Major League Soccer today announced the winners of the league’s 2022 Mark Abbott MLS Club Awards that recognize clubs and individuals driving business, fostering innovation and delivering value to fans and communities. Judged by a panel at the league level, Sounders FC earned top billing in two categories, with the club’s dedicated work in social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion spaces being honored with the inaugural Inclusion and Impact of the Year Award, while the popular Concacaf Champions League Final “Big F’ing Deal” campaign has been named Marketing Initiative of the Year.
A new award category in 2022, the Inclusion and Impact of the Year Award celebrates the club that embodies a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as a key business strategy through inclusive policies, programs and partnerships. The Rave Green were recognized with this first-ever title through the club’s dedicated approach to integrating DEI and social justice practices into every aspect of its business operation.
“It’s an honor to receive the inaugural Mark Abbott MLS Club Inclusion and Impact Award,” said Sounders FC Chief Operating Officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom. “We’re very proud of the work that we have done, utilizing our official Social Justice Framework as a strategy screen to guide consistent actions over time to make our community more equitable through soccer. As important is the work we have done behind the scenes, internally, on ourselves as an organization, which includes working with the Center for Equity and Inclusion on our long-term strategies in that area, and our work to diversify the pipeline of talent through fellowships and externships to include historically underrepresented individuals.”
Mendoza-Exstrom continued, “This work takes the whole of the Sounders FC family, and I’m grateful for the dedication to these principles that is embraced by our club from the top down, including ownership and senior leaders from both soccer and business operations. This work doesn’t have an endpoint, and we are continually prioritizing raising our awareness around racism and bias, as well as committing to make investments in ourselves to ensure that soccer can help make the community more equitable and inclusive.”
Announced in 2020, Sounders FC’s Social Justice Framework was developed to focus the club on its core beliefs. Since that time, the organization has used the framework and its four arenas for change – Fight Racism, Defend the Right to Play, Stand for LGBTQ+ Equality and Protect Our Planet – as an intentional guide to organizational action across all areas of club operation.
In leaning on experts to ensure real and lasting change, the Rave Green are currently involved in a multi-year partnership with the Center for Equity and Inclusion to further develop the club’s long-term DEI strategies.
To learn more about Sounders FC’s ongoing efforts in the social impact space, including reviewing the club’s 2022 Social Impact Report, visit SoundersFC.com/Social-Impact.
The annual Marketing Initiative of the Year Award exists to identify and honor a club marketing initiative that drove club business and increased fan value by using innovation strategy and integrative implementation. Sounders FC’s lighthearted and popular “Big F’ing Deal” campaign ahead of the club’s historic victory in the Concacaf Champions League Final was recognized with this year’s honor.
Springing to life from a postgame comment by Head Coach Brian Schmetzer and growing into a campaign embraced across the region and involving the likes of Seattle Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch, “Big F’ing Deal” symbolized the immensity of the moment for Sounders FC, as the club had the opportunity to become the first MLS team in history to capture the Concacaf Champions League title.
“It’s always humbling to be recognized by your peers with this sort of best-in-class honor,” said Sounders FC Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Taylor Graham. “Sounders FC’s overarching goal is always to win trophies and set exciting records, but we always want to do so while operating authentically with our fans and within the greater community. With a campaign like ‘Big F’ing Deal,’ we knew we were capturing that authenticity in a unique way, and it was thrilling to see fans respond by embracing the CCL Final and showing up for the club. That historic victory in front of a record-breaking crowd belongs to our fans as much as anyone, and I speak for the club when I express just how proud we are that we were able to deliver on our promises.”
The campaign was designed to raise awareness surrounding the second leg of Sounders FC’s Concacaf Champions League Final, being played at Lumen Field on May 4, 2022. With a tournament that was unfamiliar to many casual fans, the Rave Green’s goals were to both educate about the meaning of the match and the opportunity that existed for the club to make history, while also driving attendance for perhaps the most important home match in Seattle soccer history.
Utilizing a collaborative approach and the humor of Lynch, “Big F’ing Deal” succeeded in these goals, as Sounders FC proceeded to break both the Concacaf single-game attendance record and Final attendance record, with 68,741 fans at Lumen Field to witness the team secure the first-ever CCL title in MLS history.
From winning the Concacaf Champions League to hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Seattle Sounders FC and the city of Seattle are entering a critical period in soccer’s regional history. After becoming the first MLS club to win a modern continental title, the Rave Green are slated to compete against global giants like Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup next season. Looking ahead to 2024, the organization will celebrate its 50th anniversary and the opening of the Sounders FC Center at Longacres, a state-of-the-art training facility that will house all soccer and business operations. Two years later, Seattle welcomes the world when it serves a host city for FIFA World Cup 2026™.
The club is now in the midst of the offseason with its sights set on the 2023 campaign, which begins with the FIFA Club World Cup in February. Prior to the start of 2023, Sounders FC recently saw a team-record four players participate in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
