Sounders VP Ryan Gustafson hired as Seattle XFL President

[Tank55]

Ryan Gustafson is no stranger to Seattle sports.

The Bellevue product most recently was the vice president of business strategy and development for the Seattle Sounders. Prior to spending four years with the San Diego Padres, he worked in ticket sales and customer service for the Seahawks and Sounders from 2008 to 2010. Gustafson grew up less than 10 miles from CenturyLink Field.

And though he’s changing jobs, he won’t be changing stadiums.

Tuesday, Gustafson will be named president of the XFL’s new Seattle franchise. The rebooted eight-team league will begin play in February 2020.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/oth ... president/

[XFL_FAN]

So XFL Seattle is the first team to have their HC+GM and President announced. Can't wait until the team name gets announced too!

[Firecop]

Great choice, this bodes well for the Seattle team. Seattle is pretty much sports crazy and the Seahawks and UW Huskies always draw well.
It is not beyond reason to think that the Seattle XFL franchise could be the crown jewel of the XFL. It may well attract the fans who can't get or can't afford tickets to the other teams.

[Tank55]

I love how MLS heavy this league is; that's the comparison I would be hammering. The MLS wasn't competing with the EPL when they got started, but they had the ambition to be the best league they could be. Fast forward 20+ years, and they're still not competing with the EPL; and that's OK. They're getting bigger and better every single year. In another 20 years, who knows how high they can reach.

It's not necessarily about quality of play on day 1. XFL might not look much different than the AAF next year. It's also about ambition and vision; do you aspire to be a major league, or do you aspire to be a minor league?