The sale of Seattle Reign FC is finally official. The Seattle Sounders FC ownership group and investment firm Carlyle partnered to take over the NWSL club. Adrian Hanauer, the majority owner of the Sounders, will serve as the Reign’s governor on the NWSL board, with Carlyle’s head of private credit, Alex Popov, named as the alternate governor. The Reign has also appointed a new chief business officer, with Sounders chief operating officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom stepping into the new role on the NWSL side.
With two teams now under their management and in the same stadium, there is a chance for the Sounders organization to leverage its success on the MLS side to help cement the Reign’s presence in Seattle.
“There’s a commonality between what our founders and ownership have hoped for both of these clubs,” Mendoza-Exstrom told The Athletic. “The Sounders owners are local. They believe in both of these clubs as community assets, and what it means to put down deep roots in the community. None of us are bigger than the brand.”
The Reign has been in a holding pattern since the sale was first announced by previous owners OL Groupe in April 2023, before Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang took over Olympique Lyonnais Feminin. The French group acquired the Reign in 2019,…
