As seen in the Seattle Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Gustafson is no stranger to Seattle sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bellevue product most recently was the vice president of business strategy and development for the Seattle Sounders. Prior to spending four years with the San Diego Padres, he worked in ticket sales and customer service for the Seahawks and Sounders from 2008 to 2010. Gustafson grew up less than 10 miles from CenturyLink Field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though he\u2019s changing jobs, he won\u2019t be changing stadiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, Gustafson will be named president of the XFL\u2019s new Seattle franchise. The rebooted eight-team league will begin play in February 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most amazing opportunity I can think of,\u201d Gustafson said in a phone interview Monday. \u201cI think that this city has the best sports fans in the world, and I\u2019m happy to be one of them. That\u2019s a cool thing, to be able to create something from scratch that could have a real impact on this community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis place is where I grew up. It\u2019s part of my DNA. I am Seattle, and I am so proud to be from Seattle. So the ability to really build something that I think is going to be incredibly special and connect with fans that I have such a close connection with already and do it in a way that is uniquely Seattle is something that is such a cool thing. I\u2019m very lucky and grateful for the chance to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gustafson \u2014 who earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in business and economics from the University of Puget Sound in 2008 and a master\u2019s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School in 2012 \u2014 also will have the chance to work with the first starting quarterback in Seahawks history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Zorn, who was named the team\u2019s coach and general manager in late February, said in a statement that he\u2019s \u201clooking forward to working side-by-side with (Gustafson) to bring to life our team here in Seattle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both hires came complete with considerable Seattle ties, and not by accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s critical,\u201d Jeffrey Pollack, the XFL\u2019s president and chief operating officer, said in a phone interview Monday. \u201cCertainly on the side of the team presidents, we have a big lift in a relatively short period of time, and I\u2019m looking for local leadership that already understands the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for people that are connected to the communities in which they will lead teams, so that as we lift up the league and get up to speed we already can benefit from a local perspective that\u2019s informed and meaningful and current. That is absolutely critical to me and to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pollack says \u201cus,\u201d he\u2019s referring to XFL founder and chairman Vince McMahon, who also operates as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and originally launched the football league \u2014 though it lasted just one year \u2014 in 2001 to compete with the NFL. He\u2019s also referring to Seattle\u2019s fellow XFL franchises in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those eight teams will play a 10-game schedule \u2014 starting Feb. 8-9, 2020 \u2014 followed by a four-team playoff. The league, to quote the XFL\u2019s official release, will offer \u201cfast-paced games with fewer play stoppages and simpler rules.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gustafson also used the phrases \u201creimagining football\u201d and \u201cfamily affordable\u201d multiple times, and he emphasized that the XFL is not intended to compete with the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, there\u2019s no guarantee the XFL will catch on in Seattle (or anywhere else).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if anyone knows these fans, and what they want, it\u2019s one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRyan comes across and has a track record of someone who has really dedicated their career to the Seattle sports industry and sports community,\u201d Pollack said. \u201cThat was exciting to us. He knows what makes Seattle tick. His executive presence, strategic thinking and entrepreneurial energy really were all very attractive to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is going to be a fun and exciting adventure, but it\u2019s going to require an extraordinary amount of energy and commitment and focus. Ryan has all that, but he also has DNA that\u2019s infused with Seattle sports.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As seen in the Seattle Times Ryan Gustafson is no stranger to Seattle sports. The Bellevue product most recently was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[507],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pursuit-of-greatness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n