[270] Tacoma native Hugh Weber was hired as the club's President of Business Operations in February 2023, replacing Tomozawa, who was named CEO of Seattle's organizing committee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup;[271][272] Tomozawa kept his ownership stake in the club despite his departure from club operations. [230] Drew Carey is the chairman of the Sounders FC Alliance. Well connected guy, for sure. Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. is joining the team's ownership group. Seattle. Tod Leiweke is the CEO of the Seattle Kraken,. Braudilio Rodrigues joins Defiance after putting up rather ridiculous numbers in NCAA DII. Gambling problem? Most members of the new ownership group are expected to attend. With 14 wins in the final 16 matches of the season, the Sounders completed the best half season in league history. Remarking that the announcement of the new ownership structure of the organization was bittersweet, Hanauer recalled his first meeting with now-departed investor/operator Joe Roth at the MLS All-Star game in Colorado, where Roth said he wanted to bring a MLS franchise to Seattle. [111] Despite the sluggish start as well as the loss of midfielder Clint Dempsey, who was forced in August to stop playing after evaluations for an irregular heartbeat,[112] the Sounders rose from ninth place to fourth place in the Western Conference and qualified for the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, with eight wins, two losses, and four draws. [260], Brian Schmetzer is the Sounders' current head coach. Cup, the Final Stop on a Journey to Stay Put", "What the 2021 MLS season meant for Seattle Sounders FC", "Seattle Sounders draw Vancouver Whitecaps on the road in final match of 2021 MLS regular season", "Sounders tie record most goals in history of derby in victory vs. Timbers", "Sounders can't hold lead against Club Leon of Mexico, lose Leagues Cup final 3-2", "Sounders' struggles extend to playoffs, as they fall to Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks", "Sounders return to CONCACAF play, hoping for better result this time", "Sounders advance to CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals by blasting F.C. "That would make sense, because that way they could retain soccer interest," he said. Seattle Sounders. [203][204] Former Sounders minority owner, the late Paul Allen, was also the owner of the Seahawks, who have a 30-year lease on CenturyLink Field. Hanauer has made it known that to the degree all teams would ideally have their own stadium, he would love to have the Sounders playing in a soccer palace on par with the great teams of the world. [92] Seattle was unable to repeat their successes in the 2014 season. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. The Sounders are ranked as one of the most valuable franchises in North America. That group has expanded its percentage of the interest in the team from 35% to a number which has yet to be disclosed. Reynolds and McElhenney won't pay any money up front, which is unique for an ownership stake. The announcement also meant that the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division would play its final season the year before the new MLS franchise was formed. While the Sounders may not suddenly have a lot more money, the new owners bring a host of new ideas and connections. [113], At the end of the regular season, Jordan Morris was named the MLS Rookie of the Year after scoring the most goals of any American rookie in MLS (12),[114] and Nicols Lodeiro was named MLS Newcomer of the Year for his 4 goals and 8 assists in 13 appearances. Hanauer half-jokingly suggested some more owners may be announced. But with new teams coming in almost every year and existing teams building newer facilities, the Sounders are probably no better than the top of the bottom third in that regard. This one billion percent. It was fitting, then, that Hanauer had the stage to himself. The Sounders became the first MLS club to win the CONCACAF Champions League with their 52 aggregate victory. There was no immediate news about what sort of initiatives this new group may implement, but Hanauer hinted at several announcements over the next few months. [172] The team began their 2023 preseason in Seattle before a training camp in Marbella, Spain, to prepare for the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco. Given the rather unprecedented nature of all this, you probably have a lot of questions. The club's majority owner is Adrian Hanauer, and its minority owners are the estate of Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and 14 families from the Seattle area. There were other interested groups, Hanauer said. The Sounders play their home league matches at Lumen Field, with a reduced capacity of 37,722 seats for most matches. The majority owner is the Sounders FC organization, with the non-profit Sounders