Eternal Blue, Forever Green

Sometimes an opportunity feels so right, everything just falls into place. A great team. Great timing. A worthy challenge. I’ve been fortunate to have a few such experiences throughout my life, and today’s announcement certainly ranks near the top of the list.

Today Sounders FC announced our new ownership group. I am honored to now be part of this club, with its great heritage, and so much future potential as a pillar of our great city of Seattle. Soccer has so much to offer all of us – lessons in teamwork, perseverance and hard work - and the opportunity for boys and girls, whole families, and friends to bond together across all walks of life and across generations. I look forward to the day when we bring our next championship home to Seattle, bringing together our entire Seattle community for a shared moment of pride and celebration.

The change in ownership closed July 31, almost 15 months after we started working on it. 31 different people or organizations were involved in the final close. The journey has been fun and educational for me personally, and in the spirit of a key goal of the Sounders organization to lead on democracy in sports, I’m sharing the story here with all Sounders supporters.

The challenge

It was May 15 last year that I met with John Stanton, a member of Microsoft’s Board of Directors, to discuss my transition from Microsoft. I recall sitting with him in a small conference room in building 34 on Microsoft’s main campus. John is also the Chairman of the Seattle Mariners. It was easy to go back and lookup the date of this meeting, because during our discussion, he shared the announcement which would be made that afternoon of Robinson Cano’s suspension. John’s empathy and passion for the team and the fans was palpable. I confessed to him although I was a Seattle sports fan generally, baseball was not my family’s first sport… that we were a soccer family. He offered to introduce me to Adrian Hanauer, that guy I’ve seen on the field before a few Seattle Sounders games, and I was like “sure, why not?” Before the meeting ended, John sent a 1 line email introducing us.

Adrian and I talked on the phone a few days later, and soon after we met for coffee on the back deck of his house. There he shared that his partner, Joe Roth, was considering selling his equity in the Seattle Sounders — and that a California investment group was being very aggressive in getting a deal done. This investment group was making creative offers to buy out more than just Joe to try and take control of the team. (Later, Ben Haggerty aka Macklemore would describe the situation perfectly “I don’t know these California guys… but I know these California guys. We need to own this team in Seattle.”) I told Adrian that morning that I wanted to work in partnership with him to find a solution.

The opportunity

After leaving Adrian’s home, it was time to do some research – and I learned that the team I loved as a fan, could be a great investment opportunity:

• Soccer is on the rise in the US. Today, it is the most popular youth sport for both boys and girls. FIFA is the #1 sports video game.
• Seattle is on the rise (hence our traffic!). Our city is growing at twice the national average rate and our population aged 15-34 (the core soccer audience) is growing 6x the national average.
• FIFA men’s World Cup is coming to the US in 2026, which should help grow interest in the game.
• MLS soccer teams are valued much lower than NHL hockey or MLB baseball teams today, because MLS games draw fewer viewers– but will this still be true in 10 years?

And I quickly realized the value of Joe’s equity – and that I could not do this alone. I would need to find a group of like-minded people, who were willing to invest in the Sounders as a pillar of the Seattle community, and were willing to make the bet that soccer would grow in popularity along with me.

The team

First came my Microsoft colleagues. The first person I emailed about the opportunity was Satya Nadella. After working together for over 20 years, I knew he was a huge Seattle sports fan. A few weeks later at a biotech dinner, he confirmed he was interested. I sent a text to Amy Hood, she referred me to her husband Max Kleinman. Max was immediately intrigued and engaged. I had a dinner with Joe Belfiore at Black Bottle in Bellevue, mentioned the opportunity, and a few days later his wife Kristina engaged. As I continued to think through the biggest Seattle sports fans or Sounders fans that I know, I recalled that Christine Chew who I had worked with years previously at Microsoft, was a huge soccer fan. A Facebook message later, Christine and her husband Chee were fully engaged.

Then came the Madrona connections. First there was Soma Somasegar. Last summer, we were discussing the possibility of me joining Madrona and when I mentioned the Sounders opportunity – he was intrigued and dug in with me. Adrian reintroduced me to Brian McAndrews, formerly with Microsoft and Madrona. He was in. Then a big leap occurred. A good friend of our family is Billy Poll, a great Seattle commercial real estate broker. Billy knew I was trying to pull a group together, he talked to his cousin Greg Gottesman, also a Madrona alum, who passed along the opportunity to some friends. And then via Greg, last August I received an email from a “Russell Wilson”, subject line “Let’s talk”. I immediately thought it was a prank or spam. But there was a phone number in the mail, so I called it and Russell answered. He was all in from that first call. 

