title: Catwoman: Hunted

text: Dillon Gonzales, writing for "Geek Vibes Nation", gave the film a positive review, saying "Catwoman: Hunted marks a very welcome step from the DCAU towards putting a spotlight on women who are not called Wonder Woman. The effort is not the most vital, but it is one that embraces its sleek sense of fun that makes it very transfixing. The vocal performances capture the allure of these characters quite deftly".


title: Hart of Dixie

text: Hart of Dixie is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of becoming a heart surgeon fall apart, accepts an offer to work as a general practitioner in the fictional Gulf Coast town of Bluebell, Alabama.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: "Hart of Dixie" premiered on September 26, 2011. The show was scheduled to move back to Mondays in the fall for its third season, having been paired with "Beauty & the Beast". The show's third season premiered on October 7, 2013.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: On May 8, 2014, The CW renewed the show for its fourth season. On July 18, 2014, The CW president Mark Pedowitz announced that "Hart of Dixie" would have ten episodes for its fourth season, which premiered on December 15, 2014. On March 14, 2015, Leila Gerstein revealed that season four of "Hart of Dixie" would be its last. The CW officially canceled the show on May 7, 2015.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: The first season revolves around Zoe Hart adjusting to life in the small town of Bluebell, Alabama, after failing to secure a fellowship in New York because of her poor bedside manner. She has inherited half of the practice from a father she never knew, with whom Zoe's mother had an affair while engaged to the man Zoe knew as her dad. To keep her half of the inherited practice she must bring in 30% of the patients, which she finds difficult as she is at odds with most of the local residents due to her city persona. Zoe also struggles with her growing feelings for local attorney George Tucker, feelings of which his fiancée, Lemon Breeland, is fully aware, leading her to make it her mission to ensure Zoe leaves Bluebell. Other storylines include neighbor Wade's feelings for Zoe, which may or may not be returned; Zoe's friendship with the mayor, Lavon, and his past with Lemon; and Zoe's unresolved issues regarding her family.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: The season begins with Zoe confused with her feelings for both George and Wade, as she slept with Wade the night of George and Lemon's aborted wedding at the end of season one. She later decides that George isn't ready for another relationship yet and decides to see Wade. Lavon's former high school sweetheart Ruby Jeffries (Golden Brooks) returns to Bluebell and reveals she is opposing him for mayor. George begins dating again, first seeing newcomer Shelby Sinclair; however, he later dumps her, and Shelby begins dating Brick Breeland. George later starts a relationship with Wade's ex-wife, Tansy Truitt. As the season progresses, Ruby leaves after Lemon's jealousy destroys her and Lavon. Wade and Zoe continue to date, though they face their share of setbacks. At the end of the season, Zoe is faced deciding between a summer in New York working at a hospital at her dream job, only to have Wade confess his feelings for her, and she unable to return them. Meanwhile, Annabeth begins having feelings for Lavon, and later the two sleep together, leaving Lemon devastated by her best friend's betrayal.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: The season begins with Zoe returning to Bluebell after a summer in NYC, along with her new boyfriend Joel (Josh Cooke). George struggles to rebuild his life following his breakup with Tansy but finds love with Lavon's younger cousin. Lemon finds herself in a scandalous relationship, while Annabeth hopes her relationship with Lavon will grow into something more. Zoe learns more about her family roots in Bluebell, breaks up with Joel, and reunites with Wade.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: The final season deals with Zoe's pregnancy and her relationship with Wade. George, Lemon, Lavon, and Annabeth enter a tumultuous love affair, while Brick has to deal with his past in order to move forward as Lemon and Magnolia meet their half-sister from their estranged mother who left the family. In the end, George and Annabeth move in together, George changes careers to become a music manager, Zoe and Wade get married, and Lemon and Lavon get married. Zoe and Wade's marry in a rushed ceremony, due to Zoe's inhibitions about marriage and having gone into labor. They recite their vows while rushing towards the delivery room, delivering a baby boy.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: The final scene shows the town in harmony in the town square, Wade and Zoe with their son. An old love triangle is re-fueled among three elderly members of the community. Zoe asks if all small towns are like Bluebell, to which Wade answers that they probably aren't. Zoe agrees, and they get up to walk their son and join their friends.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Rachel Bilson as Zoe Hart, a medical doctor. Graduated from the prestigious medical school of Johns Hopkins University, Zoe is a smart and talented surgeon in her late twenties who aspires to specialize in cardio-thoracic surgery like her famous and successful adopted father. Unfortunately, after four years of residency at a New York hospital, she is denied the postdoctoral fellowship she wanted on the grounds that she needs to gain more experience in managing her relationships with patients. At the same time, the man she had been seeing for six years leaves her overnight, reproaching her for investing more in her medical career than in their relationship. This leads her to move from uptown Manhattan to Bluebell, Alabama, where a well-respected general practitioner has left her his part of a medical practice.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: At first, Zoe thought she'd have a quiet year in the small town before returning to her daily life in New York, but she soon realizes that things won't be so easy. As a beautiful, wealthy, glamorous and elegant city girl, she is more accustomed to the trendy restaurants and clubs, fine wines, luxurious fashion boutiques and cobblestone pavements of the big city than to the country bars, beer, fishing shops and dirt roads of the South. She also soon discovers that the kindly doctor from whom she inherited half of the Bluebell medical practice was in fact her biological father. She has a hard time dealing with this news, especially when the man who raised her starts avoiding her phone calls when she attempts to contact him and rekindle their old relationship. Zoe will suffer greatly from the situation throughout the TV series but will keep her courage and stay in Bluebell, determined to achieve the goals she has set for herself.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: Over time, viewers discover that despite the distance she tries so hard to put between herself and her patients, the young doctor really does care about them and is willing to do anything - including putting her reputation at risk - to help them. Open-minded and understanding, she never judges them and knows how to question herself when necessary. She goes on to become an invested resident of the town by helping it through its many crises or actively participating in its folklore and gains loyal and sincere friends such as Mayor Lavon Hayes, George Tucker, Annabeth Thibodaux, and many others.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: In season 2, she begins a romance with her childish neighbor Wade Kinsella... However, he ends up cheating on her she ends their affair. In the season finale, Zoe sleeps with Wade again and decides to move back to New York City to get some perspective on her life. At the beginning of season 3, six months have passed when Zoe moves back to Bluebell with a new boyfriend, Joel, a writer. Throughout season 3, she continues her romance with him until one of his books is adapted into a film and this forces him to move to Los Angele. In the season finale, Zoe realizes that she is still in love with Wade Kinsella - who no longer trusts her - and declares that she will do everything she can to win him back. In the first episode of season 4, she tries again to prove to him that they should be together and seduces him, leading them to have sex together once more. Their lovemaking results in a surprise pregnancy. They eventually pick up their romance where it left off two years earlier and marry in the final episode of the series as Zoe gives birth to their child, a baby boy.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Scott Porter as George Tucker, a local lawyer in Bluebell. When the events of the series begin, George, 29 years old, is a lawyer practicing in the town of Bluebell and is engaged to his high school sweetheart Lemon Breeland. In the past, he lived in New York City where he worked as a corporate lawyer for the prestigious law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore, but after two years there, he moved back to Bluebell, homesick for his hometown and his loved ones. Helpful, kind, caring, well-mannered, sincere, intelligent, cute and charming, George is well respected and appreciated by the Bluebell community. He is also Wade Kinsella's best friend since childhood. At the end of season one, he leaves Lemon at the altar after learning of her affair with Mayor Lavon Hayes but also after becoming aware of his own romantic feelings for Zoe Hart. The pretty doctor, however, rejects him and George begins to date other women romantically. In season 2, he starts a romance with Wade's ex-wife, Tansy Truitt. Later, in season 3, he has a brief romance with Lavon's cousin Lynly Hayes. Meanwhile, while still working as a lawyer, George briefly partners with his ex-fiancée, Lemon, in the management of a restaurant, Fancie's, but eventually withdraws from the business when it burns down, leaving the young woman as sole owner and manager from that point on. Throughout the series, once their rivalry is finally buried, he also develops a close friendship with Lavon Hayes, the town's mayor. Although he is one of the few lawyers in Bluebell, George seems to have a lot of free time to pursue other activities such as singing in Lily Anne Lonergan's country band and touring for a summer, co-managing a restaurant, making a commercial to promote the town's strawberries, running races, supervising Boy Scout activities, and managing the artistic careers of the Truitt brothers and Meatball. Since his break-up with Lemon, he has been living on a houseboat owned by Annabeth Thibodaux, with whom he forms a couple in season 4 and remains at the end of the series. George has wealthy parents who tend to meddle in his life when they come to visit him from time to time. He also has a brother, Harry, who is a successful lawyer, senior partner in his family's successful law firm and a candidate for the Senate. He is married and has a daughter, Lily Louise Tucker.