Community Trust owning minority share of 20%. [253] Paul Allen's partnership allowed for the team to share certain resources with the Seahawks, including over half of the team's full-time staff, with merged ticket, marketing, and financial operations. Were putting an executive committee together that includes some of these owners and a broader group to explore how wecan leverage their knowledge and make them part of decision-making going forward, Hanauer said. [177] Of the more than 14,500 votes received in choosing the new team name, 49% of the votes included some form of the name "Sounders". However, Seattle followed the win by losing 8 of its next 14 matches. [115] The Sounders advanced from the Knockout Round of the playoffs through a 10 win over Sporting Kansas City, and beat FC Dallas 42 on aggregate to return to the Conference Final. [186], The team's ownership revealed the first Sounders jersey on May 28, 2008, and announced Microsoft as the team's sponsor in a five-year deal worth approximately $20million. [211] The team's original business plan expected only 12,000 tickets per game. [283][284] The team became known as the Tacoma Defiance ahead of the 2019 season. Attendance include statistics from league matches only.^ 2. Major Link Soccer: Alexia Putellas grabs player of the year, Vlatko is paid much less than Berhalter and MLS week 1 is officially in the books, Sign up for the Satya Nadella made $25.8 million at Microsoft in 2018 and chief financial officer Amy Hood another new Sounders owner made $14.9 million, according to an SEC filing. [188] Despite hiring a consultant to explore other jersey partnerships in 2012,[189] the Microsoft sponsorship was repeatedly extended with a one-year contract in 2013, for the following season, and 2014, lasting through the end of the 2016 season. [241] The trophy is exchanged by the three teams' supporters groups and is based on the results of certain regular season matches. That was important to me and it was important to the league. The team set a new MLS record for average attendance in each of its first five seasons. [34] During the 2009 season, all 15 Sounders MLS regular season home matches, its home playoff match, and its four home U.S. Open Cup matches (played at Starfire Sports Complex) were sold out. [293], The Sounders were also affiliated with an amateur women's team, Seattle Sounders Women, that played at Starfire Sports Complex. Hanauer seemed genuinely excited about doing just that, painting a picture of the new owners helping boost revenues by a rather modest sum of $4 million per year, which amortized over five years could pay for a $20 million player investment. Yeah, quality sleuthing by GeekWire on that one. Alejandro Bedoya. Speaking of stadiums, was there really anything to the possibility that new owners might try to move the team? Last year, renderings apparently commissioned by the Sounders even leaked. [108] Schmetzer was made permanent head coach in November 2016, following the team's qualification for that year's playoffs. The Sounders are a phoenix club, carrying the same name as the original Sounders franchise that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1983. Braudilio Rodrigues joins Defiance after putting up rather ridiculous numbers in NCAA DII. [257] Peter Tomozawa and Donna LeDuc joined the new minority ownership group shortly afterwards, with Tomozawa taking over as president of business operations. [37] They finished the season with 14 wins, 10 losses, and 6 ties. [225] A new turf surface, based on the Revolution 360 brand developed by FieldTurf, was installed in early 2016 as part of the extended lease after noticeable wear on the former surface. [16] The group competed with two rival bids for the rights to an MLS team in Seattle that had been launched by California-based investors. [137] Despite the loss of these two players, in addition to the suspension of Romn Torres for ten matches for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in August,[138] the Sounders finished 2nd in the Western Conference and 4th in the overall league table. [32] Seattle finished the regular season with a record of 12 wins, 7 losses, and 11 draws. Former USL Sounders coach and assistant coach Brian Schmetzer took over as head coach in July 2016 after the departure of Sigi Schmid. [217] The record was surpassed during the following year's home match against the Portland Timbers in August with 67,385 in attendance. [259] Retired baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. and his wife, Melissa, also joined the ownership group the following month. [147] The team then resumed hosting matches with no spectators at CenturyLink Field (renamed Lumen Field near the end of the season) and primarily played against West Coast teams due to limited travel. [51] In the MLS playoffs, Seattle lost its Western Conference semifinal series 32 on aggregate to