Just a few hundred feet from the shores of the Puget Sound, an unmistakable roar emerges from Lumen Field, where the Seattle Sounders have created a standout atmosphere in North American soccer.
The stadium has become an icon, too, with fans making it one of the loudest in the world, whether that be the Sounders in front of over 69,000 at the 2019 MLS Cup, or the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, who set a world record of 137.6 decibels, which created seismic activity in the area.
That iconic atmosphere, which remains an MLS highlight even as the league has grown to 30 clubs, makes it no surprise that the club have sold over 60,000 tickets to set a competition record for the 2025 Leagues Cup Final on Sunday night against Inter Miami.
Unlike some MLS markets, it’s not the Lionel Messi and friends show in Seattle—and the Sounders’ identity couldn’t be any more different from their South Florida foes.
“It’s going to be awesome, we’re all going to feed off the energy as much as we possibly can, and the crowd is a massive boost in a game like this,” said goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who has taken the starter reins from veteran Stefan Frei in Leagues Cup. “Every little advantage that you can get out of the game is massive.”
Since 2023, Miami have built around Messi, bringing in several of his friends, and navigating MLS salary structures to build a dream-team, of sorts, but an unbalanced one from front to back.
Yet, the starpower in Seattle is different.
Outside of U.S. men’s national team legend Clint Dempsey, the Sounders have seldom signed aging superstars, and currently rely on Argentine DP winger Pedro De La Vega, as well as Cristian Roldan, Alex Roldan, Jackson Ragen, Paul Rothrock, and Osaze De Rosario, among others.
“Messi is arguably the best player the world has ever seen, but we have Paul Rothrock, and we have Jackson Ragen, and we have Snyder Brunell and Andrew Thomas, we’ve got good players too,” head coach Brian Schmetzer said, adding: “[Luis] Suárez is not going to run by anybody because Yeimar is faster.”