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Jaime King as Lemon Breeland, the elder daughter of town physician, Bertram Breeland or "Brick". At the beginning of the series, Lemon is the proud, conservative, despotic, fussy and somewhat uptight young president of the Bluebell Belles Association, which she runs with the help of her two best childhood friends, Annabeth Thibodaux (Nass) and Crickett Watts. She is very involved in the daily life of her town, singing and dancing in shows organised as part of municipal projects or helping the town hall to preserve its historical heritage. Aged 29 years old, she has a university degree but has never had a proper paid job and still lives with her father. She is engaged to George Tucker, whom she has been dating for fifteen years, and is planning the wedding of the century. Behind this idyllic picture, however, we discover that she had a brief romantic affair with the mayor, Lavon Hayes, while her fiancé was working in New York and developed deep, strong feelings for him that she now struggles to bury. When Lemon first meets Zoe, her enmity for her is instantaneous. Not only do the two young women have different ways of thinking, but Lemon is under the illusion that the pretty surgeon is trying to interfere with her "perfect" life, and they often end up fighting. In seasons 2 to 4, although she is reluctant to admit it to anyone, she becomes more cordial with Zoe and the two even become friends by the end of the series. Despite her sometimes despotic and manipulative nature, Lemon has a gentle and charming disposition. Benevolent, she is also capable of sacrificing herself for the sake of the people she loves (as when she gives Annabeth her blessing to date Lavon despite her own deep romantic feelings for him, for example). In season 2, determined to be independent, Lemon first worked briefly as a waitress in a local bar and then managed Lavon's election campaign. Soon after, she founds a catering business with Annabeth before becoming the co-owner and co-manager of the Rammer Jammer bar with her long-time friend, Wade Kinsella. She then buys Fancie's, the best restaurant in town, and takes over its management, leaving the Rammer Jammer to her ex-business partner. Lemon has a reputation for being tenacious and somewhat scheming when it comes to getting what she wants. She is a determined woman who will do anything to achieve her goals. After the annulment of her marriage to George, she finds herself with no real profession and no place to live. In order to leave her father's house, she agrees to live on AnnaBeth's barge but discovers that she suffers from seasickness. So she swaps her new home for the flat of her ex-fiancé, George, who then moves onto the boat. Throughout the series, Lemon struggles with the pain she has felt since her mother, Alice, abandoned her and her sister Magnolia twelve years before the events of season 1, when Magnolia - whom Lemon raised as her own daughter - was only two years old. However, in season 4, she finally confronts her mother. She remains hostile towards Alice, whose betrayal she cannot forgive, but eventually accepts that she has a maternal little half-sister, Scarlett Kincaid, and makes extra efforts to get to know her. In the series finale, Lemon finally marries her one true love, Lavon Hayes, and becomes a successful businesswoman.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Cress Williams as Lavon Hayes, Mayor and Co-Chair of the Tourism Council of Bluebell. Before becoming the Mayor of Bluebell and Co-Chair of the Tourism Council of the city, Lavon Hayes was a famous NFL linebacker playing professionally for which he won two Super Bowls and was selected for four Pro Bowls. Prior to his professional sports career, he also played for the football team of the University of Alabama from which he graduated. After retiring and returning to Bluebell, he moved into a large colonial house on a beautiful, huge plantation and adopted a pet alligator, which he named Burt Reynolds. Lavon, 33 years old, is a charismatic politician who is very attached and devoted to his town and its citizens, a caring and friendly person, a loyal friend and an open-minded and enlightened man who is somewhat shy with the women he is attracted to, but also a person of positive and enthusiastic nature. It is revealed in season 1 that he had a secret romance with Lemon Breeland while she was still engaged to the Bluebell's lawyer, her long-time boyfriend, George Tucker, when he was living in New York. He was really in love with her at the time, but she ended up pushing him away when her fiancé returned to Bluebell, breaking his heart in the process. Throughout the series, Lavon also builds a great friendship with Zoe Hart and often gives her sound advice on how to better adapt to the city's ways. At the beginning of the first season, he even offers to let her live in the shed on his estate next to the gatehouse where he allows his friend, Wade Kinsella, to reside. Over the course of the series, he has various romantic relationships: first with Didi Ruano, then with his old high school sweetheart, Ruby Jeffries, and finally with Annabeth Thibodaux, Lemon's best friend since childhood. However, during each of these romances, he remains deeply attached to Lemon. After a while, Lavon also befriends George Tucker, although the relationship is sometimes strained by his feelings for George's former fiancée, Lemon. The young mayor is a great fan of television personality Don Todd, and even gets to know him and befriend him, a relationship that later comes in handy in his negotiations with his rival, Fillmore Mayor Todd Gainey Sr. In the series finale, Lavon and Lemon finally marry each other.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Wilson Bethel as Wade Kinsella, a bartender and Zoe's childish neighbor. Wade, in his late twenties, has an eccentric personality. At the beginning of the series, he appears to be an immature, unambitious, womanizing, sarcastic bartender who cares for no one but himself. But we gradually discover that he deeply loves the people around him (though he always tries to hide his true feelings), especially his best friends -George Tucker, Lavon Hayes, Zoe Hart and Lemon Breeland- and his father, Earl Kinsella, the village drunkard to whom he often gives money for food and clothing, and that he is a generous man with a heart of gold. He falls deeply in love with Zoe and tries to change his lifestyle and develop higher ambitions for her. For most of season 2, he is in a monogamous relationship with the young surgeon until she discovers that he has been unfaithful. Wade graduated from Cyrus Lavinius Jeremiah Jones High School, as did George, Annabeth and Lemon, but never went to college after graduation. He is very athletic (he was even on the high school football team) and good at manual labour. He does repairs at Lavon's in exchange for continuing to live in his plantation's gatehouse. He is also a talented musician (he sings, plays guitar and writes and composes songs), a member of a country music band and a gifted cocktail recipe inventor who has always dreamed of owning his own bar. He eventually makes this a reality by becoming co-owner and co-manager of the local bar, the Rammer Jammer, with his longtime friend Lemon Breeland in season two, and then its sole owner and manager in the following season. In the third season, he initially attempts to win back Zoe's love but then begins a serious romantic relationship with Zoe's paternal cousin, Vivian Wilkes, who eventually breaks his heart when she reconciles with her ex-husband and moves with him to Baton Rouge. At the beginning of season 4, Wade has sex with Zoe once again and their lovemaking results in a surprise pregnancy. The two eventually rekindle their romance and marry each other in the final episode of the series as Zoe gives birth to their child, a little Hart-Kinsella boy. Wade has a brother, Jesse Kinsella, an attractive eco-geologist oceanographer and US Army veteran with whom he has a conflicting relationship.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Tim Matheson as Bertram Breeland -also named Brick, the Bluebell's local medical practitioner. At the beginning of the series, Brick discovers that he is going to have to share the town's general practice with Zoe Hart, which annoys him greatly. Indeed, he was looking forward to having the clinic to himself after so many years of working in partnership with Harley Wilkes and her arrival ruins his plan. He then makes Zoe's first few weeks in Bluebell extremely difficult and constantly gets in her way, hatching plans to steal her shares of the business and openly criticizing her medical diagnoses and inexperience with Southern hospitality as much as he can. Both determined to win the game, they often clash but, over time, end up developing a sort of "father-daughter" relationship. In fact, despite his rugged and savage appearance, Brick is a caring man entirely devoted to his patients and their welfare, highly respected and appreciated by the Bluebell community in which he has many friends. He is also the father of two daughters: Lemon and Magnolia. Their mother, Alice - his ex-wife - left them twelve years before the events of season 1 to pursue an acting career and never contacted them again. After she left, Lemon -who was only 17 at the time- took care of him and their house and raised her 2-year-old sister as her own daughter. Brick, on the other hand, was very depressed, never able to move on and has been living in the past ever since, unable to invest in a relationship with anyone again. Encouraged by Lemon, he eventually has a brief affair with Emily Chase in season 1, and then in season 2 meets Shelby Sinclair, an exuberant local personality much younger than himself, and falls under her spell. At first, their vast age difference causes Brick a problem, so he quickly decides to break up with her, fearing the opinion of the townspeople about their romance. However, he later realises that he really loves Shelby and tries to win her back. An "on and off" romantic relationship then begins between them. In season 3, Shelby becomes pregnant with the baby daughter of a married man, Alex Byrd, Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. At first, she tries to raise the child, named Ethel, with her father, but soon afterwards dumps him and moves back in with Brick, reviving their romance. One of Brick's main goals is to be voted Man of the Year (MOTY) by the local Fraternal Order of Owl, an honour given to outstanding male figures in the town. The GP is also known for winning the town's annual gumbo contest on several occasions.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: • Kaitlyn Black as Annabeth Thibodaux -or Annabeth Nass as a married woman-; a member of the Belles association and Lemon Breeland's and Crickett Watts's best friend. She is sometimes referred to as "A.B.", short for her first name. Annabeth, in her late twenties, is a pretty, strong, cheerful, creative, insightful and empathetic young woman. She graduated from Auburn University where she was a member of the cheerleading squad and where her family is considered a kind of "Royalty". At the beginning of the series, she is an housewife very involved in Bluebell's life, an active member of the Belles who eventually takes over the Memory Matrons, a well-known society dedicated to preserving the town's history. At the time, she was eager to conceive a child with her husband, Jake Nass, but he left her overnight for a Baton Rouge waitress at the end of season 1. Annabeth also maintains a blog -Annabeth's Blog- which can be found on the official Bluebell website. As well as being a good singer and dancer, the young woman is very gifted in cooking and then, in season 2, starts a catering business with her best friend, Lemon Breeland. She then develops romantic feelings for the mayor, Lavon Hayes, but initially decides not to pursue the relationship between them because of Lemon's love for him. However, her best friend gives them her blessing and Annabeth and Lavon can finally begin their romance. Throughout the series, Annabeth also proves to be a close friend of Zoe Hart. In season 3, she becomes the new president of the Belles. She is then employed by Bertram "Brick" Breeland as a medical secretary in his practice and this job leads her to develop an interest in the health field and enrol in nursing school in season 4. Meanwhile, after her break-up with the mayor, she briefly dates the nephew of the rival town's mayor, Davis Polk, who proposes to her. She refuses the proposal, however, confessing to Lemon that she is still in love with Lavon. In season 4, Annabeth realises that she no longer loves Lavon and begins a romance with George Tucker, with whom she is still in a relationship at the end of the series.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: On February 1, 2011, it was announced that The CW had ordered a pilot for "Hart of Dixie". On May 17, 2011, the network officially picked up "Hart of Dixie" to series, set to air in fall 2011. The series marks the second time executive producer Josh Schwartz and series star Rachel Bilson have worked together on television. The first time the duo worked together was on the Fox teen drama "The O.C.", created by Schwartz. The show's executive producer, Josh Schwartz, compared the show to "Felicity", "Everwood", and "Gilmore Girls".


