Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Niko and Jeremiah talk through the possible sale of the Sounders
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Niko joins Jeremiah for a special Thursday episode to discuss the Sounders hiring an investment bank to help them to sell a major stake in the team. This would be the first major minority stake sold since 2009, the inaugural season. What exactly is a strategic capital raise and what does it mean for the team and for fans?
Sponsor
🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php
***
Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which has been primarily listener supported since 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs.
“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Special Guests
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's
Sounders' MLS Cup Victory
00:00:15
Speaker
go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region. see of
00:00:59
Speaker
you know what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
Sponsorship Highlights
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network.
Halloween Special Episode
00:01:46
Speaker
It is Thursday night and we are I'm joined by Nico Moreno. We are doing a special episode of what we learned this week because there was some big news today and tomorrow's Halloween and we didn't really feel like recording on Halloween.
00:01:59
Speaker
Nico, how are you doing? Hey, what's going on, Jeremiah? Sounder O'Hare family? Yes, you're absolutely right, man. I mean, both you and I, we we're dads, and you know we're probably going to be busy tomorrow trying to yeah get everybody squared away.
00:02:14
Speaker
ah So, yeah, i thought that it was a ah good day to record, specifically because you know we learned a lot this week in a...
00:02:27
Speaker
bigger, more, you know, in depth and don't even know how to describe it. But, you know, we we just learned a lot that that we need to digest that we need to kind of talk through. And I feel like you're the right guy for the job, because if there's anyone that knows and understands what we learned this week, it's, you know, you, you're going to be able to explain it.
00:02:51
Speaker
Well, I appreciate that, but yeah, so let's, let's stop beating around
Sounders' Investment Plans
00:02:55
Speaker
the bush. Essentially what happened today is the sounder. First of all, a story came out in Sportico, uh, which is a a sports journalism or a sports business, uh,
00:03:05
Speaker
like magazine website. And right as we were finishing up our scrum with Brian Schmetzer, news drops that the Sounders are looking for investors and they're essentially ah trying to gather get, do a capital ah raise with the idea of of basically to help build a stadium, but they also have all these other big projects. They need to, they want to inject some more money into the into the operation essentially.
00:03:31
Speaker
And unfortunately, this came out, we weren't able to ask, I guess Brian was was ready to answer questions about it. But we didn't know about it until after that. Or I should say it wasn't public until after that.
00:03:42
Speaker
You had gotten you you had gotten some word that something like this might be in the offing. And we actually thought we might have some time to to look into it.
00:03:53
Speaker
Both you and I really did. ah We, man, that was, it's how things happen. um But i when I told you what I had heard and, you know, through sources, what was kind of coming down the pipe, you,
00:04:09
Speaker
Very intelligently predicted that someone was likely already working on on it or they were going to beat us in what you call it, ah the type of media or the type of.
00:04:24
Speaker
Oh, they're a sports business. They're like a sport. Yeah. A sport. They cover the business of sport. And to give you a little sort of like inside baseball on how stories like this happen is, you know, I don't know exactly how they got word of it, but yeah,
00:04:40
Speaker
There are quotes from the Sounders in the story. They had clearly talked to the Sounders about this. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Sounders basically, you know, wanted it out there that, hey, if you want to invest in the Sounders, now is the time.
00:04:54
Speaker
And Sportico is the kind of outlet that gets these types of stories. and And sure enough, that is that's what happened. ah to To cut it... into layman's terms, essentially what's going on is, like I said, the Sounders want to inject some money into the, into the team. Now the release, the way that's been phrased in both the release and in the story is that the current owners are not divesting themselves. They are not getting out of the Sounders ownership business. At least that's, that's where we're the starting point.
00:05:27
Speaker
The starting point is that essentially what they're doing is they're creating ah what do they they call it? Diluting their shares. So let's just say the Sounders are made up of a hundred shares.
00:05:41
Speaker
And for the sake of argument, we don't know this, but let's say for the sake of argument, Adrian Hanauer has 50 shares and, you know, the Allen estate has 25 shares and Drew Carey has 12 shares and everyone else has the the rest of them. Right.
00:05:56
Speaker
Right. Well, what they're doing essentially is creating a whole new ah group of shares. Let's say they're creating, we don't know, again, we don't know the percentages, but we're just using round numbers here. Let's just say the founders are creating 50 more shares.
00:06:08
Speaker
So everyone has a slightly smaller percentage of ownership than they used to before. But the difference between this is that if you are selling your shares, you're essentially getting out of the business.
00:06:20
Speaker
And that money that you're selling doesn't necessarily get reinvested back into the Sounders. But what they're doing is they're creating a whole new... ah essentially a whole new class of of ownership shares.
00:06:32
Speaker
And with the idea that this money will be reinvested back into the Sounders. So it's kind of an interesting little quirk, but it's it's not that, again, it's not that anyone is trying to get out of the business, at least not on its face.
