Small Stake In Seattle Sounders Recently Sold At $680 Million Valuation

Forbes has learded that a couple of months ago a 3% to 5% stake in the Seattle Sounders was sold which valued the MLS team at $680 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who did not name the buyer. The Sounders have among the best teams in the league, winning the MLS Cup in 2019 and 2016. They also boast one of the most rabid fan bases in MLS, placing second in the league in attendance and Twitter followers.

Spokespersons for the Sounders and MLS would not comment on the deal.

Prior to last week’s new streaming partnership between Major League Soccer and AppleAAPL
investors were bidding up values of MLS teams.

The valuation for the Sounders is the fourth-hisghest valuation for a limited partner stake Forbes is aware of. Last September rapper Yo Gotti purchased a minority stake in D.C. Unmited at a roughly $730 million valuation, according to Sportico. A few months prior to the Gotti deal, Sportico also reported that Houston Texans running back Mark Ingram II bought a minority stake in the same team in a deal that valued D.C. United at $710 million. And in March of 2020, a 10% piece of Los Angeles FC was reportedly acquired in a deal by the controlling owners which valued the franchise at more than $700 million.

The $680 million price makes sense.LP stakes typcially go for a discount becuase the investor has no say in how the team is run. In its most recent MLS valuations last July, Sportico valued the Sounders at $705 million, fourth-most in the league. The $680 million LP valuation for the Soundres would seemingly push the controlling interest valuation north of $800 million.

The Sounders deal will be a good benchmark to use when calibrating the impact the league’s new deal with Apple has on subsequent team valuations. As one MLS team owner put it to Forbes: “The Sounders deal closed before the Apple streaming deal was known, so I will be very interested to see what happens when the next MLS team is sold.”