Just over a year ago, Seattle Reign entered a new era — one grounded in the club's roots and building toward an ambitious future. In June 2024, the Seattle Sounders and the Carlyle Group officially completed their purchase of the team, ending a sale process that lasted more than a year. With Maya Mendoza-Exstrom stepping in as the club’s new president, longtime Seattle soccer leader Lesle Gallimore overseeing the sporting side as general manager, and Laura Harvey continuing to lead the team as head coach, the Reign embarked on a mission: to reclaim their place at the top of the NWSL — and to do it the right way.
Heading into their first offseason, the new Reign front office was facing a hard truth. With the club stuck in limbo for more than a year while they were up for sale, the Reign struggled on the field. They finished 13th in the 2024 season, landing in the bottom third of nearly every statistical category.
“That's just not good enough,” Mendoza-Exstrom said in a recent conversation with Ride of the Valkyries. “We’re competitive humans, and that is not what the Seattle Reign have been. We want to be a top-five global club. You've got to start by leading the best league in the world, which is the NWSL, and you've got to set a standard of excellence for what that means.”
The front office quickly laid the foundation for a reinvention. In the eight short weeks during the offseason, the Reign doubled their technical staff, launched a new mobile app, filled critical roles across operations and performance, and reshaped the roster — a shift that changed not just who was on the pitch, but the energy around the club.
On the first day of preseason training, Harvey said it felt “massively different” in a positive way because of the new resources and presence of the new ownership group. “There's a shared vision, there's alignment from top to bottom on what we want to look like.”
At the halfway point of their 2025 season, that transformation is bearing fruit: the Reign sit sixth in the NWSL table, just four points shy of second.
From a roster perspective, much of the team's success has come from a blend of veteran leadership and youthful dynamism. Over the last year, Gallimore has constructed a roster that marries experienced mainstays like Jess Fishlock and Lauren Barnes — the cultural cornerstones of the team — with promising young talents like Jordyn Bugg and Maddie Dahlien. The addition of all-time leading NWSL goal scorer Lynn Biyendolo this offseason and the recent high-profile signing of Mia Fishel further underscore the Reign’s ambition to grow into a destination for emerging and veteran international stars.
“The vibe around this place is just different than a year ago,” Mendoza-Exstrom said. “Vibes are a big deal. Culture is a big deal — and we’re seeing the impact both on and off the pitch, especially in how we attract top talent, and talent is what's going to drive us for the next five or 10 years.”
A brand re-rooted in purpose
Alongside the roster rebuild has been a deep investment in brand and identity, as Mendoza-Exstrom says they sought to reestablish what it means to represent the club and the region. Partnering with the creative agency Redscout, the Reign undertook a brand overhaul that re-centered the visual and emotional iconography of the Queen, the club’s longtime symbol. They also grew their communications and creative staff.
“We've added a lead designer. We've added a videographer who goes on the road with us now. We've added another member of our social media team, communications, and some of these other spaces that allow for our brand to show up across all of the platforms that we own and operate in more consistent ways.”
To define the Reign’s brand for this new era, the club launched RISE — a storytelling and social impact platform grounded in advancing equity, protecting the Salish Sea, and championing women and gender-diverse people. The initiative stemmed from internal reflections on what truly defined the club. “We worked hard to look at what was it about Megan Rapinoe's jersey retirement and that idea of RISE that encapsulated the essence of who we are at the core,” Mendoza-Exstrom said. “It was a restatement of long-held values of this brand.”
This commitment shows up not just in branding, but in how the Reign pursue their partnerships. As the club actively courts a new front-of-jersey sponsor, the RISE platform is at the center of the conversation. Finding the right partner is a high bar, particularly after the backlash the Sounders faced with their Providence sponsorship, but Mendoza-Exstrom says the Reign are attracting a lot of interest.
“It’s the three legs of a stool in every partnership conversation. Obviously, one, you want to come and invest in women's sports. Number two is you need to make the world a better place for our players in some way.”
The recent partnership with Alaska Airlines hints at the kind of corporate relationships the Reign are building — ones that provide tangible benefits for players and fans alike, such as upgraded travel experiences and deeper engagement with the local community.
The third pillar, Mendoza-Exstrom says, is about aligning with the club’s values and community impact.
“That's what it's going to take to be a front-of-jersey partner for us. And I think we're attracting more brands, new brands, brands that haven't ever thought of entering this space. I'm really excited because I know from our sponsorship team that those conversations are heating up in real time, and I don't know who it's going to be, but we're going to have a front-of-jersey partner going into next year.”
