The sale for the Seahawks has been a much quieter story than that of the Commanders and Broncos in prior years. All the identical, it’s a record sale as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that a gaggle led by 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla has agreed to buy the Seahawks for $9.6 billion.
“Following a radical sales process run by Allen & Co., the Estate of Paul Allen has reached agreement to sell the Seattle Seahawks to the Khosla family and several other limited partners, subject to membership review and approval,” a league memo reads (h/t Schefter).
“Allen & Co. reported very robust interest within the Club throughout the method, with the Khosla group emerging because the Club’s preferred buyer amongst multiple qualified bidders. The Khosla family currently owns a limited partner interest within the San Francisco 49ers and could be required to divest that interest. The Khosla family includes Neeru Khosla, who would serve because the controlling owner, Vinod Khosla, and their son Neal Khosla.”
As is standard practice for franchise sales, a review will happen before the NFL’s finance committee presents the deal for final approval by the league’s owners. On that time, Schefter reports owners have been given the date of August 26 to carry for an meeting to approval the sale. Provided all goes in accordance with plan, Seattle’s recent ownership group will indeed be in place by the beginning of the 2026 season.
A sale has long been a talking point within the case of the defending Super Bowl champions. The terms of Paul Allen’s estate made clear the requirement for ownership of the Seahawks – together with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers – to happen inside a specified timeline. The Blazers have already been sold, and a small group of prospective bidders emerged with the Seahawks going available on the market right after their second championship.
More recently, initial bids were due for the NFL’s latest group of potential owners. Khosla found himself competing against Boston Celtics alternate governors Wyc Grousbeck and Aditya Mittal as a finalist. His bid has won out, although details regarding the financing of the deal haven’t yet emerged. As noted by Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, it is usually unclear what number of limited partners will probably be present alongside Khosla.
“We’re honored to be entrusted as the subsequent stewards of the Seattle Seahawks,” an announcement reads from Khosla, speaking on behalf of his family. “We stay up for constructing on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organization and fans all over the place.”
The sale of the Broncos was quickly and demonstrably outpaced by that of the Commanders. The latter deal – finalized in 2023 – was price $6.05 billion, and it was widely expected Seattle’s ownership change would comfortably set a brand new record. Doubts were raised about $10 billion being a possible figure on this case, but at a final mark of $9.612MM (per Schefter), the marketplace for the Seahawks has actually proven to be robust.
Paul Allen purchased the franchise in 1997, a move which was critical to keeping the Seahawks in Seattle. Allen continued in his role as owner until his death in 2018. His sister, Jody Allen assumed the role of controlling owner at that time, with a timeline for a sale being established through the terms of Paul’s will. A serious step toward an official change of ownership has now been taken, and final approval later this summer may be expected.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.