Seattle’s two professional soccer teams, the Sounders and the Reign, unveiled a waterfront venue on a pierside barge on June 8, 2026, providing a mini soccer pitch, a large video screen, and amenities for World Cup fans and community children to enjoy the tournament and play soccer [1, 2].
The venue celebrates a campaign by the RAVE Foundation aimed at building 52 mini soccer pitches across communities in Washington state lacking free safe play spaces. Courtney Carter, chief revenue officer, said, "If you give a child a ball, and a place to use that, in (a) community that maybe doesn’t have access to a free park ... it’s going to change your community" [1]. Carter explained the barge idea: "What if we put the 52nd pitch on a barge, put a screen at the end of it, and we delivered it to the waterfront of the City of Seattle and said, ‘Here’s a global game, come celebrate.’"
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, will have some matches in Seattle. About 18 months before June 8, 2026, Sounders and Reign executives began discussing ways to engage the city’s fans during the tournament, eventually conceiving the barge watch party concept inspired by Puget Sound’s maritime heritage [1, 2].
Western Towboat, a local marine company, provided the barge and logistics support. Vice president Russ Shrewsbury said, "If it floats, we can move it, and if you have an idea, we can usually make it happen" [1]. Seattle hospitality company Rally, founded by Angela Dunleavy, assisted with food and drinks and managing the hundreds of attendees moving on and off the barge during the event [1, 2].
The barge venue stands as a communal focal point during the World Cup, combining fan engagement and community soccer access in a unique waterfront setting.
Officials plan to continue leveraging the venue throughout the tournament to welcome fans and showcase free play opportunities for local youth [1, 2].