00:06:45
Speaker
They just want to raise some money, which is, I guess, kind of interesting because it it points to you know potentially some more money for them to do some exciting stuff. And I appreciate the way you break that down or you broke that down because initially when I heard about this and even prior to the Sportacode article, my thought process immediately went into maybe, you know, Adrian Hanauer, we would, both you and I, think have been very,
00:07:21
Speaker
public about how much he cares about this club and about how much he's put into it. ah But, you know, being able to talk to him, know him over the years, you know, really puts a human element to all of the effort that he's put in.
00:07:39
Speaker
But as the league grows and the league continues to demand some match from owners, i don't know, it was my opinion that You know, when I talked to him, was he kind of felt like, you know, it was it was tough for him. Right. I mean, I think we've what we we all know that him compared to the rest of the owners in MLS, he's not at the high end of but the richest or the ones with the most profit. So right when this all started kind of.
00:08:07
Speaker
coming down and we started hearing things. Maybe I thought that he was looking into just kind of moving on and and and allowing some of this to take over. But the way that we're phrasing now, it does kind of make me feel like he's going to continue to be a part of the equation, big part of it and and a majority owner.
00:08:24
Speaker
And I guess that's that's good. Yeah, I mean, I think if you like the direction the Sounders are going, at least again, at least in the way that this is phrased. So far. yes So far, it looks like it's going to be going in the same direction. But the here's the thing, and this is the catch.
00:08:39
Speaker
This is what's not talked about in the release. This is not what is in even the Sportico article. is that you know they're looking for ah significant amount of money. you know They're not looking for 10 million, they're not looking for 20 million, they're looking for hundreds of millions of dollars, presumably, because that's the kind of ah of investment they're looking to bring in.
00:09:00
Speaker
you know This is a group that just spent a bunch of money to build the Long Acres Training Facility. That costs about 70, 75 million, something like that. Well, if they are gonna build a stadium or they're gonna set themselves up for building a stadium,
00:09:14
Speaker
they're going to have to raise you know hundreds of millions of dollars. My guess is that you know the starting point for a new stadium is going to be something like $500 million. dollars it it could very easily stretch into the billion dollar range. And that's understanding that this is not going to be a 50,000 seat stadium.
00:09:34
Speaker
I mean, that's just what, you know, these stadiums cost these days. There are, it's not cheap to build. It's even in even in Renton, it's not cheap to build a football state or soccer stadiums.
00:09:46
Speaker
But, and so anyway, you're if you're talking about the kind of investor who's going to come in and spend hundreds of millions of dollars, in my assumption, you know, the Sounders most recent valuation in Sportico was something like $825 million, dollars which is, you know, that's a fair chunk of change, right?
00:10:04
Speaker
They might get valued, you know, the Austin FC just got a valuation of 922 million. a valuation 900 million. columbus crew just got a valuation of nine hundred million I'm sure the Sounders are in the same range. They might be in the 860 to 900.
00:10:18
Speaker
They might be a billion dollar team right now. In any case, I assume they're trying to raise hundreds of billions of dollars. And when you're talking about the kind of people who can afford to buy into the percent, you know, buy in at that level, i wouldn't be at all surprised if they look at the, this whole project, then they go, okay, I'm, you know, it would be interesting to put in 200, $300 million. dollars but I'd rather just put in 500 million and and frankly own control of the Sounders.
00:10:49
Speaker
And that's where this could get really interesting. And I think that's where... the the story turns. and And obviously we are kind of at the start of the the domino line. And at some point the domino line kind of curves out and we can't really see beyond that. And I'm always using this from someone else, but, but this is where we are.
00:11:15
Speaker
and I believe that what you just said, the stadium component, you know, it is a big deal because and this is something we you and I have discussed, you know, out away from the mics, is that if I'm putting down this much money, this much investment into a stadium, that I want to be able to have a lot more operating power and things, and that comes with more stakes.
00:11:38
Speaker
And therefore...
00:11:41
Speaker
It's clearly something that can just fluctuate as as time goes on. And whether it's for better or or for worse, I mean, it's at the very least very interesting that all these things are playing out, especially now. You know, that the the the fact that we're talking about this right now, right before the World Cup.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yes. It's very interesting. Yeah. Well, it's also interesting that this came out in the middle of the Sounders first round series, you know, which makes me think that this there's there's something that to me feels like forced the hand of this coming out now. And maybe it's just that this is when it's get to get get the most attention.
00:12:25
Speaker
Maybe it's it's something else, but it's it's definitely interesting. that this story is coming out, like I said, right in the middle of games one and two of a first round series. Now, I don't necessarily think the Sounders players are going to be too distracted by this.
00:12:39
Speaker
The reality is that nothing is really changing for them on a day-to-day, basis certainly on a day-to-day basis. Nothing even in the short term is really changing. and And again, since the club is not literally for sale, they're just sort of looking for investors.
00:12:53
Speaker
There's a chance that Nothing is even, you know, no one's, you know, they're not, they're not looking the, they're not sizing up the drapes or as they say, I think that's the saying. And, and, but it is feel a little weird that it's coming out right now.
