Super sports weekend made easy in Seattle

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A massive Canadian flag fluttered in the breeze near the Seattle Seahawks’ 20-yard line.

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For a moment, this National Football League red zone was transformed into a red-and-white zone.

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At the same time, images of Canada’s national symbol — the maple leaf — flashed on various electronic screens around Lumen Field. All the while, longtime Vancouver Canucks anthem singer Elizabeth Irving, on this October Sunday afternoon sporting threads featuring a bird logo instead of an orca, sang a rousing rendition of O Canada to thunderous applause from a welcoming crowd of 68,781.

We came to shed light on Seattle being an idyllic sports town for Canadians who enjoy blending their love for travel and the big game. So, it was indeed serendipitous that our trip to the Pacific Northwest happened to line up with the Seahawks’ annual “12 North” game — paying tribute to the team’s Canadian fan base. (The organization calls its Canadian fans the “12 North,” a riff on the Seahawks’ “12th Man” concept that for decades has served as a rallying call and celebration of the team’s boisterous fan base giving the team a so-called man advantage in addition to the 11 men on the field.)

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This weekend, the fandom wasn’t contained within a single stadium. On Sunday, it was chaos of the best kind throughout the city’s SoDo neighbourhood near the ferry docks where Lumen Field and the baseball Mariners’ T-Mobile Park exist a Hail Mary pass distance from one another.

Sports enthusiasts were spotted in various pockets of town, including those in University of Washington Huskies gear sharing a close resemblance to the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The dark and light-blue logo featuring a mythical octopus was also out in force as the local Kraken faced off against the New York Rangers in a Saturday night National Hockey League tilt Uptown in beautiful Climate Pledge Arena.

The first-ever Starbucks can be found somewhere in between the stadium districts, in the must-visit Pike Place Market, with the mighty Olympic Mountain range serving as a picturesque backdrop for sports fans to trade in their jerseys for tourist maps and enjoy some less competitive sightseeing.

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With no fewer than seven pro sports teams, Seattle — population 733,919 — punches far above its weight and is regularly mentioned in conversation as being among North America’s great sports destinations (recent Expedia research puts Seattle as the 10th most-visited sports city in North America for Canadians).

Having travelled to sporting events in various major cities throughout Canada and the U.S., we’ll agree Seattle is among the best in this regard, perhaps even propped up near the top thanks to the city’s walkability and overall intimate feel.

Within driving distance from B.C. and accessible via direct flight from other parts of Canada (including an easy five-hour flight from Toronto), sports nuts visiting the Emerald City can conceivably watch Seahawks touchdowns, Kraken goals and Mariners home runs in a span of 48 hours, and with ease.

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We went 2-for-3 on a recent weekend, which had us feeling pretty good about our stats. Understanding it’s a team game, here’s everything you need to know to help you score a memorable super sports weekend in Seattle.

LET’S GET LOUD!

We’d heard about how loud it gets at Lumen Field but we met an Arizona Cardinals fan pre-game who told us that aspect gets overhyped. While we haven’t visited the other 31 NFL stadiums for context, we’ll respectfully disagree with her assessment. It wasn’t so much loud as it was entirely deafening. The facts are that the team’s fans twice set the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd noise at a sporting event (within a span of a few months in 2013), registering 136.6 decibels and later 137.6 decibels.

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On Week 7, Seahawks fans made some extra noise in appreciation for their neighbours to the north, paying tribute with the national anthem and various other maple-tinged activities.

Considering the geography, it’s no surprise the Seahawks have some 3,700 Canadian season ticket holders. Additionally, the team averages around 15,000 single-game tickets sold to Canadians each year.

“There’s just something unique about it. It’s just electric,” said Seahawks fan and section-mate Steve Apple, who moved to Seattle several years ago from B.C., owns season tickets, and probably belted out O Canada louder than the 68,781 fans collectively.

When my wife and I planned the trip to Seattle around our first NFL game (one measly Bills Toronto Series game more than a decade ago doesn’t count), we couldn’t have imagined it would line up so perfectly. The only thing that lined up better on this day was the Seattle defence, which allowed fewer than 250 total yards for a third consecutive game en route to a 20-10 victory over the Cardinals.

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Hard-core football fans could feasibly work in additional gridiron plans as the city is home to the powerhouse University of Washington Huskies, who coincidentally scored a win over none other than Arizona one night earlier.

Lumen Field will be home to another variation of football — futebol — as Seattle has been selected as a host city for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Fans of North American soccer will recognize Lumen Field as the home of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC, fierce rivals of the Canadian neighbour Vancouver Whitecaps.

