NFL owners approve Seahawks sale to Khosla group
NFL owners voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the $9.612 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks from Paul Allen's estate to a group led by San Francisco 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla. The vote took place during a one-day league meeting at the Atlanta Airport Marriott.
The sale was agreed to in July and needed approval from at least 24 of 32 owners to be ratified, an outcome that was widely expected. Owners on the league's finance and ownership policy committees had voted unanimously last week to recommend approval.
The $9.612 billion purchase price is the highest ever for an NFL team, topping the $6.05 billion the Washington Commanders fetched when they were sold in 2023. That had been a record sum for a North American sports franchise at the time, though the Los Angeles Lakers have since been sold for $10 billion and are in the process of being sold again for $12.5 billion.
The Paul G. Allen Estate, which has owned the Seahawks since Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died in 2018, announced on Feb. 18 that it had started the formal sale process in accordance with his will. It was the first time in the Super Bowl era that a team had been put on the market shortly after playing in the championship game. The estate announced July 11 that it had entered into a formal sale agreement with the Khosla-led group.
The Khosla family, which also includes Vinod Khosla's wife, Neeru, and their son, Neal, will be the Seahawks' new controlling owners. It's unclear who else is joining the group as limited partners. Born in India, Khosla, 71, co-founded Sun Microsystems and founded venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, which has made early-stage investments in companies including OpenAI, DoorDash and Instacart.
Paul Allen saved the Seahawks from relocating to Southern California when he bought the team from Ken Behring in 1997. His sister, Jody, took control of the Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers as chair of both teams upon her brother's death, with a directive to eventually sell both and send all estate proceeds to philanthropy. The Trail Blazers' sale was finalized in March.