Mr. Seattle Sports

He may not be the one scoring goals or making saves, but few people have had as large an impact on the Seattle sports scene than Tod Leiweke.

Leiweke, a member of the Seattle University Board of Trustees and the CEO of the Seattle Kraken, has been at the forefront of bringing both Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League to the Emerald City. He was also instrumental in the refurbishment of Climate Pledge Arena.

As a member of the SU Board, Leiweke has been a champion for the university and its mission. In 2024, he was awarded an honorary degree when he spoke at Seattle University’s Graduate School Commencement in the arena he helped develop.

His advice to graduates?

“Not letting people tell you that things can’t be,” he told the crowd. “People all along the way are going to tell you why it won’t work. Don’t listen to them.”

After serving as vice president of the New York Arrows indoor soccer team in the 1980s, Leiweke made his way to the National Basketball Association, becoming president of the Houston Rockets in 1993, before moving on to the Golden State Warriors. He was also president of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, executive director of The First Tee and held high-level positions with the PGA Tour and Vancouver Canucks.

Then came his association with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who owned the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders and Portland Trail Blazers prior to his death in 2018.

Allen hired Leiweke as CEO of the Seahawks in 2003. In 2005, the team made its first Super Bowl. Leiweke also was CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, the management company owned by Allen to oversee his sports-related properties, including the Sounders.

Leiweke left Seattle in 2010 to become CEO and minority owner of Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment, which managed multiple Tampa-area sports teams and venues. Five years later he became Chief Operating Officer of the NFL, serving there until 2018 when the call of Seattle led Leiweke back as president, CEO and minority owner of the pro-hockey team, the Seattle Kraken. As part of his role, Leiweke led the effort to remodel the former KeyArena into Climate Pledge Arena.

He told the SU graduates what he sees in that building is a great lesson for their life.

“In this building, I get to see teamwork all the time,” he said. “The ability to think in a positive way is how it all works. No team ever followed a coach who was a pessimist. Our best days are in front of us. It’s up to us to make it happen.”