This week, Seattle Sounders FC will bid for the right to host the U.S. Open Cup championship game at Qwest Field. Seattle would qualify for the final if it wins the semifinal match against the Houston Dynamo on July 21. Seattle hopes its bid will be accepted over possible ones from the other semifinalists: D.C. United of Major League Soccer and Rochester of the United Soccer Leagues. The winning bid goes to the team that offers the most money to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
"We considered our options for the quarterfinals," Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer said of playing the quarterfinal game against the Portland Timbers at Portland's PGE Park. "We were still selling standing-room tickets the day of the game. It didn't feel like it was a 30,000 [seat] demand. It's just a better vibe at a packed stadium then a half-full stadium," he added. "That energy has helped us get through games."
Seattle is also looking at the big picture of using an Open Cup win to qualify for the Concacaf Champions League, which remains a possibility.