The Sounders say they are down to “a limited number” of tickets remaining for their Wednesday match with Real Salt Lake. “Limited” isn’t all that precise a term, but if they fill their normal seating capacity of around 36,000 that would represent the eighth-largest playoff crowd in MLS history.

Here’s the list and some additional info from the club:

The two largest crowds for MLS Cup Conference Semifinals or Finals have been produced by Sounders FC fans. However, there might be room for more. In 2009 Seattle attracted 35,807 for its first postseason match and last year, despite playing on

…

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Officials with Real Salt Lake say they have sold about 15,000 tickets for their playoff-opening match against Sounders FC on Saturday.

However, the club says that is “good for 72 hours out.” Apparently, Salt Lake is known for late ticket purchases and that club officials are “optimistic for a sellout.” The seating capacity at Rio Tinto Stadium is 20,213.

Some of those in attendance are expected to make it a double-header, as the University of Utah plays Oregon State three hours before the RSL kickoff.

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Tickets for the Sounders’ Nov. 2 home playoff game against Real Salt Lake went on sale this morning.

Speaking with the media this morning, general manager Adrian Hanauer sounded confident that at least the normal capacity of 36,000 or so will be filled … but less certain that the organization will increase capacity to accommodate anything more than that.

“We’ve had really cursory discussions,” he said. “We’ll see how the public on-sale goes today. But I think we lean toward wherever possible giving our season-ticket holders reason to be season ticket holders. I have very few doubts that demand will …

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Others have had this note first, but it’s just too jaw-dropping not to pass along:

The 64,140 fans who showed up for the Sounders game at CenturyLink Field on Saturday represented the fourth-largest soccer crowd in the world that day, traiing only FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer was at Sounders training this morning, so we got a few minutes to talk to him about the crowd of 64,140 at CenturyLink last night, which is unofficially being called the fourth-biggest soccer crowd on the planet yesterday.

“I guess we need a bigger stadium,” he said. “It’s obviously just amazing and continues to amaze all of us. I think probably not only people involved with the club or are extremely connected to soccer, but I think the entire community and sports world continues to be amazed about what this team has meant to the community, and I think it’s reflected in all the fans who are coming out and participating.

On whether the Hawks Nest might be opened next season:
It’s a somewhat complicated issue that involves our good partners at Xbox and Microsoft. But they realize that the best thing for us is to continue to have a full stadium and the best atmosphere possible. We’ve had conversations about the Hawks Nest area, and it’s certainly something that we’re working towards. But nothing is determined yet. And we want to make sure that Read more »

Here’s where last night’s CenturyLink crowd of 64,140 fits in among the largest soccer crowds in Seattle and Major League Soccer history:

Seattle Top 10 attendances
67,052 Sounders FC v Manchester United (7/20/2011)
66,848 Sounders FC v Barcelona (8/5/2009)
66,830 Real Madrid v DC United (8/9/2006)
66,722 Manchester United v Celtic (7/22/2003)
65,289 Sounders FC v Chelsea (7/18/2009)
64,140 Sounders FC v San Jose (10/15/2011)
58,218 NASL Sounders v New York (4/9/1976)
56,416 Mexico v China (4/16/2008)
56,256 NASL Sounders v Los Angeles (8/25/1977)
50,305 Mexico v Ecuador (5/28/2011)

MLS Top 10 single-game attendances*
69,255 L.A. Galaxy v NY/NJ MetroStars (4/13/1996)
66,237 New York Red Bulls v L.A. Galaxy (8/18/2007)
64,140 Sounders FC v San Jose (10/15/2011)
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The Sounders reported this afternoon that they have gone over the 62,000 mark on ticket sales for their match against San Jose tomorrow night, which is the final home game of the regular season and will include fan-appreciation giveaways and a postgame tribute to goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Fun with numbers:

* This will be the largest Sounders crowd ever for a league match — MLS or NASL. Or USL.

* This crowd could be neck-and-neck with the crowd at Husky Stadium tomorrow afternoon for the UW-Colorado game. In its first three home games this season, the Huskies have drawn 58,088 for Eastern Washington, 63,252 for Hawaii, and 60,437 for Cal.

* Among the current Pac-12 schools, only USC and Washington averaged more than 62,000 fans last season.

* Even in the football-mad SEC, three schools — Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vandebilt — average fewer than 62,000 fans per game.

* So far this season, six NFL teams draw less than 62,000 per game: Jacksonville, Arizona, Miami, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati.

* The largest crowd ever to watch an NBA game (not counting All-Star games) is 61,983 — set in the Silverdome for a Celtics-Pistons game in 1988.

* Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said this morning that this will be the largest non-international-friendly crowd he has coached before since the 2002 MLS Cup. And while Schmid may have been right when he said, he was wrong by afternoon when Sounders ticket sales surpassed the 61,316 that watched Los Angeles beat host New England in the 2002 MLS Cup.

* Sounders beat reporter Josh Mayers of the Seattle Times makes the pretty cool point that this crowd “will be larger than any in the EPL this weekend. With Man Utd on the road, no other stadium holds more than 62K.”

*The great Alan Hinton — former Sounders and Tacoma Stars coach — expands on that, speculating it could be the largest soccer crowd in the world tomorrow. (Although Josh flicked some cold water on that, citing Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.) (But still…
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Ticket sales have passed the 60,000 mark for the Sounders’ regular-season finale against San Jose. The game kicks off at 7:30 p./m. Saturday and will be shown on Fox Soccer.

That figure already assures that the crowd will be the largest for any MLS game this season — or anytime since 2007.

The San Jose game was part of a three-game ticket package that included the friendly against Manchester United. The other game in that package — the June 23 game against New York — drew 46,065. This game apparently is building on that at least in part because of fan-appreciation promotions and also because of a postgame ceremony marking the final regular-season home game for goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

“I’m just humbled and honored that the response has been what it’s been,” Keller said. “By no means am I taking all the credit. We’ve put a good team together, we’ve done a lot of good things this year in multiple competitions, and it just so happens to be my last game. But there are a lot of people who are coming out just to support this franchise and what this team has done all season. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

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