Craig Waibel’s job as Seattle Sounders GM is on the line, and fans only have until 11:59 PM Saturday to make their voices heard. This isn’t some symbolic gesture, folks. If the “no confidence” vote hits its legally binding threshold, Waibel is out, plain and simple.
Drew Carey’s Vision: The Fan Power Play
This whole crazy idea of fans booting a GM? That’s all thanks to Drew Carey. He came on as an owner with one big demand: the fans get to vote on leadership. As a die-hard Cleveland sports fan who’d seen too much failure go unpunished, he wanted a real check on incompetence. And guess what? It’s not just some feel-good suggestion, it’s straight-up written into the Alliance Council Constitution, Section 10.3.6. That means if this “no confidence” vote goes through, Craig Waibel is GONE.
But let’s be real, it’s a super high bar. To make it legally binding, 40% of *all* Alliance Members, our season-ticket holders, have to cast a ballot. Then, on top of that, a whopping 67% of those votes have to be a firm “no confidence.” Think about it: if we assume there are 25,000 Alliance Members out there, we’d need around 16,750 votes saying “nope, time for a change” to actually make it happen. It’s a huge lift, no doubt.
And before you ask, yeah, you can vote if you’ve already ditched your tickets for next year. Eligibility is all about your *current* Alliance membership. Plus, if you’ve got multiple tickets, you can designate an additional person per ticket to cast a vote. So, if you’re holding five tickets, that’s four extra voices in the mix. Talk about making every vote count, huh?
History Favors the GM, But Is This Time Different?
Look, history isn’t exactly on the side of a GM getting the boot this way. We’ve had three of these votes before, and every single time the GM has sailed through. Adrian Hanauer got a massive 96.3% approval back in 2012, and that was the only one that actually hit the binding threshold, before they clarified the quorum rules. Then Garth Lagerwey cruised with about 87% in 2018 and 90% in 2022, but those votes didn’t even hit the 40% participation mark needed to make them truly binding.
As a season-ticket holder myself, I already cast my “retain” vote a few weeks back. Back then, the Sounders’ season was looking a lot better, and honestly, I still feel good about it. Craig Waibel’s tenure has actually seen the Sounders perform pretty darn well overall. They’ve been among the top teams in the league for three out of his four seasons. His overall record, when you stack it up against the GMs who came before him, holds up.
So, this is it. The fate of Craig Waibel, and potentially the direction of our beloved Sounders, is in the hands of the Alliance. Get those ballots in, whether you’re heading to the game on Saturday or just logging in online before that 11:59 PM deadline. This is our team, Seattle, let’s make our voices heard!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Sounder at Heart.
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