How Snohomish County Businesses Can Prepare for World Cup Summer + Soccer Terms for New Fans

[00:00:00:10 - 00:00:19:18]
Emily
Okay, quick game. You own a local business. June is coming fast. People keep saying the World Cup is going to bring visitors north. You want to do something fun. Maybe a watch party. Maybe run a special. Maybe just a reason for people to walk through your door. And then you hit the first problem. What are you actually allowed to say?

[00:00:21:00 - 00:00:36:10]
Kyle
Meanwhile, on the fans' side, there's a whole other problem. You're sitting at a watch party, over and around you, gasps, the ref blows a whistle, and someone yells, "That's off sides!" And you're standing there like, "Yeah, absolutely, guys, that was totally off sides."

[00:00:37:10 - 00:00:38:11]
Kyle
What does "off sides" mean?

[00:00:38:11 - 00:00:41:10]
Emily
So today, we're going to solve both problems.

[00:00:41:10 - 00:00:44:23]
Kyle
How local businesses can get ready now without having to guess.

[00:00:44:23 - 00:00:49:17]
Emily
And how the rest of us can learn just enough soccer to enjoy the summer without faking it.

[00:00:55:00 - 00:01:05:17]
Emily
Welcome back to From Pitch to Puget Sound, the limited run series from the Snohomish Podcast Network, getting you ready for the 2026 World Cup Summer with the Snohomish County Lens. I'm Emily.

[00:01:05:17 - 00:01:06:12]
Kyle
And I'm Kyle.

[00:01:06:12 - 00:01:16:03]
Emily
This episode is for two groups of people, business owners who want to be ready for the summer rush, and listeners who want to enjoy soccer without pretending they already know all the rules.

[00:01:16:03 - 00:01:18:01]
Kyle
No fake confidence required.

[00:01:19:07 - 00:01:31:04]
Emily
To help us with the business side, we're going to hear from Tammy Dunn, Executive Director of the Snohomish County Sports Commission. Hi, Tammy, can you tell us a little bit about the Snohomish County Sports Commission and what your organization does?

[00:01:31:04 - 00:02:04:09]
Tammy Dunn
The Snohomish County Sports Commission is a sports destination management organization for Snohomish County. And really what that means is that our team looks at finding organizations that are looking to bring their sporting events to Snohomish County. And it's all about economic development and bringing visitors in through sports is the best way I can describe it. These individuals, they stay in our hotels, they eat in our restaurants, buy gas, buy bottled water at grocery stores, and go to attractions. That's really kind of what we do in helping the dollars coming into the county.

[00:02:04:09 - 00:02:08:06]
Emily
Why should businesses in Snohomish County be paying attention to this now?

[00:02:08:06 - 00:04:11:17]
Tammy Dunn
I think the reason we should care is that people are going to look for places to stay. They may not want to stay in Seattle, and it could be maybe they can't find any hotel rooms or places to stay. Or maybe they want to experience a community where they're just not in the city, but very similar to where they're from. And so like more on the outskirts or more of the, you know, Snohomish County is that countryside where you've got the urban field just steps away from you. And so people don't know, you know, where Linwood stops and Seattle starts. And so we're just one big region. And so how do we work together as a region and be prepared for the influx of visitors internationally as well as domestic that are going to come to the six Seattle matches? Visit Seattle, what they've done is they've done an economic impact study, and that study shows that it's going to be 750,000 people attending, coming into Seattle. And that's just King County. And so people are going to probably kind of spread out a little bit and find where they need. And this is a big event, because being international, you have six or seven countries coming and staying. And these individuals have followers. So internationally, people are going to come and stay for like five or six days. And so if you have people staying for five or six days, then you need to have something for them to do place for them to stay. But I think the other thing is, is that soccer is the world's game. It's a beautiful game. And it's well known around the country. And from past World Cup games, they've had people come to an area, and they may not even have a ticket, but they want to be near it because they're avid soccer fans. And so we're going to see that where people will want to be in the same city, though they may not have a ticket.

