Major League Entertainment

If you are looking for some Major League Excitement at a Minor League Price, look no further than the Starfire Sports Complex located just down the road from our Angle Lake neighborhood! Starfire is the official training facility and administrative home of the Seattle Sounders FC and their presence at this venue is a truly unique format in professional sports.

Visitors coming to this facility have an unprecedented opportunity to get up close and personal with the players. On training days the Sounders walk about openly throughout the campus as they move between locker rooms, lunchroom and fields—and most training sessions are open for the public to come watch. This close proximity of fan to player continues when Sounders games come to Starfire.

I witnessed for the first time Wednesday night Sounders match play in the US Open Cup. I quickly discovered that the small, three thousand seat facility places the fans quite nearly on top of the field—so close that players often share hugs and high-fives with spectators after a big goal. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement with flags waving, a virtual sea of scarves and several hundred Emerald City Supporters performing their orchestrated song and synchronized cheers. Very entertaining to watch and so loud you’d swear it was piped through the public address speakers. The fan induced energy that rages through the stadium rivals—if not surpasses—that of the largest soccer facilities in the country.  It can be quite a menacing environment for the opposing team. In fact, the Sounders have never lost an Open Cup game played on the Starfire pitch, including the win this week of 5 goals to 1 over the Atlanta Silverbacks!

In addition to an intimate seating arrangement, the field offers a beer garden and concession stands, while the complex also offers sit down dining in the MAD Pizza restaurant and bar, with additional hot beverages served in the Café Siena.  Located at Fort Dent in Tukwila, Starfire is extremely convenient to get to from the first off ramp off Interstate 405 from I-5, where even in heavy traffic it only takes mere minutes to get there from SeaTac. For more information visit the website at http://www.starfiresports.com/.

If you've attended Sounder match play here before, please leave a comment to share your expirence with others. I think you’ll be hard-pressed to locate a better entertainment value!