Paolo Banchero Joins Seawolves Ownership Group
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In a fun announcement during their offseason, the Seattle Seawolves have added NBA All-Star and Seattle native Paolo Banchero to their ownership group. Banchero, an alumni of O’Dea High School on first hill here in Seattle, joins the ownership group of Major League Rugby’s (MLR) most decorated franchise less than a year after two other Seattle sports icons invested in the Seawolves. Seattle’s ownership group now includes Banchero, Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch, and Washington Husky football alum Marcus Peters to truly boost it’s star power on top of being the leagues most successful team. At a time where there’s plenty of uncertainty around MLR, it’s another strong vote of confidence in what the Seawolves are hoping to accomplish as they aim their sights on what they call a “transformative” era in the franchises history.
“Adding Paolo to the Seawolves family is incredibly exciting. His roots in Seattle, his commitment to excellence, and his passion for uplifting the community align perfectly with the values of our club. This is a special moment for rugby in the Pacific Northwest.”
Paolo adds to his portfolio
Investing in Seattle’s rugby club isn’t quite something that was on our radar, but it’s a very fun piece of news for a star that calls the Pacific Northwest home and that will always be an enjoyable story. Paolo Banchero, who started to take off as a rising star during his high school basketball career at O’Dea while spending some time on a State championship winning football team as a quarterback, is one of the NBA’s brightest young stars. The news comes at an unfortunate time, as Banchero suffered a left groin strain last night against the New York Knicks. Thankfully, it isn’t deemed a serious injury but the Magic will be evaluating the ailment on a daily basis.
The investment is an addition to a sports portfolio that Banchero has already started, as he has stakes in Serie A club AC Milan with “more to be announced soon.” Paolo is adding to his ties to the area, having been born in the Seattle area, attending high school here, while also doing work with the Boys & Girls Club. Banchero is also part of “MADE Hoops,” an established grassroots basketball brand that aims to expand access to youth basketball. Banchero is just 23-years-old, so it’s great to see him creating a portfolio for himself off the court. On the court, Paolo’s success start at O’Dea when he helped lead the Fighting Irish to a 3A state basketball title in 2019. Paolo earned McDonald’s All-American honors in 2021, was drafted number one overall in the 2022 NBA draft to the Orlando Magic out of Duke, earned his first NBA All-Star nod in 2024, and signed a five-year, $239M maximum rookie contract extension this past summer. Additionally, Banchero represented the USA Men’s National Team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
“As someone who grew up in Seattle, investing in the Seawolves is a chance to support my hometown and help grow a sport that’s gaining real momentum in the U.S.. I’m passionate about sports and the impact they have on communities whether it’s here in Seattle or around the world.”
The status of MLR
It’s an interesting time in Major League Rugby, to say the very least. The league, which had six additional teams before some issues over the past few years, is now down to just six that will operate in the 2026 season including Seattle, California, Chicago, Carolina, New England, and Washington D.C.. Most recently, an original team in the league in the form of the Utah Warriors announced that they wouldn’t return for the 2026 season as they’d failed to secure additional ownership and funding. The league featured 11 teams last season, and Utah joins the list of franchises that are no longer such as the Houston SaberCats, Miami Sharks, and NOLA Gold are all recent subtractions from MLR while Rugby Football Club Los Angeles and San Diego Legion opted to merge to form the California Legion back in July.
In years past, other franchises have phased out such as the Toronto Arrows, Rugby ATL, LA Giltinis, Austin Gilgronis, Dallas Jackals, and Rugby New York all coming and going between the span of the leagues start in 2018 and the beginning of the 2025 season. With some of the teams, their departure from the league isn’t quite surprising, but the fact that their hasn’t been much retention and that a league original exited with Utah, there has been concern for MLR overall and thus our Seawolves. Despite this uncertainty from the league, Seattle seems to be rolling along well and look to be doing well ahead of the 2026 season. The additions of Lynch and Peters were a very positive piece of news considering the additions to the ownership group, and a special clothing line collaboration with Marshawn was well received by Seawolves fans. Conversations with Seawolves brass have yielded positive dialogue, as Seattle seems to be rolling along just fine and focusing on themselves amidst the chaos around them. Seeing Banchero added as an investor is another sign that the Seawolves are in a solid place.
Seattle has been a consistently strong team in MLR since their inception, winning the first two MLR Championship titles, adding multiple Western Conference titles, collecting more playoff appearances than any other team in league history, while also being named the Seattle Times Back-to-back Best Sports team in the Pacific Northwest in 2024 and 2025. The Seawolves are one of only three franchises in the league to have attracted a five-figure crowd, calling Starfire Stadium home in Tukwila. There are rumors that Seattle will be moving to Memorial Stadium in the heart of Seattle Center once renovations are done, with multiple sources from the Seawolves telling Circling Seattle Sports of that possibility, so it’ll be interesting to see if the club can continue progressing. There’s plenty of work to do ahead of the United States hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2031, and the Seawolves moving to Memorial Stadium a few years before that could certainly help create some new fans of rugby in Seattle.
Frames from the winning try for the Seattle Seawolves in a crucial home match against the San Diego Legion on May 17th, 2025 at Starfire Stadium. (Photos by Aaron Benson for Circling Seattle Sports)
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Check out our previous Seattle Seawolves articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Rio Giancarlo here, and his portfolio here.
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