Report: Seattle Sounders FC could leave Lumen Field

In some interesting news that is reasonably related to the Seattle Seahawks, there could be a change to the Lumen Field tenant list.

Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC, who have played at Lumen Field since joining the league in 2009, are exploring having their own soccer-specific venue at the team’s soon-to-be opened training facility in Renton. Sounder at Heart, which recently went independent after leaving the SB Nation platform, interviewed team president of business operations Hugh Weber about the Sounders’ future at their new complex. One of the topics that arose was the possibility of the Sounders moving on from Lumen Field.

“Lumen Field has been a great home, but having a soccer-centric stadium is always the dream of any premier MLS club,” Weber said. “It’s always something we’re contemplating and thinking about. There’s definitely room on the site. There’s a lot of exploration that has to happen in terms of is it even a thing our fanbase would consider a positive? There’s a lot of work to be done. I’d be remiss and not honest if I said we weren’t thinking about it.”

The Sounders have consistently been one of the best in MLS in terms of fan attendance, and while the standard seating chart is roughly half the size of a Seahawks home game, select matches do receive full capacity treatment. Of the 29 teams in MLS, the Sounders are one of only seven teams that share a stadium with an NFL (or, in the case of New York City FC, MLB) team.

Stadiums aren’t built that quickly so this would be a longer-term project and not something that would impact the 2024 season, but it would reduce the stadium occupants to the Seahawks, the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons (who only play in the spring), and OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League. OL Reign moved to Lumen in 2022 after plans for a soccer-specific stadium in Tacoma fell through. Much like the Sounders, the Reign play into the fall so the schedules of those soccer leagues can impact the Seahawks available home dates when the NFL creates its regular season schedule.

Whether the Sounders are at Lumen Field or not in the long-term, the stadium will serve as one of the host venues for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. For at least that tournament, field turf will be replaced by natural grass.