In 2021, the NFL granted approval to the Seahawks to expand marketing initiatives in Canada. Since then, the team has hosted fan engagement events north of the border, including viewing parties in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., last season as well as youth flag football events and a “12 North Tour” with stops and events in Vancouver.

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The team’s 12 North Bar Alliance is an affiliation with various bars in B.C. where Seahawks fans can gather on game days.

Still, after sticking around long after the game had ended and finally making our way outside along Occidental Ave., we mused that our first true NFL experience, here on the ground in Seattle, might never be topped.

PRO TIP: Wear Seahawks gear to the game. If you don’t own any, buy some. Or be prepared to stick out like a sore thumb.

RELEASE THE KRAKEN

It’s not that we thought the NHL’s newest arena would disappoint in any way, shape or form. We just didn’t think we’d come away this impressed (despite a rather sloppy Saturday night loss by the league’s newest team to the visiting New York Rangers).

Head to 1st Ave. N. early if you want to catch a glimpse of the Red Alert Kraken marching band in the plaza pre-game but there’s plenty of in-game entertainment, too, including a house band during intermission.

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What struck me most about Climate Pledge Arena — my seventh NHL arena — was the room to roam. Despite a hockey capacity of 17,100, the arena, which opened in 2021, didn’t feel overcrowded, while still maintaining the energy of a busy event.

Most impressive is its commitment to coincide with the namesake. In October, Climate Pledge Arena became the first arena to achieve Zero Carbon Certification, awarded to buildings that are energy efficient and can demonstrate a significant reduction in carbon footprint.

There are 12,500 plants and trees on site, including a living wall, while rainwater harvesting fills a 15,000-gallon cistern to resurface the ice.

Built next to the Space Needle on the site of what was the 1962 World’s Fair fairgrounds, most of the arena’s seats are subterranean, while the two, three-sided triangular-shaped scoreboards are one-of-a-kind in the NHL.

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While not Seahawks levels of loud, my Apple Watch’s “Loud Environment” alert was regularly going off throughout the Kraken game, including after the game was well in hand for the visitors.

The seating was the most comfortable of any stadium I’ve ever been in and The Lair Kraken team store on the main concourse was easily the most extensive team apparel store I’ve walked through.

From your seat, be sure to look up to see the preserved roof, from 1962, inside the building that once housed the NBA’s SuperSonics, among others.

The team works with the city’s tourism board (Visit Seattle) and the Seattle Sports Commission for collective outreach to Canadian visitors. According to Kraken officials, the team averages 160 or more fans with a Canadian address each game with the most common being from B.C. (61%) followed by Alberta (21%) and Ontario (10%).

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The team sees a sizeable jump when Canadian opponents come to town, including 633 Canadians when the Maple Leafs are in Seattle, 421 for the Oilers and 208 for the Canucks.

The Kraken will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Las Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 1 in the 2024 Winter Classic outdoor game at T-Mobile Park, pitting the league’s two youngest expansion teams against one another.

Aside from housing the Kraken — Seattle’s first pro hockey team since the Metropolitans — Climate Pledge Arena is also home to the four-time WNBA champion Seattle Storm.

PRO TIP: Don’t miss the excellent pre-game show and remember “Fear The Deep.” And consider taking light-rail transit to the game as your climate pledge.

WHERE WE STAYED

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They’re not playing games here. It’s all about the location and the views at the Thompson Seattle, part of the Hyatt group of hotels.

It doesn’t get better than this with views that look out over Elliott Bay, part of Seattle’s Puget Sound that leads out to the Pacific Ocean. And that’s before mentioning the hotel overlooks Pike Place Market, one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the U.S.

Aside from being central to everything in the heart of downtown, the boutique hotel’s restaurant, Conversation, is worth talking about, while The Nest Rooftop Bar features an indoor-outdoor setup with a memorable cocktail program and exceptional waterfront views.

The Thompson encompasses 150 rooms, suites and residences.

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Our king room felt spacious and airy and the blue-gold-black colour palette gave off an elevated feel.

We would recommend this property to anyone visiting the city for a sporting event or otherwise.

PRO TIP: Spend happy hour at Conversation for some epic deals.

MORE TO EAT & DO

Consider purchasing a CityPASS which grants pre-paid admission to some of the city’s top attractions including the Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and more.

Grab your coffee at the original Starbucks or, for something different, try nearby Fonte Cafe and Wine Bar. Breakfast at Russian bakery Piroshky Piroshky in Pike Place Market is a must-do, while dinner at Wild Ginger features tasty family-style service and some terrific Asian-inspired dishes.

PRO TIP: Don’t sleep on the smoked salmon pate at Piroshky Piroshky.

[email protected]

X: @IanShantz

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