I attended my first Sounders match in 2011, a few months after arriving in Seattle. It took mere minutes to become hooked on the energy of the Brougham End. I purchased season tickets for 2012 later that evening.
Being in a job that had me traveling regularly, I attended a number of away matches before a fateful meeting with the (then) Travel Monkey after a match against Philadelphia. Following many fine beers at Monk’s Cafe (me with an Angel’s Share, him a Russian River Supplication), I decided I would help out. For the next several years, I would help out as a travel coordinator and weekday tifo crew lead. In 2020, I was asked to lead travel and ticketing. In 2026, I have passed the Travel Monkey torch to Joel McCaslin to allow me to focus on ticketing and operations across ECS.
On match days, you can find me with a trophy and a bottle of bubbles, unless I’m in an airport bar following the match. I proudly rep the Anchor and Rose 48 subgroup.
You can reach the travel team at travel@weareecs.com or @ecstravel.bsky.social. You can get me directly at matthew@weareecs.com or @mtblackmon.bsky.social.