Leiweke has agreed to serve on an eight-member Sounders advisory panel with other team ownersGETTY IMAGES
Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke and his wife, Tara, have taken a "relatively small" stake in the Sounders, according to Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. Leiweke has "agreed to serve on an eight-member Sounders advisory panel consisting of other team ownership members." The group will help Sounders Owner Adrian Hanauer "navigate some of the bigger business decisions for the franchise in an ever-expanding league that faces a renewal of its national television deal" come '23. Hanauer said of the addition, "For me, having perhaps the best sports operator in North America in our ownership group, observing and imparting wisdom, is huge for us. We're a better organization with the Leiweke family in our ownership than we were without them." Baker notes Leiweke "helped seal the deal" to establish the Sounders as an expansion franchise in '07, making an "impassioned business dinner plea to Hollywood producer Joe Roth that he invest as the team’s main owner." The opportunity for Leiweke to re-connect with the Sounders came about in August '19, when Roth -- "by then a secondary owner to Hanauer, who’d purchased a controlling stake -- pulled out entirely." Hanauer "began bringing on new ownership with direct ties to Seattle, consisting of 11 families." With Leiweke having "adapted to his role managing operations of the future NHL team -- which he also has a minority stake in -- he and Hanauer felt the timing was right to make him a soccer owner as well" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/6).
MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN: Hanauer said the deal with the Leiwekes was completed early this year. Leiweke said it "wasn’t a terribly hard decision" to join the ownership group. "I really do believe the Sounders changed the trajectory of soccer in America. ... I've always loved the Sounders. I've cared deeply about them," Leiweke said. "This was about my heart and my wife and I and our collective heart, how we feel about not just the Sounders but about Adrian, truly one of the finest people I’ve ever worked with." Hanauer: "To have (Tod) own a little piece, and to be able to lean on him even more than I was able to before to help keep me grounded and heading in the right direction, is just a fantastic opportunity" (Mark J. Burns, THE DAILY).