00:13:07
Speaker
I think really though, what this is tied to is the timing of the league is getting ready to announce, uh, most likely a new, uh, a new format for themselves. You know, Don Garber has talked a lot about how they want to go to a, you know, a spring to what they they call it spring to fall. I think is what they call it.
00:13:27
Speaker
Um, or no, what is that? No spring to, fall to spring. That's what it is. Fall to spring schedule. An international, like on the international calendar.
Financial Challenges and New Investments
00:13:38
Speaker
Right. They just want to, they want to kind of um get with the rest of the world, basically. Right. Exactly. Exactly.
00:13:46
Speaker
And so, don't know, it's going to be it's going to be very interesting around here. You know, I, the way I read it right now, I don't think Adrian Hanauer is getting out of a Sounders business. My suspicion is that even if he were to,
00:14:01
Speaker
no longer be the majority owner. I strongly suspect he's still going to be involved in the club. But I think what this is, is really, it's an acknowledgement that the league has moved beyond what the current Sounders ownership can afford to maintain.
00:14:18
Speaker
And yes, they've been competitive and, and I mean, the heck they could go and there's a totally realistic possibility that they could win MLS cup this year. but I think they can also see on the horizon where there's this group of owners who just wants to yeah get rid of a lot of the rules that have kept MLS so competitive.
00:14:39
Speaker
And once and MLS becomes sort of a much more free spending league, the Sounders are going to be in a bit of trouble because they just don't have the operating capital that an Arthur Blank does, that the Moss brothers have, that, you know, the Haslam's have, that, you know, you can kind of just that, that city football group has, you know, you just go down the list and the more the guardrails come off, you know, the worst the Sounders position is unless they have, you know, a whale who's willing to write a few more checks.
00:15:10
Speaker
And that's why, you my initial just takes on this whole thing that I put on social media were that because of when this announcement and, and you know,
00:15:28
Speaker
release, press release, essentially at one point has come out. I really do think that it creates a a a magnifying glass to just show you that this is a big deal. I mean, it feels to me like at the very least, even by diluting the the the shares and maybe slicing that piece of pie in in thinner slices.
00:15:54
Speaker
Right. That's good. It feels to me that at the very least, Adrian's looking for someone that carries a similar amount of shares that Joe Roth did or that, you know, right that can give him that much of a partnership to rely on.
00:16:14
Speaker
And that's just the way I see it. I don't know what you think. Yeah, no, I think that's that's probably right. is like i think what but Because right now, Adrian Hanauer is, by I think a pretty healthy margin, the biggest shareholder of the Sounders.
00:16:30
Speaker
I don't know if he's actually over 50% or not, but he's certainly at least in the 40% range, or he's over 40%. and And then the next, I think the next biggest owner is the Allen Estate.
00:16:43
Speaker
But the Allen Estate really doesn't do anything with their money. I mean, it's kind of a, you know, they, my understanding is they didn't really put anything in to buy the club at the start.
00:16:55
Speaker
And their whole investment was basically agreeing to run the the business operations and sort of provide support for the first five years of the club. And then ever since then, they have really not had what would be a traditional, you know, part owner,
00:17:13
Speaker
relationship They have really been the Sounders boss, ah so not the boss, but they've been their landlord as the people who operate ah Newman Field. And they haven't, as far as I know, they've never really been asked to to write checks aside from, you know, they they had some checks that they had to write for, you know, ah Clint Dempsey signing. and And, you know, whenever they have a, there's a budget every year where the various ownership entities have to put in some money.
00:17:42
Speaker
but they aren't really being asked to do much. And that's sort of the other interesting shoe that i suppose could drop at any moment. You know, ah as people know, most likely if they're Seattle sports fans is the Allen estate ah has 25% of the Sounders, but they're in the process of divesting themselves from a lot of these sports properties.
00:18:04
Speaker
They just sold the Portland trailblazers at, I think for $4 billion dollar valuation and They obviously own the Seahawks. And Jody Allen apparently is trying to hold on to the Seahawks, even though the terms of the ah the estate are that she needs to sell them after a certain amount of time.
00:18:23
Speaker
But you got to think the Sounders are ah pretty tempting piece because that 25% is probably worth something like $200 million dollars right now.
00:18:34
Speaker
and And so it's not hard for me at all to imagine this new owner coming in, buying whatever new shares are out there, and then piling on and buying that 25%.
00:18:46
Speaker
And you would think, you know I can't imagine that and Adrian Hanauer wants to put himself in a position where he's sort of forced out of the majority ownership. But you can see a situation where he sort of seeds it, especially if the if he thinks that this other person is going to be able to write much bigger checks than he's been writing lately.
00:19:09
Speaker
And you make up a good point because this – business opportunity. And as they put it, you know, they're looking for investors. It's a very attractive brand to go to. Right. I mean, we we look at what San Jose and Vancouver, those are other teams that are up there publicly for sale essentially, or if anybody wants to jump on board and Sounders are just a more,
00:19:40
Speaker
not even just put together, but just heavily rooted, ah globally known, successful, especially franchise. And if I'm a guy that is trying to make an investment, that that's where I want to put my money on. I want to go to a team that has what this year date they had an up on attendance. Even they went from third a second. Right. If I'm not mistaken, Jeremiah, that's that's correct.
