Sounders’ purchase of Reign FC finalized, ushering in new era of Seattle soccer (2024)

RENTON — OL Groupe, the Seattle Reign FC’s French parent company, has completed the sale of the NWSL team to a financial partnership between the owners of the Sounders FC and New York-based global investment firm Carlyle Group.

Carlyle and the Sounders owners acquired 100% of the Reign for $58 million, according to OL Groupe, which itself was purchased by U.S. businessman John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings in December 2022. Eagle Football Group officially announced the sale late Sunday night.

The transaction was initially announced in March and was permitted the approximate four-month timeline to complete. As part of the process, the sale had to be approved by both the NWSL and MLS Board of Governors.

Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer will serve as governor of the Reign on the NWSL board, and the club is the managing partner of the Reign. Carlyle’s head of private credit, Alex Popov, will serve as the Reign’s alternate governor. Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, who most recently served as Sounders chief operating officer, was appointed the Reign’s chief business officer as part of the restructuring of the women’s front office.

“Our owners are super excited about trying to grow the game, grow the sport overall, lean into women’s sports and impact the community in a massive way,” Hanauer said Friday in an interview with The Seattle Times. “It brings energy to the building, and it will help the enterprise, the business of both.”

The Reign were established in 2012 by entrepreneurial couple Bill and Teresa Predmore. The club was part of the eight-team NWSL’s inaugural season in 2013.

The Predmores sold a majority stake in the Reign to OL Groupe in 2019 for approximately $3.5 million. The couple no longer has a financial stake in the team.

OL — an abbreviation for Olympique Lyonnais — stripped the Reign of their branding and relocated the team from Memorial Stadium to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. They did broker deals for the team to join the NFL’s Seahawks and Sounders in playing home games at Lumen Field, and moved the team’s training site to Starfire Sports in Tukwila, completely renovating the locker room space.

But OL Groupe encountered financial trouble and sold its top-flight women’s teams in the Reign and OL Feminin. The latter was purchased by Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang in 2023, creating a conflict of interest.

Carlyle was immediately interested when the sale became known in April 2023, according to Hanauer. The connection was made through Raine Group, an investment bank that helped Eagle Football Holdings broker the deal.

“We believe there is a massive disconnect between the excitement and engagement around women’s soccer and the level of investment into the leagues, teams and players that drive this fandom,” Popov said, in part, in a news release. “Reign FC is a storied club that has seen tremendous on-field and off-field success, and we’re committed to being a steward of that success for the team. We’d like to thank commissioner [Jessica] Berman and the NWSL Board for their support and partnership during this process.”

Carlyle was formed in 1987 by David Rubenstein, Bill Conway, and Dan D’Aniello and became a publicly traded company in 2020. The organization — which employs 2,200 people in 28 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia — has $425 billion of assets under management, according to their most recent quarterly report.

Among the wide range of investments are companies like Two Six Technologies, which was founded by Carlyle in 2021 and provides products and expertise for U.S. national security, to Campana Pet Brands, which manufactures and markets products for care and nutrition of all animals.

Carlyle entered the sports, media and entertainment sector in 2018 under its Global Credit arm. The company has already funneled $3 billion into its private credit platform, according to its website. The Reign joins top-flight Italian men’s club Atalanta Bergamo FC as the burgeoning sports profile. The latter investment was made in 2022. Rubenstein also leads an investment group that recently purchased MLB’s Baltimore Orioles.

“It’s a big financial entity,” Hanauer said. “But the fund that is doing this and the individuals had their own personal stories for why this is exciting and interesting. That resonated. It didn’t feel like just a financial institution.”

The Reign are under lease at Starfire and will continue to use that as their sporting side’s base with Lesle Gallimore remaining as general manager and Laura Harvey as coach. Vincent Berthillot, who was named CEO under OL Groupe and relocated from Lyon, France, is no longer with the organization.

The bulk of the Reign front office staff — about 25 people — will transition to the Sounders’ headquarters in Renton.

Visuals of the union were present Friday with the Reign and Sounders shields on the wall of the second-story office space. Glassware and scarves displaying the Reign branding also dotted the building.

Hanauer and Mendoza-Exstrom spoke with the women’s team Friday morning and Hanauer said he shared the news with every politician in his contact list, including Mayor Bruce Harrell and Gov. Jay Inslee.

This is the first time the Reign and Sounders have been united as clubs and the first time Hanauer has financially invested in the women’s game. There was an amateur team called the Sounders Select Women that held matches at Starfire Stadium beginning in 2000 with alumni like Reign legends Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo. But the branding was a strictly a licensing deal.

While the business sides will merge, the Reign aren’t expected to be absorbed by the Sounders.

“The most important thing is these are two separate clubs, two separate histories, two separate fan bases, right now,” Mendoza-Exstrom said Friday. “The most important thing to do is to make sure that we’re investing in the women’s game in the same way that we do and make decisions the same way that we do and have done with the Sounders. Run a responsible business, put a championship product on the field, grow our fan base and our brand and impact the community.”

The Sounders are the third MLS organization to also own a NWSL team. The Houston Dynamo/Dash and Orlando City/Pride are the others.

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson was pressured to sell the Thorns FC after two separate leaguewide investigations found evidence of sexual coercion, toxic work environment and neglect within the club. The Thorns were purchased for $63 million in January.

Hanauer said he’s aware of the pitfalls other organizations have faced when trying to operate men’s and women’s teams under one roof. He admitted he was only a peripheral fan until the purchase became a possibility last year. Now, he’s watching matches on Saturday mornings and learning about players globally.

Mendoza-Exstrom was a third-team All-American soccer player at the University of Puget Sound in 2001. She’s a longtime season-ticket holder for the Reign.

“I’m aware of what has come before in terms of the business,” Hanauer said. “We stood in front of the players [Friday] morning. New owners, fantastic. It doesn’t mean [expletive] if we don’t harness the best of this partnership for better. … We’re confident this is going to be an amazing partnership and we will succeed where some or maybe all have failed before.”