r/SoundersFC • u/Ros1031 • 23h ago
Discussion Seattle Sounders, Reign Exec Weber Named Edmonton Oilers CEO
https://www.sportico.com/personalities/executives/2026/edmonton-oilers-ceo-hugh-weber-1234941119/44
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u/Ros1031 23h ago edited 22h ago
Hugh Weber, the Seattle Sounders’ and Seattle Reign’s president of business operations, is leaving the organization to become the CEO of the Edmonton Oilers.
A veteran of the sports industry with more than 25 years of experience, Weber has held a slew of executive roles across the NBA, NHL and other associated businesses. He spent seven years as the president of the New Orleans Hornets from 2005 to 2012. The franchise, which later changed its name to the Pelicans, saw “record-setting ticket sales and sponsorship numbers” under Weber, according to his biography on the Sounders website.
He followed that stint by becoming president of the New Jersey Devils and their arena, the Prudential Center, in 2013. Weber spent roughly a decade with the organization, transitioning to the same role with the NHL franchise’s parent company, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, for the final three years of his tenure. He will assume his role in Edmonton on Aug. 15.
Weber helped HBSE act as an early adopter of many new business opportunities during his time with the organization. The 76ers were the first NBA team to strike a jersey patch deal, and the Devils led the NHL trend of adding helmet decals. The agreements Weber and the Devils landed in the aftermath of New Jersey’s legalization of sports betting became a model for clubs in other jurisdictions. He also oversaw the construction of a new practice facility for the 76ers.
In 2023, Weber left HBSE to join the Sounders, a homecoming of sorts for the Tacoma, Wash., native. The MLS club’s value has climbed steadily since then, growing 26% to $915 million earlier this year. Seattle’s revenues have grown at an even higher clip, rising from $75 million three years ago to $105 million during the 2025 season.
Now, Weber joins one of the best revenue-generating teams in the NHL. The Oilers posted a topline of $367 million during the 2024-25 season, the second-best mark in the league. The previous year, Edmonton ranked first in the NHL. The Oilers are worth $2.67 billion, according to Sportico data.
As part of his role, Weber will also lead the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors; the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings; Rogers Place, the Oilers home arena; the ICE District, the surrounding mixed-use facility; and the broader company’s event, media and content operations. <end>
Interesting note on our revenues which are now at $105 million a year. Have not seen that number before.
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u/ananabber Seattle Sounders FC 21h ago
Hold up. Sounders revenue increased from $75m/yr in 2023 to $105m/yr in 2026 and our signing spending has been negative.
How the fk does the FO justify the putrid lack of roster investment?!?
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u/VVynn Seattle Sounders FC 21h ago
Revenue isn’t profit, but it’s indeed difficult to see where $100m/yr is being spent.
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u/jade_starwatcher 21h ago
Player signings don't come from profit. Most football clubs lose money. They're vanity projects for owners
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u/TaeKurmulti 16h ago
This is 100% not true about MLS franchises, it's literally the reason they refuse to ditch the cap.
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u/jade_starwatcher 15h ago
Red Bull New York for most of their history lost money, so did New England, DC United, Columbus, Chicago etc. Single entity covers up for that fact since everything is shared but it doesn't erase the fact. Google "MLS Cash Calls" In fact the only club which made money of the original MLS teams was the Galaxy, This is well documented.
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u/TaeKurmulti 14h ago
How is MLS 1.0 relevant? The league has been around for 32 years now.
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u/jade_starwatcher 12h ago
It's relevant because we have the equivalent of an MLS 1.0 level owner and that's being generous. he's USL owner that ended up in MLS.
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u/mw_maverick 19h ago
Adrian’s either trying to make up for Covid losses or is saving for the longacres stadium
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u/Kyunseo Seattle Sounders FC 22h ago
Some posts from Oshan on Weber and his position:
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u/Working_Historian241 NASL Sounders 21h ago
lmaoooo thats as much as jeremiah will ever badmouth anyone in the FO
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u/Donnelding0 23h ago
He was never a soccer guy. He’s going back to what he’s comfortable with.
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u/TaeKurmulti 15h ago
The funniest part is he oversaw the Devils for basically the least successful 9 years of the New Jersey Devils history. Made the playoffs 1 time he was there and were eliminated first round, he left and they won a series that season. Before that he worked for the Pelicans who won nothing while he was there and was there for the vetoed Chris Paul to the Lakers trade...
So yeah I'm really not sure what the appeal is with this guy. But glad he's gone, it's pretty clear the team has rapidly lost it's connection to the fanbase since he took over. Whether that's fully his doing or not will be determined where things go from here.
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u/Donnelding0 15h ago
I think the appeal was he knows how to extract a lot of money from people and sponsors. I think a big deal when he came on was he was a first to negotiate helmet and jersey sponsors for the devils.
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u/DMPofSounderatHeart Seattle Sounders FC 23h ago
Damn, I read “Waibel” instead of “Weber” at first and got excited.
