SEATTLE —  The newest Major League Soccer team will be called Seattle Sounders FC.

About half the 14,500 fans who voted on the team name wrote in Sounders. That was about 20 percent more than the choices offered by the club: Alliance, Republic or Seattle FC.

Club officials didn't want the traditional Sounders name, but fans had the write-in option. The Sounders name has been identified with soccer in Seattle since 1974.

The team also unveiled its logo Monday, which shows a silhouette of the Space Needle against a a blue and green background with the words "Seattle Sounders FC" written across it.

The Seattle MLS team already has deposits for 13,000 season tickets. Play begins in March 2009 in Qwest Field.

Seattle will be the 15th team in the MLS.

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