P-I Sports Star Banquet: Seattle's new sports owners fit right in

They're the new kids in town, the owners of Seattle's Major League Soccer franchise and the Storm women's basketball team. But both groups were warmly welcomed Tuesday at the Seattle P-I Sports Star of the Year award banquet as they rubbed elbows with the city's long-established sports leaders.

		Joshua Trujillo / P-I
	Joe Roth, left, and Adrian Hanauer, part of the ownership group of Seattle's new Major League Soccer team, prepare to speak during the Sports Star of the Year banquet.

Joe Roth, a Hollywood movie mogul who teamed with Seahawks owner Paul Allen and Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer to purchase the MLS franchise that will open play at Qwest Field in 2009, said the reception to his team has been incredible.

Nearly 12,000 fans have already plunked down $50 deposits for season tickets for a franchise that is still 14 months from inception.

"People seem to be loving the idea that soccer is coming to town," Roth said. "I've been overwhelmed by the fact that more than 11,000 have made deposits. We don't even have a name, a team or a coach. All we did was make an announcement and the rest of it's been on the Internet.

"Clearly it was a good move to come here."

Roth is a former Disney and 20th Century Fox director who played a year of soccer at Hofstra University and later coached his son's soccer team. Otherwise, he's treading in new water.

"Coming from Los Angeles in the entertainment industry the past 30 years, there's a very different feel of community spirit up here," he said. "It's a very fresh environment."

		Joshua Trujillo / P-I
	Anne Levinson and Lisa Brummel, two of the four women buying the Seattle Storm, bask in the spotlight.

He'll get no argument from Anne Levinson, one of four local women who bought the Storm from Clay Bennett and his Oklahoma partners two weeks ago.

Levinson described the response to the purchase as "heartwarming," as Storm season-ticket renewals since the purchase have already exceeded the entire total for the previous year.

"It's been tremendous," Levinson said. "We've been getting cards and handwritten notes and e-mails and phone messages from everyone from little kids to grandparents and dads. I've worked on a lot of issues in my day, but this has been very lovely.

"It's a challenging thing that we're doing, so it's nice to see that it's well received."

Levinson, who previously served as a judge, chairwoman of the Washington state Utilities and Transportation Commission and deputy mayor of Seattle, was working a new room on Tuesday.

"This is a different world," she said. "There's a close-knit community here in sports and people have been very welcoming and receptive. It's unique to have women owners, we recognize that. The fact we're all former Title IX athletes also results in some affinity and support because people can see we came up through the ranks to get here."

Levinson said the Storm is finishing up legal work on the purchase and then must be approved by a vote of NBA and WNBA owners in the last week of February.