) is an American association football player who plays for Fulham and the United States national team. He usually plays as a deep-lying forward.

Growing up in Nacogdoches, Texas, Dempsey played for one of the top youth soccer clubs in the state, the Dallas Texans, before playing for Furman University's men's soccer team. In 2004, Dempsey was drafted by Major League Soccer club New England Revolution, where he quickly integrated himself into the starting lineup. Hindered initially by a jaw injury, he would eventually score 25 goals in 71 appearances with the Revolution. Since 2007, Dempsey has played for Premier League team Fulham and has earned the club record for goals scored in Premier League matches.

Dempsey first represented the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. He made his first appearance with the senior team on November 17, 2004, against Jamaica; he was then named to the squad for the 2006 World Cup and scored the team's only goal of the tournament. Dempsey recorded the fastest goal in U.S. World Cup qualifying history by scoring after 53 seconds of an eventual 8–0 defeat of Barbados. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Dempsey scored against England, becoming the second American, after Brian McBride to score goals in multiple World Cup tournaments. Dempsey became the first American player to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League in the 5–2 win over Newcastle United in January 2012.