National Football League owners have unanimously voted to approve the record-setting $9.6 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks to an investment group led by 71-year-old Indian billionaire Vinod Khosla.
The decision, reported by the Seattle Times following a unanimous vote this week, clears the way for the sale from the Paul G. Allen Estate to officially close in the coming weeks, ending 29 years of Allen family ownership in Seattle.
The $9.6 billion purchase price establishes a new record for the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise. It surpasses the previous league record set in 2023 when Josh Harris' group bought the Washington Commanders from Daniel Snyder for $6 billion, a year after the Pat Bowlen Trust sold the Denver Broncos to the Walton-Penner family for $4.6 billion.
Across all professional sports leagues, the Seahawks sale trails only the recent $12.5 billion acquisition of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers by Mark Walter and TWG Global from the Buss family.
Investor Group and Leadership
Khosla's investor group reached an agreement to buy the Super Bowl champions last month. According to a memo sent to NFL teams in July and obtained by The Daily Mail, sports investment bank Allen & Co. conducted the sales process on behalf of the Allen estate.
The memo stated: "Following a thorough 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 limited partners, subject to membership review and approval." It added that Allen & Co. reported "very robust interest in the Club throughout the process, with the Khosla group emerging as the Club's preferred buyer among multiple qualified bidders."
Khosla, a venture capitalist who co-founded information technology giant Sun Microsystems, is currently a limited partner in the San Francisco 49ers. He will be required to divest his financial stake in the 49ers before finalizing the Seahawks transaction.
Under the proposed ownership structure detailed in the league memo, Khosla's wife, Neeru Khosla, will serve as the team's controlling owner. Their son Neal Khosla, who serves as chief executive officer of artificial intelligence healthcare firm Curai, is also expected to take on a leadership role with the franchise.
"We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks," Vinod Khosla said in a statement released by the Allen estate. "We look forward to building on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organization and fans everywhere."
End of the Paul Allen Era
The transaction marks the end of an era for the franchise, which Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen purchased for $194 million in 1997 from former owner Ken Behring. Allen passed away at age 65 in 2018 due to complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Following Allen's death, his sister Jody Allen took over management of his estate and worked to execute his directive to sell both the Seahawks and his National Basketball Association franchise, the Portland Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers were sold to Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon for approximately $4 billion last September.
The Seahawks were officially put up for sale shortly after quarterback Sam Darnold led the team to victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
