The Seattle Sounders FC exceeded expectations both on the field and in the stands last season – qualifying for the playoffs in their first year, and finishing only two points shy of winning the Supporters' Shield. Seattle began play 2009 season as Major League Soccer's 15th team, during which every home game was sold out. In fact, a new MLS record for average match attendance was set, and they sold the most season tickets in the league – all 22,000 the team had to offer. The team finished the 2009 season with a winning record and qualified for the MLS playoffs, where they were eliminated in the conference semi-finals.
The Sounders played their first home match on March 19, 2009, to a sold-out crowd of 32,523. Seattle defeated the New York Red Bulls 3–0, en route to becoming the first MLS expansion team to win their first three games, and doing so with a shutout in each! The club also set a state record for attendance at a soccer match on August 5, 2009, when 66,848 attended a friendly match with FC Barcelona.
On September 2, 2009, Sounders FC became only the second MLS expansion team in league history (after Chicago) to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in their first season – doing so by defeating D.C. United 2–1 on the road at RFK Stadium, thus also qualifying Seattle for play in the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League.
On October 17, 2009, the Seattle Sounders FC became only the second MLS expansion team in league history (again, after Chicago) to qualify for the playoffs in their first season. They clinched a playoff berth with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Wizards in Kansas City. Seattle finished the 2009 regular season with a 12-7-11, while setting a new MLS record for average attendance with 30,943 fans a game, but with 31,500 season tickets sold for the 2010 season, the Sounders will make sure that record stands for only one year.
Their inaugural season came to an end in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs when they lost in the conference semi-finals to the Houston Dynamo by a 1–0 aggregate score for the two-legged series. During the 2009 season, all fifteen MLS regular-season Sounders FC home matches, their home playoff match, and their four home U.S. Open Cup matches – played at Starfire Sports Complex – were sold out.