[00:04:11:17 - 00:04:25:09]
Emily
That's the part that really stands out to me. This is not just about the people inside the stadium. It is also about the people who want to be near the energy of it. So let's make this practical. What is the easiest starting point for a business that wants to do something?

[00:04:25:09 - 00:05:42:00]
Tammy Dunn
The biggest key is that if they're looking to understand the watch party, particularly for the restaurants, and there's several different elements in how businesses can be involved. And I think that the easiest one are the restaurants, the breweries, the ones that have the TVs that they show sports as part of their usual establishment. That's their everyday business. They're already going to have the subscription for Fox Sports, and they're going to be able to air that. So they're not going to need to have that license with FIFA. So that's one of the low hanging fruit is what I call it. And so it's understanding when the games are so that they can promote that. And then they can promote that within their own business and to their own customers and finding ways to let people know that they're going to have a watch party. One of the things that has been asked of us is who's doing a watch party and is there going to be a website for a watch party? So we're going to be trying as says the sports commission, we're going to try to find those businesses that are going to be doing a watch party and to get it on a website so that people will know where everybody's having a watch party. I'll just use an example. El Prezzo in Everett downtown, they have TVs

[00:05:43:04 - 00:06:25:18]
Tammy Dunn
and they can show the games. People will be able to have fun eating and then kind of come with their group of friends and stay there and watch. The other piece is that those businesses can also have the specials. Do a special, a soccer themed special to kind of create that excitement for people so that if they forget that there's a World Cup game going on that they'll remember about that and so they'll entice people to come in. And so that can go from haywire brewing with what they're doing in Snohomish to Dave and Buster's with what they're doing in Linwood. So it's really any restaurant, brewery, have a watch party and be able to market that.

[00:06:25:18 - 00:06:44:20]
Emily
I like that because it lowers the pressure. For a lot of businesses, this is not about becoming a completely different kind of place. It's about using what you already know and what you already do well and giving people a reason to gather. And this is the place where a lot of people get nervous. What can businesses say in their marketing and what should they avoid?

[00:06:44:20 - 00:07:20:16]
Tammy Dunn
I will say the one piece, the one caveat is that with all of this, we have to make sure that when we market the event that we're not saying that it's FIFA World Cup, particularly in the title. You can say the beautiful game, the World Soccer Tournament. You don't use FIFA World Cup or World Cup 26 because people will think that that's a FIFA sponsor. So you can't put it in the title, but people are going to know. And so just be creative in your messaging about, you know, I keep calling it the World Soccer Tournament.

[00:07:20:16 - 00:07:31:00]
Emily
Such an important point because I think a lot of businesses are willing to participate, but they don't want to accidentally cross a line. So if somebody wants help instead of guessing, where should they start?

[00:07:31:00 - 00:09:56:23]
Tammy Dunn
The best one that I can think of is the website is the Seattle WFC 26 dot award. Go to that website. That website is the Seattle FWC 26. And you're going to learn more about the Seattle matches. They have resources. They're going to have a Seattle Sports Commission Watch Party playbook that will tell you some details on what you can say. Don't use the FIFA. Don't use the logos. And then also about some licensing if you have questions. There's also Seattle Metro Chamber. They also have a playbook and their playbooks really talk about like the restaurants, communication with your employees, make sure that your employees are aware of the matches of what's going on so that they can be prepared for their business, make sure that they're ready for their inventory. Kind of encourage, you know, that have maybe soccer jerseys or T-shirts that have soccer on them and kind of create that hype. So Seattle Metro has got a really great playbook to tell a lot of different pieces of how businesses, small businesses can be involved. Visit Seattle has a playbook as well where we see a lot of we Seattle or we are Seattle. People can use that throughout the whole state if they so choose that as well. Snohomish County Tourism. They have a toolkit so that it helps people with the messaging. They even give ideas on the messaging and what to use rather than saying FIFA World Cup. And then the Snohomish County Sports Commission. We've come up with a business soccer engagement playbook. And this playbook is really, it gives examples of how to do a poster because there's a certain way you can promote USA in Australia. You can't say the team's names, but you can say USA versus Australia. So there's certain ways you can do that. There's also how do you get more businesses involved? And so there's a passport. We created a passport with some of the businesses in downtown Snohomish to kind of create some of those ideas and kind of put them to life. So we have that playbook just to kind of help people to understand like be creative and go, Oh, I get it now. So just to help them. So there's all kinds of different playbooks. I know Everett will probably come up with a playbook too.