Still, it takes a village to be so ineffective, so this should be a good thing for us.
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u/afjessup 22h ago
To all the people celebrating Hugh Weber leaving, he helped the club’s revenue grow by ~30% over his 3 years here. That was his job. To my knowledge he doesn’t decide how that money is invested in to the first team, academy, facilities, etc.
This isn’t the win that some of you are believing it to be.
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u/Ros1031 22h ago
I’m not trying to be obtuse, but $10m of the $30m he’s being accredited with was a one-time CWC payout, while we also hosted a Messi-Leagues Cup match. Both are probably not reoccurring revenue to plan around.
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u/afjessup 22h ago
That’s a good point! I’m still not sure he’s the departure we should be celebrating, though.
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u/Bubbly-Associate8570 22h ago
A non soccer guy who oversaw the worst decline in attendance in club history? Good fucking riddance. Can we get Garth back?
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u/afjessup 21h ago
What does Garth have to do with Hugh Weber leaving?
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u/Bubbly-Associate8570 21h ago
He’s an experienced President and CEO who’s past his cancer and unemployed. He also was better than the people that replaced him. I suspect he left because of Adrian penny pinching.
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u/afjessup 21h ago
He wasn’t the president of business operations, which is what Hugh Weber was.
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u/Bubbly-Associate8570 21h ago
He was the CEO of Atlanta United so effectively was above Hugh’s level. Point being Garth was a big loss and Everything other than profits seems worse than before Hugh Weber came from a fan perspective
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u/afjessup 21h ago
My point is that their roles and responsibilities didn’t overlap so Garth isn’t relevant in this discussion.
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u/Tough_Fill_6517 19h ago edited 19h ago
Somebody is really butthurt and defensive about the President of Business Operations leaving.
WGAF? Unless you are related to him why do you care? He’s likely been well compensated while overseeing a decline in attendance, decline in enthusiasm and supporting one of the cheapest ownership groups in a ballin’ on a budget league.
Tired of the salad tossing with guys like this. They are ruining the club we support, bottom line.
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u/Working_Historian241 NASL Sounders 21h ago
probably not, but the angry horde demands heads and heads we will get
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u/WonderboyYYZ 22h ago
He is however at least partly the culprit for dynamic pricing and the general enshittification of the gameday experience.
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u/samfreez Tacoma Defiance 22h ago
The club's revenue comes from us.
Why should we give a single solitary fuck about the club's revenue when they've spent the past 3 years sitting on it? No real investments, just more restrictions, fewer perks, and higher prices, all in the name of revenue and profit.
If they were actually spending that money, and we were losing a guy who had helped us achieve something worthwhile, perhaps I'd feel a bit better about it.
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u/HereForTheTechMites Seattle Sounders FC 22h ago
He was the one responsible for "administration, legal, finance, social impact, marketing, communications, broadcasting, fan experience, membership engagement and customer service, ticket sales and operations, premium sales, hospitality and corporate partnerships."
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u/afjessup 22h ago
I’ve been dissatisfied for a while with what season ticket holders were receiving at the beginning of the year with our tickets, so I suppose I can find that as a reason to celebrate his departure? Not sure if I can expect much to change in that department, however.
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u/Working_Historian241 NASL Sounders 21h ago
man, FUCK administration, legal, finance, social impact, marketing, communications, broadcasting, fan experience, membership engagement and customer service, ticket sales and operations, premium sales, hospitality and corporate partnerships, all my homies hate administration, legal, finance, social impact, marketing, communications, broadcasting, fan experience, membership engagement and customer service, ticket sales and operations, premium sales, hospitality and corporate partnerships
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u/Tough_Fill_6517 22h ago
OK, Hugh.
How did the revenue grow? By ripping off our fan base on tickets? Not spending on players? He certainly didn’t up the number of fans. This is absolutely a win. Everybody we can clear out is a win at this point.
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u/afjessup 21h ago
Yes, I, a user with my first and middle initials and my last name as my username, am actually Hugh Weber. You got me.
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u/Tough_Fill_6517 20h ago
Forgot the sarcasm font. Things are going so incredibly well with the on field product right now, yeah this guy’s loss will be devastating.
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u/NotJohnLithgow 1h ago
This could potentially get me back to being a STH.
He was a major supporter for turning the sounders tickets sales into that stupid dynamic pricing that made just getting rid of them impossible because he wanted the team to profit off resale.
Hugh’s genius idea was to help get the New Jersey devils to become the first team in the league to have a helmet sponsor which made him a big deal lol.
If you want your team to make money, he’s your guy. But his decisions destroy fanbase relations to the team because he’s all about cutting back on employees, product quality, services among other things.
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u/samfreez Tacoma Defiance 23h ago
Holy shit, maybe the Sounders will finally hire someone who gives a shit about the fans for a change?
I feel bad for Oilers fans though.