The Seattle Sounders are the fourth-most valuable team in MLS at about $725 million, according to valuations by sports business publication Sportico. That’s about 3% more than they were valued at in 2021 and a rather eye-popping improvement on the $30 million expansion fee they reportedly paid for the team in 2009.
In 2021, the median NHL team was valued at about $720 million. The owners of the Seattle Kraken paid about $650 million for their expansion fee in 2018.
Aside from the top-line number, what is interesting about the Sounders’ place in the valuations is that the teams ahead of them all own or at least fully control the venues in which they play.