title: Hart of Dixie

text: With the reveal of The CW's fall 2011 schedule, it was announced that "Hart of Dixie" would air on Monday at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central, following "Gossip Girl". It premiered on Monday, September 26, 2011. On October 12, 2011, the series was picked up for a full season, which will consist of twenty-two episodes. Along with pick-up for all other CW dramas, Mark Pedowitz said "We believe in the creative strength of these dramas, and by giving them back nine orders we can give our audience the chance to enjoy complete seasons of all three of them." On May 11, 2012, The CW renewed the show for a second season, which premiered on October 2, 2012. The CW renewed the show for a third season on April 26, 2013.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: On February 8, 2011, TVLine reported that Rachel Bilson was nearing a deal to star in the series. Her role was later confirmed by The CW in a press release. Soon after, Wilson Bethel joined the cast as Wade Kinsella, Zoe's "gorgeous bad-boy" neighbor. Scott Porter was cast as good-looking lawyer George Tucker, a potential love-interest for Bilson's character.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: On May 20, 2011, it was announced that Nancy Travis would not continue with the series due to her commitments with the 20th Century Fox-produced sitcom "Last Man Standing". Travis was written out after the first two episodes. Meredith Monroe appeared in one episode as Lemon's estranged mother. JoBeth Williams appeared in three episodes as Candice Hart, the mother of Bilson's character. On July 26, 2013, it was announced that Kaitlyn Black was upgraded to series regular status for season three.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: "Hart of Dixie" first season has received mixed reviews, scoring a 43 out of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Hart of Dixie

text: TVGuide.com described the show as ""Southern Exposure"" and, in a later review, stated that the actors are better than the "cutesy" material, although Bilson is not convincing as a heart surgeon. Both TVGuide.com and Robert Bianco of "USA Today" stated that the show is potentially offensive to the South. Bianco also wrote that the show is shallow and far-fetched, with Bilson giving an unconvincing performance, such as acting surprised when calling herself a doctor. Tim Goodman of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that the series is predictable and superficial, but "surprisingly touching".


title: Hart of Dixie

text: Writing for "The New York Times", critic Neil Genzlinger wrote "the premiere, at least, doesn’t find a convincing way to balance the clashing strands: the city-mouse disorientation, the medical emergencies, the girlfights, the daddy issues, the young-pretty-and-available stuff." "Los Angeles Times" reviewer Mary McNamara described the show as "a stack of familiar scenarios stitched together to form a pretty if not terribly substantial quilt." TVLine described the show as ""Everwood"-esque". TVLine later stated: "Beautifully filmed with warm, cozy tones, the Southern setting utterly envelops the glowing Bilson", adding that Porter's appearance "wins us over and makes you forget that clunky intro" and despite the "rom-coms clichés, the pilot is super-efficient at introducing us to those who will be the key players in Zoe’s story, laying the framework for storytelling places to go." "Tv Times" magazine gave "Hart of Dixie" its lowest score of 2011–2012: 12 out of 100.


title: Inditex

text: Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, in Spain. Inditex, the biggest fast fashion group in the world, operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The company's flagship store is Zara, but it also owns a number of other brands such as Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Uterqüe and Lefties. The majority of its stores are corporate-owned, while franchises are mainly conceded in countries where corporate properties cannot be foreign-owned.


title: Inditex

text: Inditex's business is centred around one simple premise: to be quick at responding to the market. Whereas it would take almost a year for a traditional fashion company to get its products out, from conception to runway to stores, for Inditex this process takes less than two months, to replenish stores with new and different products weekly and respond quickly. This is not without consequences on the earth and people, as it is the biggest fast fashion brand in the world. New styles are prototyped in just 5 days, and 60% of the manufacturing happens locally to shorten lead times. In Zara stores, it can take a new garment as little as 15 days to go from design and production to store shelves.


title: Inditex

text: Amancio Ortega started in the clothing industry in the early 1960s while working for a local shirt maker in A Coruña, Spain. Ortega began developing his designs and he and his wife, Rosalia Mera, started making clothes from their home. Amancio had saved up enough money to open a small factory and sold garments to his former employer amongst others.


title: Inditex

text: In 1975, the couple opened their first store, Zara, which produced popular fashion at low prices. The following year, Zara was incorporated and began opening more stores and factories in Spain. Later that year, after Ortega noticed the growing importance of computers, a local professor, José María Castellano, was hired to grow the company's computing power.


title: Inditex

text: In the 1980s the company implemented a new design and distribution method that drastically reduced the time between design, production, and arrival at retail sites. The system was designed by Castellano who became the CEO of the company in 1984. In 1985, Industria de Diseño Textil S.A. or Inditex was created as a holding company for Zara and its manufacturing plants. In 1988, the company began expanding internationally with the opening of a Zara store in Porto, Portugal. In 1990, the company owned footwear collection, Tempe, populated in the children's section of Zara stores. In 1991, Inditex created the company Pull and Bear, a casual menswear company. Later that year, the company also acquired a 65 per cent share in the upscale Massimo Dutti brand. Inditex created Lefties in 1993; the name is taken from the term leftovers and it was created to sell old Zara clothing. In 1995, Inditex purchased the remaining Massimo Dutti shares and began expanding the brand to include a women's line. In 1998, Inditex launched the Bershka brand that was aimed at urban hip fashion. The company bought Stradivarius in 1999, a youthful female fashion brand.


title: Inditex

text: Inditex had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2001, on the Bolsa de Madrid. The IPO sold 26 per cent of the company to public investors, the company was valued at €9 billion. The same year, the company launched the lingerie and women's clothing store Oysho.


title: Inditex

text: In 2003, Inditex launched the Zara Home brand, which offers bedding, cutlery, glassware and other home decoration accessories. In 2004, with the opening of store number 2,000 in Hong Kong, Inditex had established its presence in 56 countries.


title: Inditex

text: In 2005, CEO Jose Maria Castellano stepped down from the position to oversee expansion plans, he was replaced by Pablo Isla. Inditex launched Uterque in the summer of 2008, the brand specializes in women's accessories. During the same year, the company opened its 4,000th store in Tokyo after doubling in size within four years. In 2011, Ortega, the founder of the business and majority shareholder, stepped down as deputy chairman and CEO Isla handles day-to-day operations. Later that year, the company opened a store in Australia, a move that would put the company on five continents and in 77 countries. After the 2013 Savar building collapse, Inditex was one of the thirty-eight companies who signed the Accord on Factory and Building Safety in Bangladesh.


title: Inditex

text: The company's revenue fell by 18% to $1.85 billion in the final quarter of 2020, primarily due to the fall in retail sales as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Inditex's stocks fell by 12% over the year.


title: Inditex

text: In May 2021, Inditex said that all its stores in Venezuela would close as it will review its agreement with its local partner Phoenix World Trade.


title: Inditex

text: In 1989, a year after entering Portugal, the company entered the U.S. market and expanded into France in 1990. Expansion continued to Mexico in 1992 and Greece in 1993. In 1994, Inditex opened stores in Belgium and Sweden. By 1997, the company had expanded to Malta, Cyprus, Norway and Israel. In 1998, expansion continued to the UK, Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela, the Middle East and Japan. Canada, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia and several South American countries received stores in 1999.


title: Inditex

text: The company opened stores in Italy, Luxembourg and Jordan in 2001. In 2003, Inditex opened stores in Russia, Slovakia and Malaysia. The following year Latvia, Hungary, and Panama amongst other countries where stores opened, including the 2,000th store in Hong Kong. By 2006, the company had expanded into mainland China. In 2010, the company opened their 5,000th location in Rome and its first in India. The first stores in Australia and South Africa opened in 2011. The company's expansion continued to the Serbia, North Macedonia, Armenia, Ecuador, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2012. In 2014, Inditex opened stores in Albania. In 2016, Inditex announced that they planned to open stores in Vietnam, New Zealand, Paraguay, Aruba and Nicaragua.


title: Inditex

text: In 2007, Inditex launched the Zara Home online retail store. Zara joined the e-commerce marketplace in September 2010, launching websites in Spain, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany and France. In November 2010, Zara's online presence grew to include Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In September 2011, Inditex brought Zara's e-commerce platform to the U.S., as well as adding the brands Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stadivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe to the e-commerce space. As of February 2016, Inditex operates e-commerce sites in 28 markets and plans to add 12 more by April. In September 2018, Inditex announced to sell all its brands online by 2020, even in places where it does not own any stores.


title: Inditex

text: Inditex avoids magazine advertising, with print campaigns only occurring on billboards in certain regions like U.S. and in-store. Endorsements for celebrities to wear its labels are budgeted instead. The company also invests heavily in a prime commercial location with fashion-forward window displays for optimum high street visibility and product turnaround.


title: Inditex

text: In 2017, Zara Home Belgium was convicted of plagiarism by a Brussels Court, which was claimed to have been the first plagiarism conviction of a fast retailer.


