[3] The team also attained success on the field under Hanauer's leadership, going 23-4-1 in his first season, the second best record in USL history, and made it to the league championship game three times, winning it twice.

The two men hit it off and over the next few weeks, Roth made several visits to Seattle to take in a few Sounders games and get to know Hanauer better.

By November, the two had brought in Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and comedian Drew Carey as investors and MLS had announced Seattle as the next expansion team.

[6] Hanauer joined the ownership group of the Seattle Kraken, an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League, in 2018.

[7] He and his mother Lenore also acquired a minority stake in Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League the following year.