SPOKANE, Wash. — The energy around ONE Spokane Stadium could be felt hours before kickoff, with fans lining up before the stadium gates even opened.
The Spokane Velocity kicked off their second match of the season in front of a sellout crowd of five thousand today, and after watching the game on tv last weekend, fans were eager to watch their team in person. Scott Brecht first heard about the possibility of a professional soccer team in Spokane more than four years ago, and he was excited to finally see all the planning come together.
“It’s really cool, we got to stream on Espn plus (last weekend), we got to watch the first match away, and that was neat. But my goodness, five thousand people, standing room only, that’s very cool,” Scott Brecht said.
Many people were on their feet all game, and Len Prince and Aaron Wilkinson, two season ticket holders, say this is something that the city has been waiting for.
“It shows you that this is something that the community and the city has been wanting, so for it to be sold out on the first game, phenomenal,” Prince said
“We needed it. We really needed it, and again, the support the community has shown so far, has been tremendous,” Wilkinson said.
Many fans showed up already wearing their velocity gear, but the line for the team store was wrapped partway around the stadium as people bought new team merchandise that was released for the first time today.
The Velocity won 2-1 and play next Saturday at home at 6pm. I spoke with Reilly Harnetiaux, Community and Media Relations Manager for the Velocity, and she says tickets for that game are still available and that they want to see next week’s match be another sellout. Tickets are as low as $21 on the Velocity website.
Fans say that the love and dedication that people show for other professional soccer teams is what Spokane will hopefully embrace.
“If we can have the same kind of passion and fire that the Sounders fans have in Seattle and even the Timbers fans have in Portland, that’s what we need to bring here,” Brecht said.