00:20:06
Speaker
So all of those things just seem like a sustainable way for me to understand where my investment is going and that, you know, I'm putting it on a pretty solid ah baseline, right? And that's what somebody would want. So ah for me, the real question is,
00:20:25
Speaker
who comes in the the values with, in which the sounders have been ran over the last, you know, couple of decades, do those align?
00:20:38
Speaker
I've heard a lot of, you know, comments and honestly panic from people about, and maybe, you know, fairly so about what this team would look like in 10 years.
00:20:49
Speaker
To me, the the best scenario is that Adrian Hanauer continues to, ah you know, have that vision and those values with a partner that has deeper pockets. And therefore you can...
00:21:04
Speaker
get more things done. You can be more ambitious. You could bring in more players. um and And another thing that i think is important to clarify is that the rain is not involved in this. This is only sounders. this This whole move and this ah look for investors is only going to be on the sounder sounder side.
00:21:27
Speaker
So I feel like that's important to clarify as well. Yeah, that that is important to clarify. And I think it sort of illustrates a little bit of what
Stadium Location Concerns
00:21:34
Speaker
is going on. It also sort of underscores what's going on here, which is at least on its face again, they're not, this is not a bunch of owners saying like, we want to get out of this business.
00:21:43
Speaker
We want to sell while the selling's good. This is them saying, look, we really like what's going on here. We just want someone else with money the we want to inject some money into the operation so that we can sort of like get this thing going. Uh,
00:21:57
Speaker
And, you know, I don't know. And I think one of the other things that's going to be interesting is that when this new money comes in, are they, how focused are they on, on this new long acre stadium plan that has sort of been swimming out in the ether for the last couple years.
00:22:15
Speaker
And I've always, I've ever since I first went on the record with Hugh Weber about this, this stadium idea, I've always been i've been, I've been watching it very closely. And, you know, they've mentioned it kind of in passing various times. You know, I believe that the the annual business meeting, it usually comes up and a few other times it's come up.
00:22:40
Speaker
But what's really interesting is that there's they're kind of there's not really a lot of information out there. We still don't know exactly where the stadium would go other than sort of vaguely near where ah where the the training facility is.
00:22:55
Speaker
And if you look at Long Acres, like the the current configuration of Long Acres, it's hard to imagine where a stadium would actually fit on the current footprint. ah But put that aside,
00:23:09
Speaker
There's been no renderings released. There's not really been a plan on how people are going to get in and out of this thing. You know, I would think, you know, the, the lease at Lumen field runs out in 2032, which in some ways seems like a long way off.
00:23:26
Speaker
But if you're trying to build a stadium, you know, Don't you kind of you if they were really dead set on doing this, I feel like there would have to be a lot more hype and energy going into this.
00:23:38
Speaker
And instead, what we are left with is a constant drumbeat of fans every single time this gets mentioned of saying, man, if they move out to Long Acres, I'm never going to another game.
00:23:48
Speaker
Yeah. it ah It is understandable. Look, I would love it, right? I mean, selfishly, it's closer to my house. It's closer to everything that I have. I mean, my my daughter practices, you know, five minutes away from that location.
00:24:04
Speaker
ah But the reality is is that the Sounders... are too big for that sort of location. I mean, you're talking about Renton to Quilla. I mean, those are things that you don't want next to your soccer team. i mean, you really don't, you don't want to be, you know, right next to, you know, ah Dutch brothers and, you know, like and near the mall. I mean, it's just nothing about that is just interesting. And not to mention the fact that you'd have to add so many roads, so many things. So,
00:24:41
Speaker
For me, what this opportunity could essentially have, you know, going to your point is that. if if it's an owner and let's just put a name to it, like Cuban or, oh, you know what? Noah, Noah had a good one that, you know, he said he's there was a site of Adrian Hanauer and Steve Ballmer at a Mariners game. Actually, yeah, I have a little anecdote to add to that, but go ahead.
00:25:09
Speaker
So if it's Ballmer and he could, you know, put a stadium on Elliott Bay or something that is outrageous that no one has even thought about because he has the pockets to do it, man, that puts you in a phenomenal situation, you know? And this is not a a knock or or anything on on Adrian. It's just the reality of the world. And I've always told people this.
00:25:36
Speaker
You know, I would always fight, especially on the Latin and Hispanic market, where I would get into these radio shows and they'd like, oh, you know, Adrian doesn't care about the team. And, you know, he's a cheap, you know, s SOB and all of these things. would look, man, he cares about the team, but, you know, I care about my house, but I don't got a pool and I don't have a theater room because I can't afford it.
00:25:58
Speaker
So, you know, him in the same way, he cares about this team. But at the same time, look, you might think he's rich, but... I mean, I don't get his, you know, book of economics in front of me, but I can tell you that if he could, he probably would give a little more. So this to me just gives him the partner that maybe makes his dreams come true.