title: Inditex

text: Under the Inditex umbrella are several brands that offer a variety of products aimed at different markets.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, German, and English and has worked in television and theatre, as well as cinema. He also teaches film direction at the Film Academy Vienna.


title: Michael Haneke

text: His directorial debut, "The Seventh Continent", won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1989. He later won the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for "The Piano Teacher" and the Best Director Award for "Caché" at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. He subsequently directed the 2007 remake of his controversial 1997 film "Funny Games".


title: Michael Haneke

text: At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, his film "The White Ribbon" won the Palme d'Or, and at the 67th Golden Globe Awards the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2012, his film "Amour" premiered and competed at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film would go on to win the Palme d'Or, making it his second win of the prestigious award in three years; this made him the seventh director to have won it twice and the only Austrian director to have accomplished this. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Emmanuelle Riva; it won in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.


title: Michael Haneke

text: In 2013, Haneke won the Prince of Asturias Award for the arts. His twelfth and most recent film, "Happy End", was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Haneke is the son of German actor and director Fritz Haneke and Austrian actress . His stepfather, the composer , had later married the mother of actor Christoph Waltz. Haneke was raised in the city of Wiener Neustadt, Austria.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Haneke showed a strong interest in literature and music, but as an adolescent developed a "downright contempt for any form of school". During this period of his life, he has later described himself as a "rebel". He had ambitions of becoming an actor in his youth, later abandoning these plans after failing an entrance examination at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. He later attended the University of Vienna to study philosophy, psychology and drama. Not a committed student, he would spend most of his time attending local movie theatres. After leaving university, he began working odd jobs, before working as an editor and dramaturge at the southwestern German television station Südwestfunk from 1967 to 1970, a time during which he also worked as a film critic. He made his debut as a television director in 1974.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Haneke's feature film debut was 1989's "The Seventh Continent", which served to trace out the violent and bold style that would bloom in later years. Three years later, the controversial "Benny's Video" put Haneke's name on the map. Haneke achieved great success in 2001 with the critically successful French film "The Piano Teacher". It won the prestigious Grand Prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and also won its stars, Benoît Magimel and Isabelle Huppert, the Best Actor and Actress awards. He has worked with Juliette Binoche ("Code Unknown" in 2000 and "Caché" in 2005), after she expressed interest in working with him. Haneke frequently worked with real-life couple Ulrich Mühe and Susanne Lothar – thrice each.


title: Michael Haneke

text: His film, "The White Ribbon", premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or. The film is set in 1913 and deals with strange incidents in a small town in Northern Germany, depicting an authoritarian, fascist-like atmosphere, where children are subjected to rigid rules and suffer harsh punishments, and where strange deaths occur. In 2012, his film "Amour" also won the Palme d'Or.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Haneke says that films should offer viewers more space for imagination and self-reflection. Films that have too much detail and moral clarity, Haneke says, are used for mindless consumption by their viewers.


title: Michael Haneke

text: His 2012 film "Amour" won the Best Foreign Language Oscar and was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. In 2013, he was the subject of the documentary film "". That year, Haneke won the Prince of Asturias Award for the arts.


title: Michael Haneke

text: In 2017, his twelfth film, "Happy End", was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.


