But what Adrian Hanauer, Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and Joe Roth did when they started the Seattle Sounders FC was no joke. They meticulously planned the launch of the Major League Soccer franchise with an eye toward some lofty goals. Then they stood back in amazement as they rocketed far beyond those goals buoyed by a team that ignored its "expansion" label and a fan base that wildly embraced them.
Here is part of the inside story behind the launch -- and rise -- of the Sounders.
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Drew Carey's interest in being involved in the ownership group of the team was sincere and legitimate. No Hollywood star looking for a toy; Carey came from a place of true soccer passion. He had become a fan of the sport when he relocated to Los Angeles from Cleveland. He didn't want to forsake his Cleveland roots, so becoming a fan of the Lakers or Dodgers was out. But Cleveland didn't have soccer so he became a fan of the Galaxy.
He also had become interested in photography and was able to get a photographer's pass for a U.S. men's national team match in 2005 at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He parlayed that assignment into a deal in which he took photos during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. By then he was hooked on soccer and in interviews repeatedly declared it to be his favorite sport.
Carey looked into what it would take to buy an MLS team. Told it was about $20 million dollars, he mulled trying to put a group together. But that idea evaporated when someone pointed out that his team would need a stadium. "I couldn't pull that off," he laughs. "I don't have stadium money."
So Carey told his lawyer that he wanted to explore ways to join an MLS ownership group. As it turns out, his lawyer also did business with Roth and told Carey that Roth was putting together a group to put an expansion team in Seattle.
Carey arranged a lunch with Roth, but due to schedules the meeting was set up six weeks out. It was a long way off, but it did give Carey plenty of time to rehearse his pitch to join the ownership team. "Joe's heard a million movie pitches, and it was almost like pitching a movie. I knew it better be good right off the bat or you're going to lose his interest."
If common sense had overruled soccer passion the lunch meeting might not have ever happened. The lunch coincided with Carey's final day of rehearsal for the TV game show The Price is Right. He was the show's new host, following in the footsteps of the legendary Bob Barker. As the rehearsal wound down Carey started goofing around with one of the stage props used in the 'Grocery Game.'
"We had a big wall that spins around to reveal the game," Carey says. "I put my hand in like it was going to crush it and I didn't get my hand out in time and it crushed my wrist. I thought I had fractured my arm."
EMTs were called to the set and after treating Carey suggested he go to the hospital. Carey was in severe pain but was also mindful that it had taken six weeks to get on Roth's schedule. "So instead of going to the hospital, which I honestly should have done, I went to this lunch with Joe."
The mishap made Carey late, which added even more pressure to the situation. "One of Joe's pet peeves is people who are late. He hates it. I show up 15 minutes late but I walk in with ice on my arm and the injury so that's my out."
Ignoring the pain Carey says, "I just shot right into it ... arm in a sling ... covered in ice ... should have been in the hospital ... and telling him passionately about something I believed in. I think that's what sold him."
Carey told Roth about a show he had hosted for The Travel Channel when he examined the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It was during that show, on a tour of Barcelona's legendary Camp Nou stadium, that a guide had casually mentioned to Carey that Barça fans were able to vote out the team's president if they so desired. Carey's first thought: "I would love to do that with a team in the States."
He and Roth discussed marketing and agreed the sport had not done a good job of marketing itself in the USA. He told Roth about his adventures with the U.S. men's team. On and on the soccer discussion flowed, and Carey admits he had one conflicting thought (or maybe two, if you factor in the whole 'I should be in a hospital right now' thing).
"Here I am in show business and I'd love to be in movies. I'm meeting with Joe Roth the big famous movie producer. So I should have been talking about the movies with him, but all we did for an hour and a half was talk about soccer and marketing."
In classic Hollywood style, at the end of lunch Roth took a napkin and wrote down an offer for Carey "He turns it around and slides it across the table to me. I'm thinking 'how many times has he done this in his life?'