00:26:16
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nosarietes, Loving Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers.
00:26:27
Speaker
Plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad-free. subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full text RSS feed and a mostly ad free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only discord or the real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group the smartest, funniest and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting.
00:27:01
Speaker
Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real. You know the promotion the Sounders ran that offered fans the opportunity to trade in their messy jersey for a Paul Rothrock one? That originated in our community. You'll not only be the first to know about stuff, but you also have a semi-direct line to the movers and shakers at the Sounders organization. If you want to be one of the totally normal people who occupy the Sounder at Heart Discord, just become a supporter of Sounder at Heart. Anyway, thanks for listening, and go Durs.
00:27:31
Speaker
Nos Adietes admittedly is not exactly known for our spicy takes, but that doesn't mean we want our food to be mild. Spice up your life with Hacks and Ferments. Handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest, they specialize in unique small batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars.
00:27:49
Speaker
Hacks and Ferments brings bold flavors and natural fermentation together for something truly special.
Local Sponsorships
00:27:55
Speaker
Whether you're a heat seeker or just looking to elevate your cooking, you'll find something you love at haxanferments.com.
00:28:02
Speaker
That's H-A-X-A-N-F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S dot com. And right now, if you use the code sounder at heart, that's all one word, at checkout, you will get a free hot sauce with your order.
00:28:18
Speaker
Again, go to hacksandferments.com, use the code sounder at heart at checkout for a free hot sauce with your order. Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of that Sounder at Heart podcast network.
00:28:32
Speaker
Right. And I think that's sort of, that's to me what this looks like is it, it looks to me like, uh, I will say that. and So this is all stemming from, there was ah supposedly a picture of, of, uh, Steve Ballmer at the Mariners game sitting next to Adrian Hanauer.
00:28:48
Speaker
And I actually looked into this and I have been told that it is not Steve Ballmer, that it's just some executive from Costco. So, that doesn't mean that Steve Ballmer wouldn't be interested in buying the Sounders.
00:29:00
Speaker
It just means that. is hilarious It just means that that wasn't him in that picture, but, uh, Either way, a guy like a Steve Ballmer, a guy like a Mark Cuban or God forbid, like a Jeff Bezos or something like these are not, I'm not sitting here. I'm not like a young texter.
00:29:19
Speaker
Right. Exactly. I'm not sitting here vouching for any of these people. I'm just saying this is the kind of person who is possibly, you know, who this, I would imagine the sounders are hoping to attract and,
00:29:33
Speaker
And you know those kinds of people don't necessarily want to be there and be silent investors, especially in high profile sports teams like this. So who knows where this goes? I think that's sort of what we just needed to get on the record, though, is is make sure people understand where we are now, but where this might go, because
Future of Sounders' Ownership
00:29:52
Speaker
that's the thing. We just don't know where this is going to go. It's possible that someone says that comes in here and they just want to put up a, you know, couple hundred million dollars or whatever, and they are just happy to help the Sounders kick the can down and, ah and you know, get the, put a down payment on a new stadium or something.
00:30:11
Speaker
I just, I just don't really think that's what's going to happen. I have a feeling this going to grow into something bigger. Yes. I'm totally with you. There's just, there are too many variables that essentially lead to,
00:30:28
Speaker
Adrian Hanauer at some point becoming a minority owner or just somebody that's within you know the the operation of the team, but it's really not his team anymore. And and it's more of of whoever is this new investor.
00:30:43
Speaker
And you know that that's just the reality. When we look at all the things that this fan base wants, Something as simple as having a real hard,
00:30:59
Speaker
cemented situation and, or, or, or, you know, um platform for the ring of honor for the Sounders to be part of, you know, Lumen Field, all of that kind of goes in line with, you know, a new ownership could provide maybe a little bit more push on things. It just create so many more opportunities for what, what the team wants and and and it needs to, to those extent.
00:31:25
Speaker
But I will say that I was surprised about, know, how very little some players knew. I mean, i mean for for the main part, it just seems like not a lot of you know players really knew about what was going on. Oh, interesting.
00:31:39
Speaker
Yeah, so ah it's um I guess it's just the way it goes, right? You're just kind of but too close to it. You know, your your checks are going to still come. yeah Yeah, exactly. As long as my checks don't stop coming, I guess it's not nothing crazy. Right.
00:31:55
Speaker
Yeah. Well, all right. So that was the main thing we just wanted to get on the record. There were a couple other things, you know, it's a little, we' this we've only been to training one day. and so in terms of what we actually learned about what could change between now and in Monday, it's a little less clear, but one thing, you know, we did, we did talk to Brian Schmetzer today.
00:32:18
Speaker
he he talked about probably three things I would say are a various levels important. One of them was the goalkeeper situation and specifically what he might do if they go to another shootout,
00:32:30
Speaker
He talked about playing Danny Masofsky and Jordan Morris together. And he also talked a bit about the Ryan Kent and the Ryan Kent one is relatively simple. We'll get that out of the way. First, Ryan Kent, he said is going to be available.
