November 17 – David Beckham’s (pictured) appearance in the MLS Cup Final on Sunday has sparked a late rush for tickets at Qwest Field in Seattle with organisers putting another 6,000 on sale.
The game already had sold out its initial allotment of 36,000 seats before Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy qualified to meet Real Salt Lake, beating Houston Dynamo 2-0 in the semi-final series decider last Friday.
Officials have now decided to open up an extra tier to make more seats available at the stadium that Seattle Sounders share with Seattle Seahawks, the American football team.
The decision to hold the Cup final there appears to be a masterstroke.
The Sounders, who are part-owned by comedian Drew Carey, have been one of the major successes of this season in their first in the MLS.
Its team, which included former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg and ex-Leicester and Tottenham goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who is from the city, reached the play-offs and played exhibition matches against Chelsea and Barcelona.
The club have been praised for creating a genuine European-style atmosphere at matches and the fans have quickly become hailed as the most passionate in the country.
The club sold 22,000 season tickets, which included the MLS Cup as part of the package, and already more than 90 per cent have renewed for next year.
There is also a waiting list of 8,300 fans who want to be part of the party and the anticipation is that for the 2010 season the Sounders will have 30,000 season ticket holders.
The final will put Beckham within touching distance of helping Galaxy lift their first title since 2005, which will justify the multi-million dollar gamble Tim Leiweke, President and chief executive of the club’s owners AEG, took on signing Beckham from Real Madrid in 2007.
The former England captain said: ”It’s so important for us to do well, we’ve had so many disappointments over the last four years and Tim Leiweke and everybody have put so much behind this team.
“This club and this franchise and the players are doing them proud.
“We’ve got a great bunch of guys that are working hard for each other and it’s been tough, so we’re happy.”
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