With the addition of Garth Lagerwey as Seattle Sounders FC's President of Soccer and General Manager, former GM and now part-owner-but-not-big-on-titles Adrian Hanauer will focus on the business side of the club. One thing he says he's not doing is actively seeking a new stadium.
"We're very happy at CenturyLink," Hanauer said during today's conference call. "We've got a bunch of years left on a lease. We're in constant communication with our landlord, and our partner in Paul Allen who owns 25 percent of the team."
He noted that he knows of the rumors and speculation among fans, not-quite-referencing Sounder at Heart. Adrian is content with CenturyLink, and while he would not eliminate the idea of a new stadium entirely -- what team wouldn't want a new stadium? -- his focus is on other areas.
Those areas are big picture things that related to brand vision, TV ratings, ever expanding attendance numbers.
"Making sure that we have a really smooth soccer transition, that will be kind of a no brainer with Garth's background," is where Hanauer said he will start. "Really, again, it's about continuing to build our fanbase, continuing to revenues overall, continuing to do great things in the community, continuing to build our global footprint and appeal. It's just generally trying to be a little bit more strategic and spend my time in that capacity and look out 5, 10, 20 years."
Sounders FC is a fringe member of the top 50 soccer brands in the world (it matters what year and methodology the report uses). It is apparent that while Garth Lagerwey is focused on a soccer team that will win MLS Cups, CONCACAF Champions League and have a "vertically integrated" style from the youngest Academy players to the Sounders 2 and the 1st Adrian's goals have more to do with his past successes in business.