Key NFL Committees Clear Way for $9.6 Billion Seahawks Sale

Owners on the NFL’s finance and ownership policy committees voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend approval of the league-record $9.612 billion sale of the Seahawks from the Paul G. Allen estate to a group led by the family of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

The NFL informed teams Thursday of the unanimous recommendation. It practically ensures that the sale will be ratified by the full group of owners when they meet next Wednesday in Atlanta.

The sale is expected to officially close sometime in September, sources familiar with the matter told Front Office Sports.

The Khosla group reached an agreement last month to buy the Seahawks from Allen’s estate. The deal must be approved by at least 24 of the 32 owners.

The other finalist in the bidding, FOS previously reported, was a group headed by Aditya Mittal and Wyc Grousbeck. Mittal is the CEO of steel and mining company ArcelorMittal and the son of the company’s executive chairman, Lakshmi Mittal. He also is a minority owner of the Celtics. Grousbeck is a former Celtics governor.

Khosla, 71, is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures. His estimated net worth is $13.3 billion, according to Forbes. His wife Neeru Khosla would serve as the controlling owner of the Seahawks if the deal is ratified, the NFL previously told teams in a memo. Their son Neal Khosla would be expected to have “a significant leadership role” in the ownership group,” the NFL wrote in that memo. He is the CEO of Curai, an artificial intelligence healthcare company.

The Khosla family holds a minority ownership stake in the 49ers and would have to divest that interest at some point, although similar NFL ownership situations in the past have taken months to be resolved.

Under NFL ownership rules, the primary owner must hold at least a 30% ownership stake and the investment group can have no more than 25 members.

— Ben Horney contributed reporting.