[MLS SPOTLIGHT] Adrian Hanauer gets to keep his job as general manager of the wildly successful Seattle Sounders. In a vote of Sounders FC season ticket holders and Alliance members, they chose to retain the club's part owner who was instrumental in bringing pro soccer back to Seattle. He was retained with 96 percent of the vote.

There were a total of 13,775 votes cast during the two-month window, and Hanauer received 13,271 votes.

"Our fans are very passionate," said Sounders FC owner Joe Roth following the results of the vote at the organization's annual meeting. "We offered season ticket holders and Alliance members an opportunity to participate in this unprecedented vote and their voice has been heard."
 
The Sounders have broken the MLS attendance record in each of their four seasons. The Sounders' average of 43,144 a game in 2012 would rank third in Major League Baseball, sixth in the English Premier League, fourth in Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A and 11th in the German Bundesliga.
 
"We've been committed from day one to engage our fans in the direction of the club," said Hanauer.  "The first four years have been remarkable, and I look forward to continuing the growth and progress over the next four years."

The ability for fans to vote to keep or remove the general manager was part of the Sounders' charter when the club was created. The vote takes place every four years.