title: Michael Haneke

text: Haneke has directed a number of stage productions in German, which include works by Strindberg, Goethe, and Heinrich von Kleist in Berlin, Munich and Vienna. In 2006 he gave his debut as an opera director, staging Mozart's "Don Giovanni" for the Opéra National de Paris at Palais Garnier when the theater's general manager was Gerard Mortier. In 2012, he was to direct "Così fan tutte" for the New York City Opera. This production had originally been commissioned by Jürgen Flimm for the Salzburg Festival 2009, but Haneke had to resign due to an illness preventing him from preparing the work. Haneke realized this production at Madrid's Teatro Real in 2013.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began play in 2009 as an MLS expansion team. The Sounders are a phoenix club, carrying the same name as the original Sounders franchise that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1983.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The club's majority owner is Adrian Hanauer, and its minority owners are the estate of Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and 14 families from the Seattle area. Former USL Sounders coach and assistant coach Brian Schmetzer took over as head coach in July 2016 after the departure of Sigi Schmid. The Sounders play their home league matches at Lumen Field, with a reduced capacity of 37,722 seats for most matches. Along with several organized groups, a 53-member marching band called "Sound Wave" supports the club at each home match. Seattle has longstanding rivalries with fellow Pacific Northwest clubs Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with whom it competes for the Cascadia Cup.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders played their inaugural match on March 19, 2009, winning 3–0 over the New York Red Bulls. Seattle has been among the league's most successful teams, winning the U.S. Open Cup four times, the Supporters' Shield in 2014, and the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019. From its MLS inception until 2022, the team qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs—the longest record in league history—and competed in the CONCACAF Champions League six times, becoming the first MLS team to win the modern version of the competition in 2022. The team set a new MLS record for average attendance in each of its first five seasons. The Sounders are ranked as one of the most valuable franchises in North America.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The team's players have included former US international Clint Dempsey, top goal scorer Fredy Montero, as well as long-time captain Osvaldo Alonso, and current captain Nicolás Lodeiro. The Sounders also operate a players' academy and lower-division teams that have produced homegrown players, including forward Jordan Morris and defender DeAndre Yedlin.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Even before the first cities in the United States were chosen to host Major League Soccer teams, Seattle was considered a viable location for a professional team. In 1994, as the U.S. was preparing to host the FIFA World Cup, more than 30 cities were pursuing the rights to an MLS team, Seattle being among them. However, despite the strong soccer fan base in Seattle, the absence of a soccer-only stadium was a drawback to establishing an MLS team. Cities seeking consideration for an inaugural MLS team were also expected to secure 10,000 assurances from fans for season tickets. By the June 3, 1994, deadline for MLS team bids, Seattle organizers had secured fewer than 1,500 such assurances. These low numbers were a result of competition between the ticket campaign for the MLS expansion team and for the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) Sounders expansion team.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In a June 14, 1994, announcement, Seattle was not included among the first seven cities to be awarded an MLS team. Five more teams were to be announced later in the year, and to improve their chances this time, Seattle MLS organizers began working with the University of Washington to secure use of Husky Stadium as an interim stadium while they pursued the construction of a permanent soccer-specific facility. In November 1994, the start of the first MLS season was postponed until 1996, and it was noted that the absence of an "adequate grass-field facility" in the area and the presence of the new APSL Seattle Sounders team had thwarted Seattle's MLS bid. In the end, Seattle was not among the cities chosen to establish a team during the first season of MLS.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In 1996, as Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen worked with the city to build a new football stadium for his team, the potential of an MLS expansion team that could be a co-tenant helped drive public support for the effort. Many of the state's voters supported the referendum to construct Seahawks Stadium because it was also expected to be a professional soccer venue. While the stadium problem was being resolved, a new issue emerged. By 2000, MLS was moving away from league-operated teams to investor-operated teams, so wealthy individuals would need to step forward for Seattle to obtain an MLS expansion team.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In 2003, Seattle was again listed as a possibility for an MLS expansion team when the ten-team league announced plans to expand into new markets. In 2004, MLS commissioner Don Garber indicated that Seattle had been "very close" to receiving the expansion team ultimately awarded to Salt Lake. Adrian Hanauer, then-owner of the United Soccer League's (USL) Sounders (formerly the APSL Sounders), was in discussions with MLS about an estimated payment of $1 million to secure rights to a Seattle franchise for 2006. However, when Seattle was passed over again in 2006, Hanauer announced that he would not be able to secure an expansion team without the help of more investors willing to cover the increasing MLS franchise fees which had grown beyond $10 million.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In 2007, Hanauer teamed up with Hollywood producer Joe Roth to make another bid for MLS expansion into Seattle, at a cost of $30 million. Paul Allen, whose First and Goal company operated Qwest Field (now Lumen Field), joined the ownership group that same year, making the bid the most promising yet for Seattle. During the first week of November 2007, rumors began to build that MLS would be announcing an expansion into Seattle the following week, and that the ownership group had taken on a fourth member, TV personality Drew Carey. In a press conference on November 13, 2007, it was announced that Seattle had been awarded an expansion team. The announcement marked the return of top-level soccer to Seattle for the first time since the dissolution of its North American Soccer League (NASL) team in 1983. The announcement also meant that the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division would play its final season the year before the new MLS franchise was formed.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: "Seattle Sounders FC" was announced as the team name on April 7, 2008, along with the team logo, colors and badge design, in a presentation held at the Space Needle. All 22,000 season ticket packages offered by the club for its inaugural season were sold, giving them the most season ticket holders in MLS. Sigi Schmid was introduced as the club's first head coach on December 16, 2008, after leaving the Columbus Crew following their MLS Cup victory.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle Sounders FC entered MLS as the league's 15th team and played its first home match on March 19, 2009, in front of a sold-out crowd of 32,523, defeating the New York Red Bulls 3–0. During the pre-match ceremonies, the first Golden Scarf was awarded to MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Seattle was the first MLS expansion team to win its first three matches, and they did so with a shutout in each. The club set a state record for attendance at a soccer match on August 5, 2009, when 66,848 attended a friendly match with FC Barcelona, a record which was later broken when they hosted Manchester United in front of 67,052 fans, and later in the 2019 MLS Cup against Toronto FC with 69,274 in attendance.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: On September 2, 2009, the Sounders became the second MLS expansion team in league history (Chicago was the first) to win the U.S. Open Cup tournament in its first season. They did so by defeating D.C. United 2–1 on the road at RFK Stadium. In winning the U.S. Open Cup tournament, they qualified for the preliminary round of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: On October 17, 2009, the Sounders became the third MLS expansion team in league history to qualify for the playoffs in its first season. They clinched a playoff berth with a come-from-behind victory over the Kansas City Wizards 3–2 at Kansas City. Seattle finished the regular season with a record of 12 wins, 7 losses, and 11 draws. The club set a new MLS record for average attendance with 30,943 fans per match. Its inaugural season came to an end in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs with a loss in the conference semifinals to the Houston Dynamo by a 1–0 aggregate score in a two-legged series. During the 2009 season, all 15 Sounders MLS regular season home matches, its home playoff match, and its four home U.S. Open Cup matches (played at Starfire Sports Complex) were sold out.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Before the first match of the Sounders' second season, the club increased the number of season ticket holders to 32,000. The first match of the season was played at Qwest Field, with Seattle hosting a new MLS expansion team, the Philadelphia Union. The Sounders won 2–0 on goals from Brad Evans and Fredy Montero. However, Seattle followed the win by losing 8 of its next 14 matches. In the latter half of the regular season, Seattle reversed its fortune. The team won 10 of its last 15 matches, and clinched a playoff berth for the second consecutive year with a 2–1 win on October 10, 2010, at Kansas City. They finished the season with 14 wins, 10 losses, and 6 ties. In the playoffs, the Sounders were eliminated in the conference semifinals by the Los Angeles Galaxy on a 3–1 aggregate score. The club broke its own single-season attendance record, averaging 36,173 fans per match, and again sold out every league match.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders also competed in two additional competitions during the 2010 season – the CONCACAF Champions League and the U.S. Open Cup. In the Champions League, Seattle progressed through the preliminary round, beating Isidro Metapán 2–1 on aggregate, but was eliminated in the group stage. In the U.S. Open Cup, Seattle won matches at Portland and at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA before reaching the final, which they hosted at Qwest Field against the Columbus Crew. On October 5, 2010, Seattle won the U.S. Open Cup final, 2–1, becoming the first team since 1983 to repeat as U.S. Open Cup champions. The final was played in front of a U.S. Open Cup record crowd of 31,311, and the victory ensured Seattle's return to the Champions League in 2011.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders began the 2011 season by hosting the opening match of the MLS season for the third straight year, losing 1–0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The season also saw the entrance of the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps into MLS, allowing for the revival of the Cascadia Cup; the Sounders won the cup with an unbeaten record against both clubs. On April 22, 2011, in a match against the Colorado Rapids, Seattle's star midfielder Steve Zakuani suffered a broken leg in a challenge by the Rapids' Brian Mullan, which ended his season. Despite setbacks and a slow start to the season (the club won just 3 of its first 10 matches), the Sounders went on to finish the season with the second-best record in the league at 18 wins, 9 draws, 7 losses, and qualified for the playoffs for a third consecutive year. On October 4, 2011, Seattle won its third consecutive U.S. Open Cup, becoming the first club to do so in 42 years, as they defeated the Chicago Fire 2–0 in front of another tournament record crowd of 35,615 at CenturyLink Field. In the MLS playoffs, Seattle lost its Western Conference semifinal series 3–2 on aggregate to Real Salt Lake. The club lost the first leg 3–0 in Salt Lake, and could only net two goals in the second leg at home.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Sounders midfielder Mauro Rosales was recognized by the league as the 2011 Newcomer of the Year. In 2011, Seattle again broke its own league record for average attendance at 38,496. On October 15, 2011, the club hosted the third-largest crowd ever for a single MLS match, as 64,140 people attended the final regular season home match against the San Jose Earthquakes, billed as a sendoff for goalkeeper Kasey Keller. In the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League, Seattle became only the second MLS team in history to win a competitive match in Mexico, defeating CF Monterrey 1–0 on August 23, 2011. The club finished second in its group and advanced to the quarterfinals, losing 7–3 on aggregate to eventual runners-up Santos Laguna after taking a 2–1 lead at home and losing 6–1 in Mexico.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle opened the 2012 season with a run of five straight wins in April and May, but fell into a month-long, nine-match winless streak in June. The winless streak ended in a match on July 7, which saw the return of Steve Zakuani from rehabilitation, against the Colorado Rapids. Seattle reached the U.S. Open Cup Final for the fourth consecutive year, becoming the first team to do so since 1937, but lost to Sporting Kansas City in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw. In Champions League group play, the team advanced to the knockout round with four straight wins, each including a goal from Sammy Ochoa. The Sounders finished third in the Western Conference and qualified for the playoffs, where they advanced out of the first round for the first time in the team's history. In the Conference Championship, Seattle fell 3–0 to Los Angeles in the first leg and came within one goal of tying the series on aggregate, winning the second leg 2–1 but losing 4–2 on aggregate after conceding an away goal. The 2012 season ended without a major trophy for the Sounders, for the first time in their MLS history, and the team failed to qualify for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League. The top scorer in league play was 28-year-old striker Eddie Johnson, who scored 14 goals in his first season with the club; he earned Comeback Player of the Year honors for his performance, which came after an unsuccessful stint with multiple European clubs.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: During the 2013 preseason, the Sounders signed their first homegrown player, right back DeAndre Yedlin, veteran defender Djimi Traoré, and forward Obafemi Martins, who paid his release clause to his Spanish club. Longtime forward Fredy Montero left Seattle on loan to Colombian club Millonarios F.C. in January and, by July, was loaned to Sporting CP in Portugal with an option to buy; Montero was sold permanently to Sporting in 2014. The Sounders began the 2013 season with the knockout round of the 2012–13 Champions League, facing Mexican club Tigres UANL in the quarterfinals. After losing 1–0 in the away leg and conceding an away goal in the return leg, the Sounders scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win 3–1 and advance to the semifinals. With the win, the Sounders became the first MLS team to eliminate a Mexican team in the knockout stage of CONCACAF Champions League. Seattle once again played Santos Laguna in the semifinal, but failed to advance after losing 1–0 at home and drawing 1–1 in Torreón. The Sounders continued their five-year streak of setting a new MLS average attendance record, reaching 44,038 in 2013.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders began the MLS season with a run of five matches without a win, the worst start in the team's history, due to injuries to key players. The Sounders failed to advance in the U.S. Open Cup after losing to second-division Tampa Bay Rowdies in the third round, marking the end of the team's seven-year streak of appearances in the later rounds. As players returned to the team, Seattle improved to a six-win, four-loss record in 14 matches by late June. In August 2013, the Sounders completed the signing of U.S. national team captain Clint Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur for $9 million, the largest transfer deal in the league's history, and a record salary of $32 million over four years. The team's continued run of wins put them into Supporters' Shield contention in September, coming within one point of the league-leading Red Bulls, but fell to fourth place in the conference after a run of four straight losses in October. The Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 2–0 in the knockout round, and drew rivals Portland in the conference semifinal. Seattle fell 2–1 to the Timbers in the home leg and were defeated 3–2 in Portland, knocking the Sounders out in a performance that failed to live up to expectations.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders continued to break the MLS average attendance record for the fourth and fifth consecutive year in 2012 and 2013, with an average of 43,144 and 44,038, respectively. The higher attendances were helped by the opening of additional sections in the Hawks' Nest, as well as the opening of the upper deck of CenturyLink Field for select regular matches. The August 25, 2013, home match against the Portland Timbers drew a crowd of 67,385, the second-largest standalone attendance in league history.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: After a disappointing 2013 season, the Sounders replaced starting goalkeeper Michael Gspurning with Toronto's Stefan Frei. Several veteran players, including Eddie Johnson, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Mauro Rosales, and Steve Zakuani, left the club as part of a major restructure; Brad Evans was named as club captain. Marco Pappa, an experienced MLS player and Guatemalan international, was added to the team. Homegrown player DeAndre Yedlin was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur but was loaned back to Seattle until the end of the MLS season.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders advanced to the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final and defeated the Philadelphia Union in extra time, to win their fourth trophy of the tournament. On October 25, 2014, the final game of the 2014 regular season, the Sounders defeated the LA Galaxy 2–0 to secure and win their first Supporters' Shield.