Seattle Sounders FC is an American soccer club founded in 2008, after the city of Seattle was awarded a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. The club began playing competitive soccer in the 2009 Major League Soccer season. It plays its home games at Lumen Field, competing in the Western Conference of the MLS. The current Sounders FC is the third soccer team from Seattle to bear the Sounders nickname. The tradition was started by Seattle's North American Soccer League team in 1974, and continued by the city's United Soccer Leagues side, formed in 1994. The current Sounders FC is an entity distinct to both of these clubs, and played its first MLS game on March 19, 2009, against the New York Red Bulls.