Reign/Sounders partnership in action
There was a combination of excitement and healthy skepticism when the Sounders, alongside Carlyle Group, took over as owners of the Reign last year. Other NWSL clubs owned by MLS teams have struggled, at times, to get adequate investment and resources from their MLS-led front offices. Mendoza-Exstrom notes she and other leaders are highly attuned to this reality and approach each decision understanding that the Reign and Sounders are two wholly different clubs.
“Yes, we play the same sport. And yes, there are times where what we do is better when we do it together. There are times where one person can support the same function, for example, for both clubs. And there are times where we have to resource these things independently and really scrutinize every decision. While it might be tedious, it is what these clubs require.”
The Reign president points to the Traitors-themed video series, Cloak & Crown, that the team launched during their preseason training camp in Coachella Valley as an example of content that was uniquely created for the Reign.
“I don't know that we would've done the Traitors content series with the men's team, candidly. I think that's an example of where our brands may be different. Not that the men don't have awesome content coming out, but it's different.”
Mendoza-Exstrom also noted that the front office is still learning what models, staffing, and content approaches work best. “We're continuing to iterate and evolve, but we always ask the question first, not assuming a structure or an answer that works for the lawyers or the HR folks will work for the creative team. We're still learning and we're still open to figuring out how to do it better while making sure that both brands have all of the oxygen they need to thrive.”
Building for longevity
As the Reign continue to evolve on and off the field, building a larger, more consistent fan base remains a top priority. That work is, in part, tied to the complexities of scheduling — a process Mendoza-Exstrom calls “a rubric and algorithm.” The Reign share Lumen Field with the Seahawks and Sounders, on top of competing with concerts and other events held at the stadium.
This season, the Reign have had to navigate an abundance of Friday night matches, which can be a challenge for families and casual fans. While those time slots have offered significant exposure through local broadcasts and streaming platforms like Prime Video — where the Reign have ranked at the top of the league in viewership — they have also presented hurdles for in-stadium attendance. Looking ahead, Mendoza-Exstrom says the Reign are aiming for more balance, anchoring the majority of future schedules in a Sunday/Friday rhythm that allows for strategic targeting of different audiences: more families on Sundays, and perhaps younger, more flexible crowds on Fridays, with a few Saturday matches thrown into the mix.
Behind the scenes, the Reign have doubled their ticketing staff between February and May and deliberately staggered their marketing efforts, with many of their larger pushes — including new campaigns and themed matches — slated for the second half of the season. That starts with a Pride match on August 1, the Reign's first match back after the NWSL break.
The Reign are also preparing for next year’s challenges, with Seattle set to host matches during the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Scheduling will be a logistical puzzle, but the Reign are ahead of the curve thanks to long-standing collaboration with the Sounders, FIFA, First & Goal, and local organizers. They don't have official answers yet, but there is a possibility the Reign will need to go on an extended road trip. Mendoza-Exstrom also said there could be a potential silver lining: “There’s a chance the women get to play on the grass next year.”
Culture as a competitive advantage
Throughout the interview, one theme emerged again and again: culture. The Reign continue to cultivate an environment where excellence is contagious and joy is palpable, building off the culture set by Reign originals Fishlock, Barnes, and Rapinoe in year one.
“That joy is real. No one manufactures that,” said Mendoza-Exstrom, referring to how much the team celebrated when Sally Menti scored her first career goal. “You come here with your full skillset, give your full 90, and we will celebrate you.”
That culture is what makes the Reign a magnet for a marquee player like Fishel, who cited the club’s values and culture as key to her decision to come to Seattle. In her introductory press conference with the Reign, Fishel expressed admiration for the team's environment.
“Being in the U-23 group in Germany, I was able to kind of pick players’ brains about different teams when I was trying to decide where I want to go to,” Fishel said in a Reign profile story. “One thing that really stuck out to me was the family culture that Reign had that was created by the players and staff members as well.”
This ongoing commitment to building a culture where everyone feels like family, combined with what Mendoza-Exstrom said is a “significant investment” by ownership in expanding the club's resources and staff, are what she hopes will carry the Reign forward as they aim to become a top-five global club.
“It’s significant because it’s necessary. The investments we’re making aren’t just about filling gaps. They’re about growth, but they're also going to be smart. They're going to be responsible investments, both in terms of the players and the talent that we go after. If it's something that can help us be excellent, if it's something that can help us grow, we're going to look at it seriously.”
From front office to the front line, the Reign are working to reemerge as a standard-bearer for how women's soccer should be built: thoughtfully, ambitiously, and rooted in purpose. One year in, the foundation has been laid. The Reign are hoping these new and ongoing investments help them continue to rise.