Real Salt Lake. [98], During the playoff's opening knockout round, the Sounders defeated the LA Galaxy 32, ending a "curse" for the club, who had lost to LA in each of the three previous playoff matchups. [301][302] In 2018, the team renewed its agreements with KCPQ and KZJO; in addition, the team announced a new streaming deal with YouTube TV for exclusive rights to stream the team's matches within Washington state. The club set a new MLS record for average attendance with 30,943 fans per match. Please enter a valid email and try again. Should we be worried about the Sounders spending less? By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. [132] Minority owner Paul Allen died from complications related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma on October 15, 2018, leaving his stake in the Sounders to an estate executed by his sister Jody Allen. ", "MLS hits Clint Dempsey with a 3-game suspension for ripping ref's notebook", "Seattle Sounders, LA Galaxy through to CCL knockout round", "Sounders to sport new look against Orlando", "Sounders happy with immediate impact from Erik Friberg", "Sounders exorcise playoff demons, move past Galaxy in thrilling knockout round victory", "FC Dallas oust Sounders on penalties to reach West final", "2015 MLS Year in Review: Seattle Sounders", "Adrian Hanauer is the new majority owner of the Seattle Sounders", "MLS sets new attendance records, Seattle hold highest average in league", "Obafemi Martins leaves MLS for Chinese Super League", "Seattle Sounders officially unveil Jordan Morris as Homegrown Player signing", "Seattle running out of patience with Schmid and floundering Sounders", "Sounders limited to one shot in 30 loss at Sporting Kansas City", "Sounders part ways with longtime coach Sigi Schmid", "Little choice for Seattle Sounders to oust Sigi Schmid, change course", "Sounders sign Uruguayan attacking midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro to Designated Player contract", "New signings Nicolas Lodeiro and Alvaro Fernandez both available for Sounders against Galaxy on Sunday", "Sounders forward Clint Dempsey ruled out for the remainder of this season", "Sounders remove interim tag, hire coach Brian Schmetzer on a full-time basis", "Sounders forward Jordan Morris named MLS Rookie of the Year", "Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro named MLS Newcomer of the Year", "Seattle Sounders 1, Sporting KC 0 | 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Match Recap", "FC Dallas 2, Seattle Sounders 1 | 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Match Recap", "Seattle Sounders reach first MLS Cup with win over Colorado Rapids", "Seattle Sounders defeat Toronto FC in shootout to win MLS Cup 2016", "There's never been a comeback like the Seattle Sounders' in MLS", "3 biggest reasons the Sounders are back in the MLS Cup", "Clint Dempsey scores in return to lineup, but Sounders drop season opener", "Sounders enter first-place showdown with Sporting KC healthy and riding 7-game unbeaten streak", "Sounders' 13-match unbeaten streak comes to end with 20 loss to Real Salt Lake", "Defending MLS champion Seattle Sounders claim No. Wilson and Ciara. Avg. Jimmy and Dee Haslam have agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the Milwaukee Bucks from co-owner Marc Lasry at a $3.5 billion valuation of the team, multiple. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. No One Knows When It Is", "Sounders can't find any tournament magic in U.S. Open Cup, fall to San Jose in shootout", "Short-handed Sounders blank Toronto FC, 2-0", "CCL title makes 2022 a success even if MLS playoffs are missed, Sounders say", "Sounders' 13-year playoff streak comes to end after loss in Kansas City", "Sounders president and CEO Garth Lagerwey leaving to join Atlanta United", "Sounders promote Craig Waibel to GM, replacing Garth Lagerwey", "Sounders show they belong but fall just short in Club World Cup loss to Al Ahly", "NW Briefs: List narrows for Seattle Major League Soccer team names", "Seattle Sounders FC Selected as Team Name", "Sounders FC unveils new primary Rave Green kit for 2018-2019 seasons", "Jersey Week 2014: Seattle Sounders go a different direction with new black third kits", "Sounders FC unveils new "Nightfall" secondary kit for 2019", "Sounders unveil secondary purple jersey inspired by Jimi Hendrix", "Take a look at the Sounders' new secondary 'Bruce Lee kits', "Sounders FC Announce Sponsorship with Microsoft and Xbox 360", "Sounders extended jersey sponsorship with Xbox through 2014 season", "Microsoft Xbox extends Sounders jersey sponsorship through 2016", "Emirates eager for updated 777, more visibility here", "Are the Sounders putting on a sporting event, or a live Xbox infomercial? 211 ] the team 's qualification for that year 's home match against the Portland Timbers in with! 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