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Entering the playoffs as the top seed, Seattle defeated FC Dallas on the away goals rule and advanced to the Western Conference Championship to face the LA Galaxy once again. The Sounders tied the Galaxy on aggregate score but lost on the away goals rule after losing 1–0 away and winning 2–1 at home. LA would go on to win the MLS Cup.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Former Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey was hired by the club in January 2015, replacing Adrian Hanauer. Seattle was unable to repeat their successes in the 2014 season. The season started with several key wins that saw the team at the top of the Western Conference by June. During a 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers on June 16, however, Obafemi Martins left the game with a groin injury and Clint Dempsey was suspended after tearing a referee's pocketbook, though he would be called away for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The injury and suspension of the team's main attacking duo led to poor performances over the summer, with Seattle winning only one match in nine games. By late August, Martins had recovered and led the team to an eight-match unbeaten streak to secure a playoff spot, finishing fourth in the Western Conference. The Sounders had also successfully topped their group in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps and Club Deportivo Olimpia, with two wins, one draw, and one loss. Paraguayan international Nelson Haedo Valdez was signed as the club's newest designated player, and was joined by fellow international signings Andreas Ivanschitz and Román Torres in August 2015; Erik Friberg also returned to the club after his stint in Europe.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: During the playoff's opening knockout round, the Sounders defeated the LA Galaxy 3–2, ending a "curse" for the club, who had lost to LA in each of the three previous playoff matchups. The playoff run would end in the next round, the Western Conference semifinals against FC Dallas, during a penalty shootout after both teams were tied on aggregate score after extra time in Frisco, Texas. In November 2015, Adrian Hanauer was made majority owner of the club, succeeding Joe Roth. The club set a new attendance record during the 2015 season, with an average attendance of 44,247.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Prior to the 2016 season, Obafemi Martins abruptly left the club to sign with Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. in the Chinese Super League, a move that would hamper the Sounders' offense during the season. The move was mitigated somewhat by the signing of homegrown product Jordan Morris. Lagerwey also traded Marco Pappa and Lamar Neagle to other clubs in the offseason.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: During the first half of the 2016 season, the Sounders failed to meet expectations, placing near the bottom of the league with 6 wins, 12 losses, and 2 draws. Following a 3–0 loss on July 24 to Sporting Kansas City, in which the Sounders had only one shot, Schmid left the club on mutual terms and was replaced by long-time assistant coach Brian Schmetzer. The same day, the club announced their signing of Uruguayan midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro on a designated player contract, as well as the return of former designated player Álvaro Fernández. Despite the sluggish start as well as the loss of midfielder Clint Dempsey, who was forced in August to stop playing after evaluations for an irregular heartbeat, the Sounders rose from ninth place to fourth place in the Western Conference and qualified for the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, with eight wins, two losses, and four draws. Schmetzer was named as permanent head coach as a result.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: At the end of the regular season, Jordan Morris was named the MLS Rookie of the Year after scoring the most goals of any American rookie in MLS (12), and Nicolás Lodeiro was named MLS Newcomer of the Year for his 4 goals and 8 assists in 13 appearances. The Sounders advanced from the Knockout Round of the playoffs through a 1–0 win over Sporting Kansas City, and beat FC Dallas 4–2 on aggregate to return to the Conference Final. The Sounders then defeated the Colorado Rapids 3–1 on aggregate in the final, clinching a spot in their first-ever MLS Cup. On December 10, 2016, the Sounders defeated Toronto FC 5–4 in a penalty shootout, to win MLS Cup 2016, their first MLS championship in franchise history, going the whole match without a shot on goal. The team's performance was called a "cinderella season" and hailed as one of the most dramatic MLS seasons to date.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders began their title defense with the signings of two academy graduates and several veteran players from MLS and abroad. Dempsey also returned from his hiatus and scored in his first match before being called up to the U.S. national team for World Cup qualification. The season began with only five wins in the first 17 matches, but was followed by a 13-match unbeaten streak and additional wins to clinch a second-place spot in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Sounders beat the Vancouver Whitecaps and Houston Dynamo to win the Western Conference and return to the MLS Cup, once again facing Toronto at BMO Field. Seattle lost 2–0 to Toronto, who clinched the first domestic treble in MLS history.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle began the 2018 season with a run to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to eventual champions C.D. Guadalajara. During the Round of 16, Jordan Morris injured his ACL and was deemed unfit to play for the rest of the season. Without Morris and several injured starting players, the Sounders lost nine of their first 15 matches and were placed bottom of the Western Conference by June. The club signed a new Designated Player, Peruvian forward Raúl Ruidíaz, that month and began a long unbeaten streak that resulted in a playoff position in late August.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: On September 1, the club broke the MLS record for most consecutive wins in the post-shootout era, having won eight consecutive matches. They then extended that win streak to nine games as they beat Vancouver 2–1 on September 15, before eventually losing to the Philadelphia Union on September 19. The Sounders finished second in the Western Conference with 18 wins, 11 losses, and 5 draws. With 14 wins in the final 16 matches of the season, the Sounders completed the best half season in league history. Minority owner Paul Allen died from complications related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma on October 15, 2018, leaving his stake in the Sounders to an estate executed by his sister Jody Allen. Seattle then faced the Portland Timbers in the Conference Semifinals, losing the away leg 2–1 and winning the home leg 3–2 to tie the series on aggregate after extra time. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Portland won 4–2; the home leg is considered to be one of the best playoff matches in league history due to its dramatic finish.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The 2019 season began with the loss of team captain and inaugural season player Osvaldo Alonso, who was released into free agency and signed with Minnesota United FC before the season began. Defender Chad Marshall, who had joined in 2014, announced his retirement from professional soccer on May 22, leaving unexpectedly mid-way through the season. Despite the loss of these two players, in addition to the suspension of Román Torres for ten matches for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in August, the Sounders finished 2nd in the Western Conference and 4th in the overall league table. They qualified for a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League and earned a record 11th appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, which would use single-elimination matches for the first time in league history.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders defeated FC Dallas 4–3 in the first round with a hat-trick from Jordan Morris, who had been named MLS Comeback Player of the Year following his return from an ACL tear. The team then won against Real Salt Lake at home and traveled away to play in the Conference Finals against Supporters' Shield winners Los Angeles FC, where they won 3–1. Seattle hosted the MLS Cup final against Toronto FC, playing them for the third time in four years, and won 3–1 to clinch their second championship. The match drew an attendance of 69,274, setting records for the team and any sporting event at CenturyLink Field.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle opened the 2020 season with the CONCACAF Champions League, where they lost in the round of 16 to C.D. Olimpia in a penalty shootout after a 4–4 aggregate draw. The Sounders played two regular season matches at home before MLS suspended all activities on March 12, 2020, due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, which had been affecting the Seattle area for several weeks. The league returned in the MLS is Back Tournament, played in the Orlando area, and the Sounders earned a 1–1–1 record in group play. They advanced to the round of 16, where they lost 4–1 to Los Angeles FC. The team then resumed hosting matches with no spectators at CenturyLink Field (renamed Lumen Field near the end of the season) and primarily played against West Coast teams due to limited travel.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders cancelled an away match against the LA Galaxy in August to join a multi-sport boycott to protest racial injustice. They later set a franchise record for largest margin of victory with a 7–1 home win against the San Jose Earthquakes on September 10. The team clinched their 12th consecutive playoff berth and finished second in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Sounders defeated Los Angeles FC and FC Dallas to host Minnesota United FC in the Western Conference Final. Minnesota took a 2–0 lead in the second half, but Seattle responded with three goals in the final 18 minutes to complete a comeback victory and secure a fourth MLS Cup appearance in five years. The Sounders faced the Columbus Crew in the 2020 MLS Cup final and lost 3–0 in front of 1,500 spectators at Mapfre Stadium on December 12—the latest calendar date to host a league match.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle opened the 2021 season with a 13-match unbeaten streak, setting a new MLS record in the process, despite missing Nicolas Lodeiro, Jordan Morris, Stefan Frei, and Raul Ruidiaz to long-term injuries. Manager Brian Schmetzer switched to a 3–5–2 formation that led to only eight conceded goals during the streak. The Sounders retained the Cascadia Cup with a 2–1–1 record, including a 6–2 away victory over the Portland Timbers. The team also won twice against Mexican clubs UANL and Santos Laguna in the 2021 Leagues Cup and advanced to the final, where they lost 3–2 to Club León in Las Vegas. Seattle maintained their first-place position in the Western Conference despite several losses in the summer, but fell into a winless streak over the final six matches of the season to finish second in the West. They qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round by Real Salt Lake in a penalty shootout.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The team qualified for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League as the best-performing MLS club without their own berth, replacing the slot reserved for the cancelled U.S. Open Cup. In the round of 16, the Sounders were held to a scoreless draw to F.C. Motagua in Honduras but defeated them 5–0 in the second leg at home. Seattle then faced Club León in a rematch of the Leagues Cup Final, winning 3–0 at home in the first leg and drawing 1–1 in the second leg to advance to the semifinals. The team played MLS Cup 2021 champions New York City FC in the semifinals, winning 3–1 at home in the first leg and drawing 1–1 in the second leg to advance 4–2 on aggregate. The Sounders advance to their first Champions League final to face Mexican club UNAM, who hosted the first leg. The two teams drew 2–2 and returned to Seattle, where the Sounders won 3–0 in front of 68,741, setting a competition attendance record. The Sounders became the first MLS club to win the CONCACAF Champions League with their 5–2 aggregate victory. As CONCACAF champions, Seattle is expected to become the first MLS club to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders entered the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 32 and drew 2–2 with the San Jose Earthquakes. The ensuing penalty shootout took 11 rounds and was won 10–9 by San Jose. The club resumed league play, where they had fallen to 13th place in the Western Conference, and used rotated lineups to balance a congested schedule; by early July, they had improved to fourth in the West. Further injuries and players missing due to national team call-ups and suspensions caused the team to lose most of their matches over the following two months. With a loss to Sporting Kansas City on the penultimate matchday of the season, the Sounders were eliminated from playoff contention. This marked the first time the club had failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs and ended a 13-year streak—the longest active streak in MLS and second-longest in major North American sports.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: On November 22, 2022, Lagerwey departed the club after a seven-year tenure to assume the role of President and CEO at Atlanta United FC. The Sounders announced their appointment of Craig Waibel as the club's new general manager and Chief Soccer Officer on November 30. He had been hired by the club in 2021 to serve as sporting director.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The badge design resembles a heraldic shield, and consists of two layers which represent "the partnership between the ownership, the community, the players and the fans". The logo incorporates the Space Needle, an internationally recognized Seattle landmark. The official team colors are Sounder Blue, signifying the waters of the Puget Sound; Rave Green, representing the forests of the Pacific Northwest; and Cascade Shale, representing the Cascade Range to the east of Seattle. Fans chose a name for the team in an online poll held between March 27 and 31, 2008. The initial list of possibilities – Seattle FC, Seattle Republic and Seattle Alliance – deliberately did not include Seattle Sounders in order to provide a fresh start. Despite the names having been selected through fan research and internal committees, the omission of the traditional Sounders name embittered many in the Seattle community.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In response to the backlash, the team added a fourth write-in option for the team name, allowing for any name to be suggested on the ballot. Of the more than 14,500 votes received in choosing the new team name, 49% of the votes included some form of the name "Sounders". Upon announcing the name of the club, Hanauer acknowledged the significance of keeping with tradition: "The team playing at the highest level in our region has always been called Sounders. Starting with the NASL and then the USL 1st Division, we now have the chance to create a separate and distinct identity with the new MLS team." The NASL team was originally named in a public contest, with "Sounders" announced as the winner on January 22, 1974.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders have usually played in a rave green primary jersey with varying colors and designs for their secondary and third kits. The club's third kits in early years used bright colors, such as "electricity yellow" and cyan, but were later replaced with more muted colors; they primarily saw use during non-league matches. A throwback kit was introduced as a secondary jersey in 2017 and features the NASL Sounders logo and a design inspired by white jerseys used by the pre-MLS incarnations of the team. The secondary jersey was changed in 2019 to a black-and-pink design inspired by a colorful sunset during a 2014 match against the Portland Timbers. It was followed by a dark purple jersey with orange and yellow accents to evoke the style of Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix; it was designed in partnership with his family and features Hendrix's signature.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The team's ownership revealed the first Sounders jersey on May 28, 2008, and announced Microsoft as the team's sponsor in a five-year deal worth approximately $20 million. As part of the agreement, Xbox branding appeared on the front of the Sounders' jerseys and throughout the stadium, beginning with the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live and later replaced with the Xbox One (simply shown as ""). Despite hiring a consultant to explore other jersey partnerships in 2012, the Microsoft sponsorship was repeatedly extended with a one-year contract in 2013, for the following season, and 2014, lasting through the end of the 2016 season. The second extension came amid rumors that Emirates was interested in a sponsorship as part of their marketing campaign in Seattle. The jersey has been modified several times to include promotions for Xbox games, including Halo 5 and Gears of War 4.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders contracted talent firm WME-IMG to explore sponsorship and other advertising opportunities in 2017, shortly before the expiration of the Microsoft contract. On January 17, 2019, the team announced that Seattle-based online retailer Zulily would become the jersey sponsor in a multiyear jersey deal at an undisclosed fee. Zulily also took over sponsorship of the NWSL's Seattle Reign, but naming rights to the pitch at CenturyLink Field was not part of the contract. The club's first sleeve patch sponsor, WaFd Bank, was announced in July 2020 ahead of the MLS is Back Tournament. In 2021, the Sounders announced a multi-year partnership with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to sponsor the right sleeve on kits, with the Emerald Queen Casino on primary kits and the tribe's emblem on secondary kits.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Seattle Sounders FC plays home matches at Lumen Field in Seattle, also home to the Seattle Seahawks. Former Sounders minority owner, the late Paul Allen, was also the owner of the Seahawks, who have a 30-year lease on CenturyLink Field. Because of this relationship, the Sounders made use of Lumen Field without paying rent. In 2015, the team announced an extension of their lease with First & Goal Inc. for use of Lumen Field that would remain through the 2028 season. For Sounders matches, the field was called "The Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field" as part of the sponsorship deal with Microsoft from 2009 to 2018. The field was renamed in 2022 to the "Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field".


