Q&A with Peter Tomozawa, Minority Owner of Seattle Sounders Football Club

Peter Tomozawa is the Minority Owner and President of Business Operations at Seattle Sounders FC, the winner of the 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League. Peter, a retired partner, worked at Goldman Sachs from 1993 to 2010 in what is now the firm's Global Markets Division in London, Tokyo and New York.

What attracted you to Seattle and the Sounders FC Owners Group? How did your background in finance, politics and sports prepare you for the role of President of Business Operations?
Peter: We moved to Seattle in 2014. My son, youngest of five and age 15, tried out for and made the Seattle Sounders MLS academy team. We were living in Honolulu after I retired, and I was working for the State of Hawaii as one of the commissioners of Charter Schools and as an Executive Director for Business Development for the City of Honolulu. My association with the Seattle Sounders started as a father of an academy kid. After moving to Seattle, I found myself working for Gene Sykes on the LA Olympic bid committee. We were the group of people that were bidding for the Olympic Games and were successful in securing the Olympic and Paralympic Games for Los Angeles in 2028. I learned first-hand how cities and governments operated during my time in Hawaii. I learned the business of sports during my two and a half years working on the Olympics. After we had secured the Olympics, I returned full-time to Seattle and ended up helping a group of local investors buy 32% of the Seattle Sounders soccer team. We were successful in the purchase and after meeting the majority owner, Adrain Hanauer, I was asked to join the club as its first President of Business Operations.

Describe some of the challenges you and the club have faced while navigating through a global pandemic.
Peter: Seattle was the epicenter of the Covid spread. We were one of the first communities in the US afflicted. While we had no idea the extent, we had set up a committee in January of 2020 to try and understand what this might mean for the team and our ability to host events. This turned out to be fortuitous as we were ready to shut down quickly. Once the NBA canceled games, we followed shortly thereafter. The hardest part was not knowing or having any understanding of the duration. We held on to our people and paid them for as long as we could. Ultimately we cut staff by over 40% and had to figure out how to safely play games and generate revenue with no fans in stands. Our office lease was expiring in May of 2020, and we did not renew as slashing expenses was critical. We pivoted our foundation from raising money to build soccer pitches for underserved children and neighborhoods to raising money to grant monies to affected stadium workers and businesses that lost their jobs and livelihoods due to the epidemic. We raised over $1.2m in grants for local businesses near our stadium. Uncertainty was the biggest stress point. Ultimately, we played games to empty stadiums and our product became a media product only.

Why is community outreach so important for sports franchises and how has it helped impact the Sounders’ reputation in Seattle?
Peter: Community is everything for a sports team. We do not sell “come watch us play”, we sell “come be part of us”. Seattle’s success is rooted in this idea. The Seattle Sounders mission statement is “Create moments, enrich lives and unify through soccer”. All of the business decisions we make at the club are focused on how that decision impacts our mission. Seattle is a quirky place, and the city’s residents have a chip on their shoulder. We are constantly striving for respect, and the city loves its sports teams as we symbolize the “never give up and battle for every inch” mentality. Seattle is home to some of the most successful businesses globally in technology and retail (i.e., Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Costco, etc.). It is one of the most stunningly beautiful cities in the world, yet the feeling is, we are not respected. I spend nearly 50% of my time on connecting with our community.

Given the date of the FIFA Club World Cup has yet to be set, what is the strategy for keeping up fan engagement and excitement in the meantime?
Peter: Seattle Sounders FC is the first team in history to ever to win the CONCACAF Champions League. We still are not sure of exact date, but likely to be in February of 2023. There is plenty of excitement in the build up to the Qatar World Cup.

It’s no secret Seattle is currently in the running to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Aside from stadium size and economic impact, can you describe a few other elements that may strengthen a candidate city’s proposal to host the tournament?
Peter: We won the right to be one of the host cities in 2026. It was an amazing experience to bid for this and win. 44 cities bid, and only 16 were selected. So in many ways, this was actually a harder or lower probability event than winning the Olympics. We ran on a platform of, not only how great our region’s soccer culture is, but also how abundant the resources could be to engage in what will be the greatest World Cup event in history. Winning the Champions League and hosting 68,000 fans for the finals back in April was a proof point to FIFA that we can host large-scale soccer events, and I believe that was the event that secured Seattle as a host city.

The Seattle Sounders FC will be celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2024. Can you give any insight on how the team is planning to celebrate the milestone?
Peter: 2024 is indeed the 50th anniversary for the Seattle Sounders. We have gone from a minor league team with a couple hundred fans attending to 2-time MLS cup winners and the first American team ever to win the Champions League. Our average attendance is now 28th in the world! We will have a massive celebration in 2024 that will coincide with grand opening of our new training center and business headquarters. We are equity partners, and the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of Boeing’s former global headquarters. The Sounders Performance Center at Longacres will be state of the art and a center piece for the entire community of Renton, WA.

How did your time at Goldman Sachs contribute to your success in the organizational leadership of professional sports?
Peter: What separates GS-trained people from all others is that we are trained to think about risk management – what are the unintended consequences of any action, and what are things you can do to mitigate negative outcomes. Whether you consciously know or understand that, it is truly the gift that I have carried with me in all my endeavors post my retirement.