[00:09:58:10 - 00:10:09:16]
Tammy Dunn
But those are ones. I know the Seattle ones are ones we have on our website under Snohosports.org. We have a World Cup page and we're continuing to add more items onto that.

[00:10:09:16 - 00:10:18:13]
Emily
And that is good news because we do not have to build this from scratch. One more thing before we move on. Why prepare now instead of waiting until the last minute?

[00:10:18:13 - 00:11:14:00]
Tammy Dunn
That is a great question. People ask me, well, you know, how many people are going to come? Are we going to have that many people coming to the Seattle area? And I don't know. I've never experienced this. Never been involved or near a city that has done an international event, basically the largest event in the world ever bigger than a Super Bowl. I don't know. But it's about how do we be prepared? And, you know, let's just be prepared for all of the different pieces of being an international event, you know, for the safety and security, thinking about people who travel. I mean, I travel for conferences and I do Uber, or if I can, I will actually do like the link rail. So I try to think about, you know, if I was a traveler, what would I do?

[00:11:15:00 - 00:11:37:10]
Tammy Dunn
And particularly with the transportation and I think, you know, transportation, you know, people are going to do the mass transportation. But, you know, some people will also look for the least expensive hotel rate. And so if that means that they're outside of the area, and then having the travel in, then they're going to look for those that mass transit, or they just want to be in the area.

[00:11:39:00 - 00:11:56:22]
Tammy Dunn
And that's what it's crazy. Some people do that. I mean, they did that for the Super Bowl. And when the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl, and then they came up for the celebration parade. So that's, you know, the avid sports fans, they're gonna travel, they're gonna find that.

[00:11:56:22 - 00:12:02:13]
Emily
Now, that's the really big takeaway for me. You don't need to know everything today. But you do need to start now.

[00:12:02:13 - 00:12:12:20]
Kyle
Totally makes sense. I mean, the World Cup is literally right at our doorstep. Honestly, as a business, I would be fearful of trying to get organized. But I'm glad there's resources out there to help these local businesses get ready.

[00:12:12:20 - 00:12:16:16]
Emily
100%. It's going to be an amazing time. And we're here for all of it.

[00:12:16:16 - 00:12:29:17]
Kyle
Okay, so that's all about the business side. Now let's jump into how to survive when someone says a soccer term, you're watching a game, and you have no clue what they're saying. And you just smile and nod.

[00:12:29:17 - 00:12:31:06]
Emily
I just say, "Neat!"

[00:12:31:06 - 00:12:34:13]
Kyle
First things first, Emily, let's get the basics out of the way.

[00:12:34:13 - 00:12:35:20]
Emily
All right, hit me with it.

[00:12:35:20 - 00:12:43:18]
Kyle
The goal is simple. Score more goals than the other team. A goal is scored when the entire ball crosses the goal line and within the goal posts and crossbar.

[00:12:43:18 - 00:12:45:21]
Emily
Okay, well, that part is pretty obvious.

[00:12:45:21 - 00:12:47:16]
Kyle
Fair, but we got to start from zero.

[00:12:47:16 - 00:12:48:13]
Emily
Okay.

[00:12:48:13 - 00:12:57:09]
Kyle
Now, a soccer game is played on a large rectangular field, usually bigger than an American football field, but they do vary in size. These fields are often called a pitch.

[00:12:57:09 - 00:12:59:17]
Emily
Don't worry, Kyle, I have been reviewing my terms.

