Hugh Weber named Sounders president of business operations

The Seattle Sounders’ new president of business operations brings a wealth of experience leading both NBA and NHL teams as well as strong local ties. About two months after being introduced to employees internally, Hugh Weber’s appointment was publicly announced by the club on Thursday. Two days earlier, Peter Tomozawa officially stepped down in order to take a role leading Seattle’s 2026 World Cup organizing committee.

“I am grateful and honored to return to my roots and contribute back to the community that has been core to the person I have become,” Weber said in a team release. “I am inspired by the deep connection that the community has to the Sounders and appreciate the importance of my role in continuing the legacy and deep commitment that has been built over the last 49 years of the team’s existence.

“In my career, I am fortunate to have contributed to teams that accomplished extraordinary results. To be able to apply those learnings, in partnership with a trusted friend and leader I esteem, in a community I call home, made this a very personal decision.”

Up until last summer, Weber spent three years as the president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, where he oversaw the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and several other sports properties. Prior to that he had been the president of the Devils and their home, the Prudential Center, for six years. Weber also spent eight years as the president of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. During his time at HBSE, the 76ers became the first NBA team to sign a jersey patch sponsorship and the Devils were the first NHL team to have a helmet sponsorship. In his first year with the Devils, their season-ticket renewal rate jumped from 85% to 93%, among the highest in the NHL.

Weber’s local ties go back to his childhood in Tacoma, where he later attended the University of Puget Sound and ran track.

Weber comes to the Sounders at a time when some big initiatives are already underway. Among them are the completion of the new training center at Longacres, a rebranding effort that is part of the “March to the 50th” campaign and the buildup to the 2026 World Cup.