The Seattle Sounders are the seventh most valuable team in MLS, worth an estimated $825 million, according to sports business publication Sportico. That’s an increase of about 4% from last year, somewhat lagging behind the league average of 6% but closer to the median valuation increase of 4.8%. When Adrian Hanauer, Joe Roth and Drew Carey first secured the Sounders’ move to MLS in 2008, they paid $30 million.
To come up with team valuations, Sportico says they apply a multiplier to team revenue — for the Sounders, that’s estimated at $83 million, which is about a 10% increase from last year and a 26% increase from 2022 — factoring in a team-specific multiplier and then adding in each team’s 3.3% interest in Soccer United Marketing. Eight teams made more money than the Sounders last year, with Inter Miami leading the way with about $191 million in revenue. The 29 teams collectively did about $2.215 billion in revenue last year.
Even without including new expansion team San Diego FC, the collective value of the MLS teams is now nearly $21 billion. There are also now five teams valued at more than $1 billion, with New York City FC being the latest to crack that barrier after enjoying a 19% bump from last year’s valuation. Securing a new soccer-specific stadium has likely fueled that increase.
The Sounders are currently the most valuable team who isn’t considered the primary tenant of their stadium, which costs them the ability to sell naming rights, usually one of a team’s most lucrative revenue streams.