[00:12:59:17 - 00:13:48:09]
Kyle
Fantastic. Well, let's get through some basics and then we'll jump into that pop quiz. Now each team has 11 players on a field at a time. Of course, teams also have many players that can be subbed into a game from their bench. The latest rules by FIFA allow five of these players to be subbed in in a given match. One player in each team is the designated goalie or goalkeeper. They're the only ones allowed to touch the ball with their hands, arms. Big rule, of course, in soccer is you can't touch the ball with your hands. And goalies can only touch the ball with their hands in a penalty area. When you're looking at a pitch, that's typically the big white box around the goal. A standard professional match lasts 90 minutes split into two 45 minute halves. Luckily, if you have kids, this is not standard for peewee soccer. You don't have to stand around for hours for a zero zero match. Phew. At the end, whoever has the most goals wins.

[00:13:48:09 - 00:13:54:07]
Emily
Okay, wait, teams can actually win. Every game of soccer I've ever seen just ends in a tie.

[00:13:54:07 - 00:14:08:22]
Kyle
Well, fair enough games can end in a tie. It depends on the game situation. We're not going to go into all the details today. We're going to cover that topic a lot more closer to the World Cup about how games are affected based on where they're happening and how the whole tournament is organized.

[00:14:08:22 - 00:14:10:18]
Emily
Sounds good. Looking forward to it.

[00:14:10:18 - 00:14:31:12]
Kyle
Okay, Emily, I know I gave you some terms earlier. And I asked you not to Google them. And so we're going to cover them. We'll see how much you already know. And then for the terms that you don't know, I want to hear what you think the terms mean. And then we'll also dive into what they are and how our fans out there can stay in the loop and understand what's happening in a soccer game.

[00:14:31:12 - 00:14:41:18]
Emily
Well, and as everyone knows, I don't know anything about soccer. I'm a baseball girl. So I am just going to use my knowledge of other sports to figure out the answers here. No shame in that.

[00:14:41:18 - 00:14:52:20]
Kyle
Absolutely. And this is certainly supposed to be an educational experience. We want folks to learn about soccer terms. Now, certainly, Emily, there will be a little bit of a chance for you to show off your skills.

[00:14:52:20 - 00:14:54:23]
Emily
We'll see if I can deduce the answer.

[00:14:54:23 - 00:15:16:05]
Kyle
Before we get too far into this, if you're struggling to keep up with any of this, that's totally okay. We're firing a lot of terms at you all at once. There's going to be some references and some links in the description of the this show notes. So take a look at that. And that'll help you keep up to speed with what we're talking about here and go into some more details about what we're going to be talking about.

[00:15:16:05 - 00:15:25:04]
Emily
I know that will help me follow up. I love a good visual. So being able to listen and see at the same time will be perfect. Great resource for me to follow up on this too.

[00:15:25:04 - 00:15:29:09]
Kyle
Okay, first terms, Emily. Goal line, touch line. What do you think?

[00:15:30:14 - 00:15:45:14]
Emily
I think the goal line must be the line that determines whether or not you got a goal or not. The touch line is probably the line that you don't want to touch actually, because you'll be out of bounds if you go outside of it.

[00:15:45:14 - 00:15:48:12]
Kyle
You're hitting the nail on the head on both those.

[00:15:49:17 - 00:16:05:00]
Kyle
But let me add a little bit more color. That's the boundary of the field. Goal line is the short side. Touch line is the long side. Ball goes outside of it, out of bounds. Of course, if it goes through the goal, it's a goal. Okay, next part of the pitch we want to cover. The 18 yard box.

[00:16:06:06 - 00:16:08:14]
Emily
18 yards away from something?

[00:16:08:14 - 00:16:31:11]
Kyle
You're probably about 80% of the way there on this one. It is 18 yards away from the goal line. So this is the biggest white box that you see around the goals themselves. This is typically the boundary for goalkeepers to use their hands. You may also see another smaller box called the six yard box. We're not going to go into the weeds. Typically, that's not important for the purpose of most games that you'll be watching.

[00:16:31:11 - 00:16:32:12]
Emily
All right.

[00:16:32:12 - 00:16:40:23]
Kyle
And then of course, I know I said earlier that 90 minutes is a regular soccer game. But of course, every rule has an exception. stoppage time.