00:32:44
Speaker
Apparently he felt a little bit of discomfort last week. And so in the last minute they decided it just wasn't worth the risk. They fully expect him to be, he was fully training today and they fully expect him to be available on Monday.
Penalty Shootout Strategy
00:32:58
Speaker
ah The more interesting discussion, though, was around the goalkeeper and specifically whether or not Brian is open minded to the possibility of ah subbing in Andrew Thomas before penalties.
00:33:11
Speaker
You asked him about that. What was your takeaway from his answer? That he is he has no interest whatsoever to make room to save a sub, to make sure that he has a window sub in Andrew Thomas. I mean, that plain and simple, we, both you and I asked it in, in, in different ways.
00:33:37
Speaker
And both times he just did not seem to budge or want to make a change. And, and I feel like, although should not be necessary.
00:33:49
Speaker
i do want to clarify, because I did hear some comments on both of our questions. In no way or form am I, or I think Jeremiah is saying that don't, want Andrew Thomas to take over for Stephen Fry completely right now. We that we feel like that, feel like that discussion, i don't want to talk for you, Jeremiah.
00:34:09
Speaker
That discussion is over and done with. The competition competition is over. Steph is the guy. And that's that's fine. I think that's great. I was part of that, part of the argument. I was team Steph, if you will.
00:34:23
Speaker
But that does not mean that Nico Moreno believes that If there's a way to get Andrew Thomas into a game, when you know you're going into PKs, that it would substantially increase the Sounders' chances at winning that penalty shootout. And it's not disrespect to...
00:34:51
Speaker
call a spade a spade and just point out certain things that Steph is a phenomenal goalkeeper. heat There's a lot of things that I like about him, but penalty kicks have never been his strong.
00:35:04
Speaker
And that that's okay. There's nothing wrong with saying that's not your strong. and And I kind of see Brian, especially today, reference a 2016 stop. 2016. It's almost been 10 years, right?
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah. And then it was little funny. And then adding, he said, Steph stopped two just last year, but one, you know, got waved off. So he didn't, right? I mean, he got waved off, he didn't, right? So, and I know why he's doing it, right? he He's protecting his guy. and And I love that, right? He's making sure that he sticks by his guy.
00:35:37
Speaker
But at the same time, i feel like, Steph is such an intelligent, self-aware, self-assured individual that I don't know if you would have a problem with stepping aside at the end of a game and allowing Thomas to come into the field and win the game because Steph's always being a team-first guy. So I would love to ask him, and I will whenever I get a chance to ask Steph himself.
00:36:07
Speaker
But to me, just seems like he would be he would be okay with it Yeah. I will say, i I thought that Brian left the door open slightly. Like he it.
00:36:19
Speaker
And ah you know, it wasn't like the the way that he was talking about the, the competition where he was literally calling it an open competition, but he seemed to give himself a little bit of an out. Now, if, if tomorrow's game or Monday's game goes to a penalty shootout, my expectation is that Steph's going to be the goalkeeper.
00:36:38
Speaker
And I guess that, and and then I guess if he wins it, then he would be it the next time. So yeah, I think you're right. i that That's amazing. where I am right now is I am not expecting him to make that change.
00:36:51
Speaker
And, and I, I did think it was important though, to clarify, like my question, i don't know if people took umbrage with my question and it wasn't to poke Brian or whatever else.
00:37:02
Speaker
I just felt like it was important for him to go on the record and say why he doesn't like the idea of making that change because the numbers are, are pretty clear at this point. ah Andrew Thomas is really good on penalties and Stephen Fry is not.
00:37:17
Speaker
That's just like the numbers are are really like I talked about the the actual data on on the last episode of No Sadietes. I don't need to get into that all again, but just take my word for it. The the numbers are pretty clear as to who is better equipped.
00:37:33
Speaker
And so i just I just felt like it was important for Brian to explain why he doesn't want to make that change. and he And essentially what he said is, I just don't like the idea of bringing in a cold goalkeeper and essentially telling my starting goalkeeper that I don't trust him to to make these plays.
00:37:49
Speaker
And that's fair enough. You know, that's that's a little bit more of an old school approach. And he also brought up how, ah you know, he brought Danny Leyva into the game explicitly to take a penalty.
00:38:00
Speaker
And by the way, Julian Gressel got brought into the game explicitly to take a penalty. Both of those guys missed their shots. That sort of speaks, I think a little bit to Brian's point, which is it's tough to come into a game and be asked to perform in a high leverage moment like that.
00:38:16
Speaker
And, you know, um i I guess on some level, I believe that's, I mean, I think he really believes that for sure. Whether or not I totally like agree is is separate, but you know I respect his decision at the very least.
00:38:34
Speaker
Exactly. And I think that's the important part. Although I do not agree, I do respect the decision and I respect that he gave us a straight answer about it, but I do feel like he, to me, at least, I don't think he left for,
00:38:49
Speaker
to to say that he might even do it. the The fact that he talked about we need more data on um yeah whether or not Andrew Tomatis get a peek is wild to me. though that That just told me I'm not doing it.