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Lumen Field is a 69,000-seat stadium designed for both teams. The Sounders artificially limit the stadium's capacity for MLS matches, with certain seating sections covered with tarpaulins to provide "a more intimate atmosphere". However, the club does open the entire stadium for international friendly matches and some league matches. The team's original business plan expected only 12,000 tickets per game. Based on high initial demand, capacity for the stadium was limited to 24,500 for the beginning of the inaugural 2009 season. However, owing to continued high demand, capacity has been increased multiple times, to 38,500 for the 2012 season and to 39,115 for the 2015 season and 37,722 in 2019.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders have opened additional sections at Lumen Field for international friendlies, MLS Cup finals, and select regular season matches. The final home match of the 2011 season, coinciding with the retirement of goalkeeper Kasey Keller, drew 64,140 spectators and was the first Sounders regular season match to open the stadium to full capacity. The following season had three full-capacity matches, including a fixture against the Portland Timbers in October with 66,452 spectators, the second-largest stand-alone attendance in MLS history. The record was surpassed during the following year's home match against the Portland Timbers in August with 67,385 in attendance. The Sounders set their attendance record with MLS Cup 2019, which was played in front of 69,274 at Lumen Field—surpassing all other sporting events in the stadium's history.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The 2020 season was suspended after two matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after which the Sounders played home matches behind closed doors. The following season saw capacity gradually increase from 7,000 in March to normal capacity in June, along with required proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to comply with state guidelines. The largest attendance during the pandemic era came during a doubleheader with OL Reign against their respective Portland opponents in August 2021, which drew 45,737 people for the MLS fixture.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: While the Sounders currently play on FieldTurf, Lumen Field has previously had temporary natural grass installed for international soccer events. In 2012, an updated FieldTurf surface was installed and certified by FIFA with a 2-star quality rating, the highest possible rating. If an MLS rule change requires natural grass playing surfaces, the field will be permanently replaced with natural grass. A new turf surface, based on the Revolution 360 brand developed by FieldTurf, was installed in early 2016 as part of the extended lease after noticeable wear on the former surface.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The team's training facilities and offices are located at the Starfire Sports Complex in nearby Tukwila. Smaller than Lumen Field, Starfire is also used to host U.S. Open Cup matches. Sounders representatives have said they prefer the more intimate atmosphere for smaller cup matches. Plans for a new training facility, named the Sounders FC Center at Longacres, were announced in February 2022. The new center is scheduled to open in 2024 at the former Longacres horse racetrack and office park in Renton and will feature of office space, four training fields, and a public clubhouse.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders FC Alliance was established at the request of minority owner Drew Carey. Based on the fan association at FC Barcelona, members of the Alliance have the ability to vote on the removal of the general manager and on other team decisions. Season ticket holders become automatic members, while non-season ticket holders may buy into the Alliance for a fee. Membership benefits include voting privileges, an invitation to the annual meeting and other team perks. Members may also be elected to the Sounders FC Alliance Council by receiving at least 25 nominations from other members on an annual basis. The first vote on retaining or replacing Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer was scheduled to be held between October to December 2012. After 13,775 votes registered, Hanauer was retained by the Alliance. Drew Carey is the chairman of the Sounders FC Alliance.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Carey also requested that the Sounders have their own marching band, the first of its kind in MLS. This led to the creation of the Sound Wave, a 53-member marching band consisting of brass and marching percussion. The band plays music from multiple genres, such as Latin, rock and pop, and sits on the north end of Lumen Field. The March to the Match, in which fans march from Occidental Park to Lumen Field before each home match, has been accompanied by the Sound Wave.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Besides the Alliance, there are currently four recognized, independent supporters groups for the Sounders. Emerald City Supporters (ECS), which formed in 2005 to support the USL Sounders, is the largest supporter group and sits in the south end of the stadium in sections 121–123. "Eastside Supporters" is a group which can be found in section 150 which they call "The Pod". Gorilla FC is a Sounders supporters group that sits in the south end of Lumen Field in Sections 119 and 120. "The North End Faithful" sit in the north end of the stadium beneath the "Hawks Nest" in sections 100 and 144–152.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Seattle–Portland and Seattle–Vancouver rivalries formed in the mid-seventies in the NASL and carried on through to the USL and MLS. In 2004, the fan-based Cascadia Cup was created to formalize the competition between the Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver USL teams. The trophy is exchanged by the three teams' supporters groups and is based on the results of certain regular season matches. The Cascadia Cup was contested without Seattle for two seasons after the Sounders entered MLS in 2009, but Portland and Vancouver were awarded expansion teams that began play in 2011.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The fan-created Heritage Cup competition with the San Jose Earthquakes began in the 2009 MLS season. MLS teams that carry on the names of their NASL predecessors are eligible to compete. The results of their league matches determine the winner.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Although there is no official rivalry between the Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy, the two teams have met several times in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The relationship between former head coaches Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid, the two most successful in league history, also played a factor in the clubs' rivalry. Schmid later served as the Galaxy's head coach from 2017 to 2018, shortly after his departure from the Sounders.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The ownership group of the club is composed of three owners and an ownership group composed of 14 families. The majority owner is Adrian Hanauer, the former owner of the now defunct USL-1 team Seattle Sounders. Independent minority owners include the estate of Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers, owned by Jody Allen; and Drew Carey, comedian and game show host. Hanauer and his mother Lenore Hanauer also became minority owners of Tacoma-based Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League in January 2019, though there was no affiliation between the two clubs; their involvement with that club ended when OL Groupe purchased majority ownership of it the following year. Paul Allen's partnership allowed for the team to share certain resources with the Seahawks, including over half of the team's full-time staff, with merged ticket, marketing, and financial operations. This arrangement ended on April 30, 2014, with the Sounders becoming a fully independent business operation.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Joe Roth was the majority owner from 2007 to 2015, when he ceded the role to Hanauer, who was replaced as general manager earlier that year. Roth departed the club's ownership group in 2019. He was replaced by Seattle Futbol Club LLC, formed by 11 families with ties to the Seattle area including former Microsoft executive Terry Myerson and his wife Katie Myerson, Russell Wilson, Ciara, Macklemore and Tricia Davis, Satya Nadella and Anu Nadella, Amy Hood and Max Kleinman, Joe Belfiore and Kristina Belfiore, S. Somasegar and Akila Somasegar, Chee Chew and Christine Chew, David Nathanson and Sabina Nathanson, Brian McAndrews and Elise Holschuh, and Mark Agne and Tomoko Agne. Myerson arranged for the investment through his connections and negotiations that took 15 months to complete. The expanded ownership group will have an executive board to decide on club matters. Peter Tomozawa and Donna LeDuc joined the new minority ownership group shortly afterwards, with Tomozawa taking over as president of business operations. In October 2020, Seattle Kraken team president Tod Leiweke and his wife, Tara, were announced as additional part-owners of the team. Retired baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. and his wife, Melissa, also joined the ownership group the following month.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Brian Schmetzer is the Sounders' current head coach. He was promoted to interim head coach from his role as assistant coach after Sigi Schmid parted ways with the club on mutual terms in July 2016. Schmetzer was made permanent head coach in November 2016, following the team's qualification for that year's playoffs. The club's assistant coaches are Preki, Freddy Juarez, and Andy Rose; until 2021, the other assistant coaches under Schmetzer were Gonzalo Pineda (now head coach of Atlanta United FC) and Djimi Traoré. Tom Dutra was hired in 2008 as the club's goalkeeper coach.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Garth Lagerwey was hired from Real Salt Lake in January 2015 as the club's general manager and President of Soccer, replacing Adrian Hanauer. He left the club in November 2022 and was replaced by Craig Waibel, another former member of Real Salt Lake's staff. Former MLS player and Everett, Washington native Chris Henderson was named technical director on January 24, 2009. He left the club in January 2021 to join Inter Miami CF and was replaced by Craig Waibel, formerly of Real Salt Lake. Former Sounders defender Taylor Graham was hired as the club's Vice President of Business Operations in 2012, replacing longtime Seattle Seahawks executive Gary Wright.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily recognized Seattle Sounders FC as the Professional Sports Team of the Year in 2009 because of the team's record-setting success in attendance, as well as making the playoffs in its inaugural season. Former Seahawks and Sounders CEO Tod Leiweke was recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal as the newspaper's 2009 Executive of the Year. Gary Wright was named MLS Executive of the Year in 2009. In 2012, he was named Seattle Sports Star Executive of the Year.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: A 2015 study by Forbes ranked the Sounders number one in the league in terms of annual revenues ($50 million) and operating income ($10 million). Consequently, the Sounders were also ranked as the most valuable franchise ($245 million) in MLS – a 717% increase over the expansion fee it paid to join the league. The financial success of the team is driven in large part by their high attendance figures and local popularity. In 2019, the club announced that they would become carbon neutral by reducing emissions and purchasing offsets. They were the first professional soccer team in North America to make a commitment to carbon neutraltiy.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders organization announced in 2014 that it would field a second-division reserve team in the United Soccer League, managed by the team and partially owned by members of a fan-owned group. The team, initially named Seattle Sounders FC 2 (S2), began play at the Starfire Sports Complex in 2015, under the management of former assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson. In 2017, the Sounders announced that the team would move to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, with business operations transferred to the Tacoma Rainiers baseball club, ahead of a planned rebrand and soccer-specific stadium to be built in 2020. The team became known as the Tacoma Defiance ahead of the 2019 season.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders established their affiliated academy team in 2010, and hired manager Dick McCormick and technical director Darren Sawatzky to develop local players. The academy fields teams in four age levels in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy system, and is affiliated with youth clubs in Washington, North Carolina, and Central California. Several academy products have been signed by the Sounders under the MLS Homegrown Player Rule, including DeAndre Yedlin, Sean Okoli, Jordan Morris, and Henry Wingo.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: In January 2012, the Sounders announced a partnership for the Tacoma Tide, an amateur team in the USL Premier Development League, to rebrand as Seattle Sounders FC U-23 and appoint Darren Sawatzky as head coach. This team would field former academy players during their summers off from university teams. This branding agreement was terminated by the Sounders in January 2020.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: The Sounders were also affiliated with an amateur women's team, Seattle Sounders Women, that played at Starfire Sports Complex. This branding agreement was also terminated by the Sounders in January 2020. A beach soccer team, also named the Sounders, was fielded for the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Mundialito de Clubes.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Beginning with the 2023 season, all MLS matches will be streamed worldwide by Apple on MLS Season Pass with most matches behind a paywall and some available for free. The league-wide deal replaces existing television and streaming contracts, including local partnerships for the Sounders and national broadcasts on linear and cable television. , commentary teams in English and Spanish have not been finalized.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: From 2014 to 2022, television rights in English for regionally-broadcast matches were held by Fox owned-and-operated station KCPQ and sister station KZJO within the Seattle market. English television broadcasts were called by Keith Costigan alongside former Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller for color commentary and former Sounders midfielder Steve Zakuani for analysis. Previously, matches aired on KING-TV and KONG from 2009 to 2013. Matches were televised in Spanish on Univision station KUNS, anchored by Jaime Mendez with analysts Diego Arrioja and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. In 2018, the team renewed its agreements with KCPQ and KZJO; in addition, the team announced a new streaming deal with YouTube TV for exclusive rights to stream the team's matches within Washington state. This replaced a previous syndication deal with Root Sports Northwest. In 2020, the team switched its streaming rights to Amazon Prime Video.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: On radio, Sounders matches are called in English on 950 KJR AM by Matt Johnson with analysis from Wade Webber, Danny Jackson, and Pete Fewing. The station also airs a weekly show dedicated to the Sounders on Tuesdays. KKMO (El Rey 1360 AM) broadcasts matches and a weekly show in Spanish with commentary from Mario Rodriguez, Carlos Tapia, and Felipe Maqueda.