[00:16:40:23 - 00:16:50:14]
Emily
This is the time that I hate because it's tracked by like one person who keeps his secret and then just lets the game keep going until they say the time is out. It's rude.

[00:16:50:14 - 00:17:19:11]
Kyle
You're not wrong. It's very annoying. Luckily, technology has improved these last few years. But stoppage time is the extra time that gets added at the end of a half, typically to account for the delays in the game because soccer has a running clock, there's no stopping it. And so if someone's injured for a long period of time, if there's other delays, if Oh, I don't know a squirrel or a cat runs on the field, and it's not fair to take away a little bit of that time. So typically, you'll get a little bit of added time at the end of each to play.

[00:17:19:11 - 00:17:26:01]
Emily
I paid for 90 minutes of soccer playing. So I want to get 90 minutes of soccer playing. You have completely changed my mind. No hate now.

[00:17:26:01 - 00:17:46:10]
Kyle
Okay, now we're going to jump into the specific players. We've already colored goalkeepers. Those are pretty obvious. Typically on a field goalkeepers wear different colors to make sure you can see them. And we're going to go from the front of the team to the back of the team, not necessarily least to most important or anything like that. But a striker, what do you think a striker is?

[00:17:46:10 - 00:18:00:02]
Emily
I think that striker is playing the most offense, if I can talk about it like that. So they're closest to the center line. And they are in front of the pack when they're going to make a goal on the other team.

[00:18:00:02 - 00:18:04:00]
Kyle
Exactly. You're you're 100%. Man, we're cruising now.

[00:18:04:00 - 00:18:06:19]
Emily
I knew I was right. As soon as you said we were going front to back.

[00:18:08:07 - 00:18:20:09]
Kyle
Strikers are typically the ones that are scoring goals. Strikers are oftentimes the players that are glory attention seekers, maybe the divas of the team. But typically, they're the ones that are putting the ball in the back of the net of the opposing team.

[00:18:21:13 - 00:18:25:10]
Kyle
Now, someone who's near the striker, a winger, what do you think a winger is?

[00:18:25:10 - 00:18:29:21]
Emily
Players who play along the side of the field along the whole length of the field.

[00:18:29:21 - 00:18:57:12]
Kyle
Exactly. Yes. Yep. You're hitting the nail on the head, Emily, you're good with this. wingers are typically close to the striker and they are on the sideline. They're the ones that are either playing the ball into a striker, or they are making plays happen, but from a side position going towards the center of the goal. A lot of famous players out there in the world are traditionally wingers. So the big names like Lionel Messi, Christian Ronaldo typically are in that category of wingers.

[00:18:57:12 - 00:19:01:06]
Emily
They're kind of the assist usually, but they also can make goals.

[00:19:01:06 - 00:19:11:02]
Kyle
Right? Absolutely. They're some of the biggest players you said. Exactly. They can both make assists and goals. They're oftentimes the most well rounded offensive players for sure.

[00:19:12:06 - 00:19:15:20]
Kyle
All right, now we're going to keep taking a step back. We're starting to get into the midfield.

[00:19:17:07 - 00:19:20:18]
Emily
All right, well, all I got for the midfielder is the player who plays in the middle of the field.

[00:19:20:18 - 00:19:39:14]
Kyle
Honestly, you're not wrong. There are different types of midfielders. We're not going to go into the weeds today because we could spend hours talking about soccer philosophy, but ultimately they're the ones that have to run the whole length of the field. So they're the ones that have to run for miles and miles and miles in a soccer game because they got to be offensive as well as defensive,

[00:19:40:15 - 00:19:44:22]
Kyle
which leads us into defenders. Hopefully this one is straightforward.

[00:19:44:22 - 00:19:47:20]
Emily
I think they play closest to the goalie to defend the goal.

[00:19:47:20 - 00:20:13:11]
Kyle
Exactly. Not a shocker here. They're the ones that are trying to keep the offensive team or the other sides, offensive players out of the goal of their insight. Now, those are all the players. There's a lot more nuance, I'm sure, but we're going to talk a little bit about formations. Now, we're not going to cover every formation on the planet, Emily, but if I said to you the numbers 4-4-2 or 3-4-3 or 4-2-2-1, what do you think that all means?