00:39:04
Speaker
That's what I heard. I'm not doing it. I don't care what your numbers say. and Look, I'm not a numbers guy. I've always been eye test guy and and I go off of a lifetime of following the game. And look, I've been privileged to see some of the greatest penalty kickstoppers of all I guess South American, i don't want to call it all time because people are going to kill me because there's going to be like some English goalkeeper that I have no idea about.
00:39:29
Speaker
But, you know, in in my time, I've just seen some goalkeepers that they lived on stopping penalty kicks and he takes a different guy. It's just a different mentality. And you saw it with...
00:39:41
Speaker
um Sinclair, you know, the the mind games, moving the ball and barking here, barking there, pointing over here, getting into the mindset, not to mention the fact that he has the frame for it. And, you know, it's not all of it, but a lot of times that athleticism, that explosiveness, it does give you a little bit more of a response time on when you're trying to stop a shot. So there are things that you could very easily say as much as we love Steph, if he wasn't very effective at stopping them, you know, 10 years ago, seven years ago, eight years ago, now it was even more difficult for for him to do it. So i't know that's why I think that the whole argument about bringing in
00:40:31
Speaker
a goalkeeper and bringing in a penalty kick shooter is completely different. I mean, to me, and look, he's the coach. He's the mastermind. I'm just a guy talking here, but to me, it's apples and oranges.
00:40:45
Speaker
ah what What he takes for a A player to get himself up to score that shot is a lot more different than it is for a goalkeeper.
00:40:59
Speaker
the The pressure, and look, I've talked to a lot of people about this subject. The pressure is always on the shooter. The goalkeeper knows that nobody's expecting him to make that stop.
00:41:10
Speaker
Right. The pressure is a hundred percent on shooter. And therefore the the amount of like warmup and things is not as severe as the one that you need for a goalkeeper. Not to mention the fact that goalkeepers ah across history you have come in late in a game and they have been effective. Yeah. It's so it's not, it's not unheard of at all. like yeah right It's not a common tactic, I would say, but it's it's not, it's not necessarily, you know, like I said, it's, it's a,
00:41:41
Speaker
It's a thing that coaches do. ah It's not something that Brian seems interested in doing. And I guess that kind of puts it to bed for now. ah The other thing that he he talked about was playing Danny Masofsky and Jordan Morris together. And I thought he was, you know, pretty noncommittal about that. You know, he he did recognize that they had two really good chances with them on the field together.
00:42:07
Speaker
but he also thought that they created some good chances before that. So I don't know. I don't know that I would, I didn't take away. Cause the other thing that's tough is that if you want to put Jordan Morris and, and Danny Masofsky on the field together, that means you're taking off.
00:42:24
Speaker
you know, you're, you're taking up Paul Rothrock or you're taking off a winger is what you're doing. You're probably taking off Jesus or Paul Rothrock, which i don't know. You might take, take off one of them anyway, but um I don't know. I'm not sure. I'm i'm not sitting here expecting them to to play Morris and Misofsky
Lineup Debate: Morris and Masofsky
00:42:44
Speaker
at the start. Now, might he be a little sooner to go to his bench than he was in game one?
00:42:51
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's more possible. I would agree with that. I believe that there is a little bit of an overreaction on the two opportunities that Danny Mussovsky got in that game and playing Jordan as a winger and all of these things.
00:43:13
Speaker
I believe that... the the the The better chances, at least in the buildup of the play, were created when Jordan was in there. I mean, I get it.
00:43:24
Speaker
I'm probably something dumb because obviously there were half chances. Right. and You know, but it was simply because Rothrock, the one he had, he should put that on frame. He had time, actually, and he could. There were better bad frame in in other movements before. i would agree with you there.
00:43:41
Speaker
And the reason why i bring that one specifically is because I believe that the intricate passing, what you know Brian called today combination plays, they are just as important to break down five-man back line as speed on the on the wings and stretching out defenses because once one of those center back's pushes up and you have a player that's dribbling towards and you create some of that intricate passing, you can literally pass your way centrally through that barrier and get a good shot on goal. Now, Teatro didn't do enough of that, but I do feel like Jesus Pereira, who, if you see the start of that game, had
00:44:25
Speaker
within 11 minutes or 10 minutes, two very good through balls into the 18 for Jordan Morris. So I think that there's a lot more of that to be had, but I understand you, right? I mean, Musovsky, when you look at the stat sheet and you're like, he needs to be in there. He's a poacher.
00:44:42
Speaker
You need to, and you know, I get some of the concepts, right? He is a guy that's going to be occupying certain spaces that maybe gives ah Jordan the ability to do other things. And He's going to wear and tear those center bags.
00:44:55
Speaker
But I feel like there's this... notion that Danny Masavsky is this very physical striker. And I don't think that's the case. I don't see it in practice.
00:45:07
Speaker
know and I feel like I agree with you. there's There's this belief that he's like this classic number nine and no, he is a poacher. There's nothing wrong. Like that's he's a poacher. that Yeah, he's a poacher. That's what he is.
