Given my limited exposure to Seattle over the past decade, I could see it. I first went there to visit friends right around the time that Seattle had emerged as a good baseball team. It must have been a few years after they beat the Yankees in that famous series. But I don't recall there being much of a noticeable passion for the team. The Seahawks might as well have been non existent then. Seattle is kind of like Atlanta, in that it has so many people who are not from there. Except there are no black people, and a hell of a lot of 25 year old meth/heroin addicts living on the streets. It doesn't seem like a huge pro sports supporting town. I was last there a year ago and don't recall much passion for any team among the people I ran across. From what I've read it does sound like that MLS team is at least competing for attention with the Seahawks. And given their very recent PR win, they could easily own the short-term interests of the fans. Although if Russell Wilson and the Seahawks build on last season, they will probably own what part of the city that cares.