Seattle fans to vote on club general manager

(Reuters) - Fans of Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders will vote on whether to extend the contract of their general manager in what the club say will be the first such vote in U.S. professional sports.

Season ticket holders and paid members of the club, which averages crowds of over 42,000, will be able to vote online on whether to extend the contract of Adrian Hanauer.

Hanauer was part of the ownership group which brought the Sounders into MLS in 2009 with the promise of a democratic vote on the general manager position.

It is not the first time that the Sounders have asked their fans to vote on key issues.

In March, 2008, a public vote was held for the team name while the name of the fans' body, Alliance, and even the Sound Wave club band had their moniker chosen by ballot.

(Reporting By Simon Evans; Editing by Alison Wildey)