The team was founded in 2017 by an investor group led by Adrian Balfour and Shane Skinner.1 The Seawolves won the inaugural MLR Grand Final in 2018,2 and defended the title in the 2019 Major League Rugby Championship. In the final on June 16, 2019, the Seattle Seawolves defeated San Diego Legion 26–23 at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.3
The Seawolves hired Kees Lensing as their head coach for the 2020 season and started with a 1–4 record. The season was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not resume.4
The Seattle Seawolves play at the main stadium at Starfire Sports, which has a seating capacity of 4,000, in the suburb of Tukwila.5 The team offered 1,800 season tickets for their inaugural season, which sold out prior to the first match.6 In 2024, Seawolves team president Tom Barden stated that the team was "in discussions" to move to the redeveloped Memorial Stadium on the Seattle Center campus. The stadium is planned to be rebuilt with a capacity of 6,500 to 8,000 seats.7
The local broadcasts for the Seawolves were carried by Root Sports Northwest, a regional AT&T SportsNet affiliate, from 2019 to 2021.89 Dan Power and Kevin Swiryn were the on-air talent for the first season. As of the 2024 season, national broadcasts were shown on Fox, FS1, and FS2; regional broadcasts were available on Root Sports and Fox 13+.10
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For player movements before and during the 2024 season, see List of 2023–24 Major League Rugby transfers § Seattle Seawolves.
The Seattle Seawolves squad for the 2025 Major League Rugby season is:11
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.16 It was cancelled the following week17
See also: 2022 Major League Rugby playoffs
See also: 2023 Major League Rugby season
See also: 2024 Major League Rugby final
"Seattle has a brand new sports team". KIRO 7 News. September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017. http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-has-a-brand-new-sports-team/612630889 ↩
Arthur, Ben (May 16, 2019). "The driving force of the Seattle Seawolves". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved May 17, 2019. https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Seattle-Seawolves-13841225.php ↩
Monahan, Terry (June 16, 2019). "'I can't explain this feeling': Seawolves repeat as Major League Rugby champions with try as time expires". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 17, 2019. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/seawolves-repeat-as-major-league-rugby-champions-with-try-as-time-expires/ ↩
Hanson, Scott (March 18, 2021). "Seawolves begin defense of 2019 title with five straight road matches". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 14, 2025. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seawolves-begin-defense-of-2019-title-with-five-straight-road-matches/ ↩
Baker, Geoff (March 5, 2018). "Inside Sports Business: Can a rugby team prosper in our market? The Seawolves will try". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 14, 2025. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/inside-sports-business-can-a-rugby-team-prosper-in-our-market-the-seawolves-will-try/ ↩
Saul, John (April 13, 2018). "Seattle's hottest new startup is no tech company: Get to know the Seawolves and professional rugby". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 13, 2018. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/rugby-anyone-seattle-seawolves-begin-play-in-new-pro-sports-league/ ↩
Morgan, Rick (November 6, 2024). "New Memorial Stadium draws interest from potential sports tenant". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved November 6, 2024. https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/11/06/memorial-stadium-one-roof-sps-seawolves.html ↩
"2024 Broadcast Schedule" (Press release). Seattle Seawolves. February 29, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2025. https://seawolves.rugby/news/broadcasting-schedule-2024/ ↩
"Seattle Seawolves". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved January 11, 2025. https://www.americasrugbynews.com/competitions/2025-major-league-rugby/mlr-2025-seattle-seawolves/ ↩
"Seawolves win first game as pro rugby makes Seattle debut". The Seattle Times. April 22, 2018. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/seawolves-wins-first-game-as-pro-rugby-makes-seattle-debut/ ↩
"Anton Moolman new Head Coach of Seattle Seawolves". Americas Rugby News. September 9, 2018. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025120739/http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/09/27/anton-moolman-new-head-coach-of-seattle-seawolves/ ↩
2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. /wiki/COVID-19_pandemic ↩
Ackermann, Dylan (August 2, 2024). "Seawolves head to Major League Rugby title game looking for third title". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 14, 2025. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/seawolves-head-to-major-league-rugby-title-game-looking-for-third-title/ ↩
Anonymous, "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS," www.majorleague.rugby, March 12, 2020 Retrieved March 14, 2020 https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/major-league-rugby-suspends-2020-season-for-30-days/ ↩
"Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020. https://sports.yahoo.com/major-league-rugby-cancels-remainder-2020-campaign-144516941--spt.html ↩