Russell and Ciara invited Adrian and I over to dinner to discuss. Also joining us was Tony Mestres from the Seattle Foundation, and Larry Estrada and Scott Pickett from Team Wilson. The focus of our discussion was on the role which sports teams play in communities. I recall Russ talking about how soccer was his first sport. I recall Ciara being so eloquent about how music and sports are two things which bring communities of people together – and that she and Russ would love to invest in the Sounders as part of their commitment to Seattle.

Macklemore heard about the opportunity through both Russell and the Seattle Foundation. Two fun memories from the early discussions with Macklemore. First, during one of our group get togethers, after several people mentioned their common connection through Microsoft, he introduced himself as working for Apple. Second was a memorable meet up I had with Macklemore backstage at the Puyallup State Fair. I have to believe this isn’t the most frequent location for business discussions, and looking at this photo, I can only imagine what he was thinking about while I excitedly talked about the opportunity to partner… (maybe something like: “Sure, Terry. I like soccer too. But what I’d really like right now is one of those corn dogs.”)

Adrian introduced me to David Nathanson. As we learned of his experience with soccer media rights at Fox Sports, his experience on the board of Fan Duel, and his commitment to the game through his board membership of the US Soccer Foundation, we were excited to welcome him to the team.

And then last but not least, through connections of connections of the Seattle Foundation, I met Mark Agne, a fellow fan of the beautiful game – and our group was complete.

We were a diverse group, representing the diversity of our city, with families of black, white and Asian heritage – and two of our cities most prominent women (Ciara Wilson and Amy Hood). It was a talented group, representing Seattle’s entertainment, finance, and technology leaders. And we all loved Seattle.

Oh yes, there were probably a hundred other discussions with people who passed on the opportunity. Some were in, and then out, and then back in, and then out. But this core group came together last summer, and since then have been working together to own the Seattle Sounders in Seattle.

The journey

It’s amazing how many twists and turns a deal like this can take. In the end, like all deals, this came down to the people involved.

Selling the Sounders has not been an easy decision for Joe. He is the founder of the MLS franchise in Seattle. I vividly recall his great introduction of Clint Dempsey. He has an incredible passion for the game, most recently demonstrated through the incredible This is Football series which he produced for Amazon Prime Video. As Sounders supporters, we can’t thank him enough for everything he has done for the team.

Vulcan is the most important partner for the Sounders. We would not have CenturyLink Field today, chartered from the beginning for both football and soccer, without the vision and community commitment of Paul Allen. Paul’s passing in the middle of the deal discussions was so sad. It’s great to now have Jody Allen as the steward of Paul’s community assets including the Sounders. Vulcan Sports also went through a leadership transition during the deal time frame, and we are now very fortunate to have Chris McGowan at the helm of Vulcan Sports. Thank you Paul for everything you’ve done for Seattle, and the Sounders.

Along with Vulcan, Joe, and Adrian, Drew Carey has been invested in the MLS Sounders since day 1. He has provided the vision and leadership on democracy in sports to the team. And throughout this deal, his support for our new group of owners has been terrific.

No deal gets done without a great set of advisers. Steven Yentzer and Mel Wheaton of DLA Piper were world class.

But when I reflect on the past year, one person stands out most of all. Seattle is lucky to have Adrian Hanauer at the helm of the Sounders. Time and time again he would ask “What is best for the Sounders?” Selflessly, this question would always guide his thinking as we navigated through a variety of options for the club and new investors. I’m proud to consider him a partner today.

“Creating Moments, Enriching Lives and Unifying through Soccer”

That is the long-standing Sounders mission. I think it’s perfect for our community’s soccer club.

In support of that mission, Adrian laid out 5 goals at the 2018 Sounders Annual Sounders meeting:

1. Win championships.
2. Fill CenturyLink Field with fans every game.
3. Lead serve and invest in the Seattle community. 
4. Lead on democracy in sports. 
5. Run a sustainable business, such that future generations can count on the Sounders here in Seattle

Speaking on behalf of all the new owners of the Seattle Sounders, we are fully behind this mission and these goals.

My wife Katie and I feel lucky to be part of the club and are happy to invest in the club as a pillar of our Seattle community. We look forward to joining everyone in CenturyLink Field as we win more championships for Seattle.

-Terry