title: Seattle Sounders FC

text: Former Seattle SuperSonics announcer Kevin Calabro and former U.S. soccer star Greg Vanney called the play-by-play for the local broadcasts during the Sounders' inaugural season in 2009. For the 2010 and 2011 seasons, they were replaced by former BBC cricket and general sport commentator Arlo White, who called English-language broadcasts without a partner. In 2012, White was hired by NBC Sports Network to be the voice of their soccer coverage. That led to BBC commentator Ross Fletcher becoming the club's television and radio play-by-play commentator beginning with the 2012 season, working alongside Kasey Keller as the color commentator. Fletcher left the club at the end of the 2015 season and was replaced by Keith Costigan.


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), was a landmark case of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court upheld the right to have an abortion as established by the "essential holding" of "Roe v. Wade" (1973) and issued as its "key judgment" the imposition of the undue burden standard when evaluating state-imposed restrictions on that right. Both the essential holding of "Roe" and the key judgment of "Casey" were overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, with its landmark decision in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization".


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: The case arose from a challenge to five provisions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982; among the provisions were requirements for a waiting period, spousal notice, and (for minors) parental consent prior to undergoing an abortion procedure. In a plurality opinion jointly written by associate justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter, the Supreme Court upheld the "essential holding" of "Roe", which was that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution protected a woman's right to have an abortion prior to fetal viability.


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: The Court overturned the "Roe" trimester framework in favor of a viability analysis, thereby allowing states to implement abortion restrictions that apply during the first trimester of pregnancy. In its "key judgment," the Court overturned "Roe" strict scrutiny standard of review of a state's abortion restrictions with the undue burden standard, under which abortion restrictions would be unconstitutional when they were enacted for "the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus." Applying this new standard of review, the Court upheld four provisions of the Pennsylvania law, but invalidated the requirement of spousal notification. Four justices wrote or joined opinions arguing that "Roe v. Wade" should have been struck down, while two justices wrote opinions favoring the preservation of the higher standard of review for abortion restrictions.


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: In "Casey", the plaintiffs challenged five provisions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982 authored by Rep. Stephen F. Freind, arguing that the provisions were unconstitutional under "Roe v. Wade". The Court in "Roe" was the first to establish abortion as a fundamental right protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The majority in "Roe" further held that women have a privacy interest protecting their right to abortion embedded in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The five provisions at issue in "Casey" are summarized below.


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: The case was a seminal one in the history of abortion decisions in the United States. It was the first case to provide an opportunity to overturn "Roe" since two liberal U.S. Associate Justices, William J. Brennan Jr. and Thurgood Marshall, had been replaced with the George H. W. Bush-appointed Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas. Both were viewed, in comparison to their predecessors, as ostensible conservatives. This left the Court with eight Republican-appointed justices, five of whom had been appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan or Bush, both of whom were well known for their opposition to "Roe". Finally, the only remaining Democratic appointee was Justice Byron White, who had been one of the two dissenters from the original "Roe" decision. At this point, only two of the Justices were obvious supporters of "Roe v. Wade": Harry Blackmun, the author of "Roe", and John Paul Stevens, who had joined opinions specifically reaffirming "Roe" in "City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health" and "Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists".


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: The case was argued by American Civil Liberties Union attorney Kathryn Kolbert for Planned Parenthood, with Linda J. Wharton serving as Co-Lead Counsel. Pennsylvania Attorney General, Ernie Preate, argued the case for the state. Upon reaching the Supreme Court, the United States joined the case as an "amicus curiae", and U.S. Solicitor General, Ken Starr of the Bush Administration, defended the Act in part by urging the Court to overturn "Roe" as having been wrongly decided.


title: Planned Parenthood v. Casey

text: The plaintiffs were five abortion clinics, a class of physicians who provided abortion services, and one physician representing himself independently. They filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to enjoin the state from enforcing the five provisions and have them declared facially unconstitutional. The District Court, after a three-day bench trial, held that all the provisions were unconstitutional and entered a permanent injunction against Pennsylvania's enforcement of them.