Bart Wiley (scroll down for ESPN article)

Bart Wiley is  the Director of Business Operations for the Seattle Sounders FC.

As Director of Business Operations, Bart Wiley works closely with ticket sales, corporate partnerships, marketing, scheduling, community outreach, fan experience and game presentation, public relations and marketing of the team. In addition he oversees game day operations and was named Major League Soccer Operations Director of the Year in 2009.
He acts as liaison between supporters groups and the club, the Major League Soccer league office, U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF. He also serves as director of the season ticket holder membership group, the Sounders FC Alliance presented by Root Sports.

Wiley served six seasons as general manager of the United Soccer Leagues Sounders, where he was responsible for the day-to-day business operations for the club. In 2008 Wiley won Executive of the Year honors from the USL.

Previously, he worked as Director of Communications for a dotcom, Director of Publicity for a NASCAR Busch Grand National team and as publicist for former Major League Baseball player, Brett Butler.

REIGNING IN SEATTLE - Yes, world, MLS can put fans on seasts

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DRUMS BEAT, CHANTS ring out, fans march. There are brightly colored scarves and home-made banners, celebrity spectators and crisp, damp spring air. But this isn't Manchester. It's not even England. It's Seattle, and come Saturdays, the streets and seats fill, and the right side of Puget Sound becomes as lively a soccer city as anyplace in the Prem.

Sounders FC, a young franchise in a disrespected league, tucked away in a remote corner of a nonsoccer nation, is proving the sport can succeed in the U.S. "For everyone in American soccer," says Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, "I always tell people, you have to make a pilgrimage to Seattle. What you hoped soccer would be, it's actually like that here."

Per game, the Sounders outdraw the Mariners almost 2 to 1, with attendance through May 5 at nearly 39,000, which would place eighth in the English Premier League. Merchandise sales are on a par with the Seahawks, according to Gary Wright, Sounders senior VP of business operations. No wonder NBA commissioner David Stern, who let the Sonics leave Seattle in 2008 after 41 years, calls the Sounders "the most successful expansion team in the history of sports." (more)