00:45:18
Speaker
I mean, and in fact, every time the other than the two plays where he admittedly got himself into great positions to score, he did a lot of stuff that is like illustrative of why he's not the starter.
00:45:31
Speaker
Like he just dribbles into blind alley and he will, you know, make kind of dumb foul, like vo unnecessary fouls and he'll give the ball away unnecessarily.
00:45:43
Speaker
And yeah look, I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he's a much more limited player who has, who's very good. at specific things and those specific things are really useful, but let's, let's cool it with, you know, he's not a better soccer player. You know, that's the thing.
00:46:01
Speaker
This is a better soccer player. i just ah Sometimes I feel like, am I i might seeing the game wrong? Like, am i crazy? Because sometimes I hear people talking about Mosowski like it's Lewandowski or, you know, ah Holland. I mean, I don't know. I mean, just...
00:46:21
Speaker
I don't know. And again, I don't want to be this Danny Mussovsky hater. I've said it. i think it's important to have that poacher. I give him credit for everything he's done. But if I'm going out on the playoffs, I want the best I have on the field and the best I have in talent and potential and ceiling.
00:46:41
Speaker
And Danny's not in that equation, regardless of the amount of goals that he's got this season. i really I don't care if it was 20 goals. I just... He's a limited player.
00:46:53
Speaker
And you see, there's that one... There's that one time in the game where he, like, dribbles around and then he, like, basically runs into Paul Rothrock in the same space and they, like, look at each other, like, what are you doing here?
00:47:09
Speaker
and And, you know, it's just... He just looks so... I think that's the exact play that I was thinking of. It's just, you know, there's no cohesion sometimes with the way he handles certain moments. So I don't know.
00:47:22
Speaker
To me... I understand it. I just don't want to see and right off the start like some people do. If there's any changes that I would do is perhaps, and this is just perhaps, because I i feel like Rothrock is getting a lot of heat for not having a good game, and i don't think he had a good game.
00:47:39
Speaker
But defensively, he did a lot of... of Yeah, he did....of wearing there. But if if you want to start Georgie in this one, and you want to try to wear down that side and maybe have a guy that with his...
00:47:54
Speaker
one on one V one and the ability to maybe stretch out that defense and to create some of those Pedro de la Vega moments where he's igniting the whole team with his play and the, the crowd is cheering and he's the injection of like energy.
00:48:11
Speaker
I'm okay with it right off the start. Cause if you can score early on Minnesota, I mean, that's the tactic to get them to just have to get out a little bit and, Maybe not with this format, to be quite frank. I mean, there's a chance that, you know, even if they went down a goal, you're still going to just play the way they play. But yeah, I just, that's the one change. If you want to put Georgie in to start instead of Paul, I'm okay with it. But other than that, nothing. The only, the other thing I would say is that,
00:48:41
Speaker
I would like everybody to lower their rank and expectations. Yeah. I have seen him in training. i know that they want to have him there, but the fact that he felt something and was unable to play last week and the fact that today he was on and off and not completely involved.
00:49:04
Speaker
I just think that we just have to be very mindful that, the our theory that Ryan Kent is more of a break the glass emergency player. If we need them, that's more likely what he's going to, that's the role he's going to have in, in, in this series. Yeah.
00:49:24
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I am not. I think at best, he's got player who's going to come off the bench and play a few minutes and, you know, we'll see what he can get. And maybe if the Sounders advance, they might be able to get a bit more out of him, but I'm not expecting a lot.
00:49:38
Speaker
um Well, we should probably get out of here. It's a little late. I got to get my kids to bed, but Nico, thanks for jumping on here and ah breaking it down with me. ah Hopefully people feel a little ah better about, or at least feel like they're little more knowledgeable about what's going on with the the ownership situation.
00:49:54
Speaker
ah Again, like the big takeaway here is we stay tuned is really the, the, it's like we, this is just the first shoe and it's hard to say what's going on.
00:50:06
Speaker
um But for now, it looks like maybe not tectonic, but whatever. There's going to be some more money getting injected into the Sounders either way. That much we know.
00:50:18
Speaker
so But it feels like a big deal. It feels like a big deal. I would agree. This is the first time they've phrased it the yeah way they've approached it. So you out there...
00:50:29
Speaker
audience if you have questions, if you want to know more about it. I mean, we we're kind of new to what what we're learning, too. So if you have any questions, comment, let us know.
00:50:39
Speaker
And we'll probably be talking about this a lot. Yes. I would imagine. I would imagine that's true. Absolutely. All right, Nico. ah yeah Obviously follow Nico over on blue sky, El Rolo and W follow them on also sports at YouTube soccer down here, lobbying scorchers, you know, all the places, Nico, thank you for doing this, man.
00:51:02
Speaker
Thank you, Jeremiah. Appreciate you. All right. You're listening to sounder at heart part of the, or you're starting to, the you're listening to nose audiences, which is part of the sounder heart podcast network. I'm Jeremiah Shan, and we will catch you
00:51:41
Speaker
Let's go and Sounders. um