The Seattle Seahawks announced Saturday that the franchise is being sold to the Khosla family, including billionaire investor Vinod Khosla, in a move the team said aligns with the wishes of late owner Paul Allen.
In a post shared on social media, the Seahawks said the Khosla family is set to become the team’s controlling owner.
“We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks,” Vinod Khosla said in a statement. “We look forward to building on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organization and fans everywhere.”
Khosla later added in a post on X, “Excited to be part of this great franchise. Also excited to see the money all go to a non-profit. No other comments till sale is final.”
Allen’s estate said on Feb. 18 that it had started the process of selling the franchise, which is coming off the second Super Bowl championship in team history. Investment bank Allen & Company LLC and law firm Latham & Watkins oversaw the sale, a process that was expected in February to extend through the offseason.
As part of the transaction, the Khosla family will have to give up its ownership stake in the San Francisco 49ers.
The sale still requires approval from NFL owners, who are expected to meet in August to ratify the final purchase agreement, according to ESPN.
The Seahawks have been owned by the Allen family since 1997, when Paul Allen purchased the club from then-owner Ken Behring for $194 million. Allen played a key role in keeping the franchise in Seattle, where the team is expected to remain once the sale is completed.
The Seahawks have a lease at Lumen Field that runs through 2032 with three 10-year options.
Since Allen, cofounder of Microsoft, died in 2018 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 65, the Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers have been owned by his sister, Jody.
The estate agreed in September to sell the Trail Blazers to an investment group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon. The Trail Blazers will remain in Portland as part of the deal, which is awaiting final approval from the NBA Board of Governors.
The last NFL team to be sold was the Washington Commanders in 2023. A group led by Josh Harris that includes Magic Johnson bought the team from longtime owner Dan Snyder and his family for a record $6.05 billion.
The Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 in the Super Bowl in February.