[00:20:14:13 - 00:20:38:02]
Emily
So you said there was 11 players. All these numbers out up to 10, and I'm assuming another one is the goalie, and the formations are a combination of where the others form on the field, I believe. So maybe a 4-4-2 is, I don't even know how many of each of these positions there are. Can you be a midfielder or a winger? Can you play two? Can you have more wingers on the field than midfielders or strikers on the field?

[00:20:38:02 - 00:20:40:04]
Kyle
You're on the right track there. You're on the right track.

[00:20:40:04 - 00:20:40:20]
Emily
That's one question.

[00:20:40:20 - 00:21:08:14]
Kyle
Typically, these numbers reference how many defenders, midfielders, and offensive players you have. However, as soccer has continued to evolve, everyone comes out with fancy new formations. And so in these days, that's typically the number of people you'll see as you go from the defense to the offense. Lots of different terms, but just generally that's how the team has stood up. Defenders is the first number. The last number is typically your striker or your offensive players.

[00:21:08:14 - 00:21:16:19]
Emily
I see that they have a lot more, you always want more defenders it looks like, or that's kind of typical in these ones. There's more defenders than there is strikers.

[00:21:16:19 - 00:21:31:07]
Kyle
That's pretty common. Typically, it's a lot more difficult to defend one or two people with most people as opposed to trying to play one v one. So typically, a lot more people will have a larger number of defenders than on the offensive side.

[00:21:31:07 - 00:21:32:14]
Emily
Okay, interesting.

[00:21:32:14 - 00:21:36:12]
Kyle
So those were a couple terms, Emily. You actually did a freaking fantastic job.

[00:21:36:12 - 00:21:45:03]
Emily
Thank you. I feel pretty, I'm proud of myself for really, not depending on Google, not depending on AI, not depending on Wikipedia. I tried.

[00:21:45:03 - 00:22:28:22]
Kyle
You're an expert now, just like our listeners now. Now, of course, there's more terms out there. So certainly take a look at those show notes, if you want to dive into more details, or if you need some of the visuals that would help, honestly, would recommend taking a look at just visuals. I'm a visual person. So sometimes I struggle to keep the mental picture of all these things happen, even if you don't remember all these terms that I just went through. Honestly, still, you can have plenty of fun while watching soccer. And we got to speak with Peter Hatrop, a local Seattle Sounders and Seattle Soccer legend. And this is one of the things that he talked about not to get too spoiler into one of our future episodes. But he talked about this where at the end of the day, soccer is meant to be enjoyed, bring your emotions to the game. Yes, the terms are great to remember, but at the end of the day, just have fun with it. Enjoy soccer.

[00:22:28:22 - 00:22:42:01]
Emily
So whether you are a business owner thinking about a watch party, or just someone trying to learn the difference between a corner kick and a penalty kick, this is your reminder that now is the time to get ready.

[00:22:42:01 - 00:22:47:08]
Kyle
Learn a few terms now, make a plan now. And June gets a heck of a lot more fun.

[00:22:47:08 - 00:22:53:01]
Emily
We will put the business resources in the show notes, including the local and regional playbooks Tammy mentioned.

[00:22:53:01 - 00:23:02:12]
Kyle
If you have a beginner soccer question, or if your business is planning something around these summer matches, send it our way. Happy to help you guys get you connected with the right resource and everything else.

[00:23:02:12 - 00:23:06:07]
Emily
And if you're interested in promoting your events, your business also reach out.

[00:23:06:07 - 00:23:08:07]
Kyle
This has been from pitch to Puget Sound

[00:23:08:07 - 00:23:10:17]
Emily
presented by the Snohomish Podcast Network.

[00:23:10:17 - 00:23:12:23]
Kyle
See you next time on the pitch.

[00:23:15:02 - 00:23:20:13]
Emily
Quick note, this podcast is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by FIFA or the FIFA World Cup.