That the Seahawks will be sold this year is one of the NFL’s worst-kept secrets.
The team will be put on the market this year, but the process won’t begin in earnest until after the sale of the NBA’s Trail Blazers has closed, a source familiar with the matter tells Front Office Sports. That’s expected in March.
A sale of the Seahawks would be in line with the wishes of the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who mandated the eventual sale of his sports holdings before he died in 2018. Those assets included the Seahawks, the Blazers, and a 25% stake in MLS’s Seattle Sounders (Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, serves as executor and trustee of the Paul G. Allen estate).
A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon agreed to buy the Blazers at a valuation north of $4 billion in August, a few months after the NBA team was put up for sale in May. At the time, however, the Allen estate made it clear that the Seahawks were not for sale.
As the Seahawks prepare to play the Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, reports about an anticipated sale have begun trickling out. Bloomberg reported on Jan. 16 that while the team is not yet for sale, “officials at the NFL and other owners are keen for the Seahawks to be sold.” Last week, ESPN reported the team will go up for sale after the Super Bowl, and that “sale discussions have taken place at ownership and league levels for at least the past week.”
After that, The Wall Street Journal reported the team is expected to be put up for sale “shortly after” the Super Bowl. That report also said the NFL has been so “frustrated” with the fact that the team has not yet been sold that it levied a $5 million fine against the Seahawks “for being out of compliance with ownership requirements.” The league has denied that the team was fined. When reached by FOS, a spokesperson for the Allen estate referred to the NFL’s comment when asked about the fine.
The March timeline also aligns with what a spokesperson for Allen’s estate told ESPN. They said the “team is not for sale,” and added that “we’ve already said that will change at some point per Paul’s wishes, but I have no news to share. Our focus right now is winning the Super Bowl and completing the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers in the coming months.”
Whether the Seahawks are formally put on the block right after the Super Bowl or the following month remains to be seen, but what’s clear is that—barring a shocking development—they will be the next NFL team sold. The most recent change-of-control sale was the Commanders, which controversial former owner Dan Snyder sold in 2023 to a group led by Josh Harris, in a deal valued at $6.05 billion.
The Seahawks are widely expected to fetch more than that. Pro sports franchise valuations—not just in the NFL—have been on an upward trajectory, and experts see no reason for that to abate. The Giants were valued at $10 billion in the sale of a 10% stake to the Kochs in September, for example.
Who Will Buy Them?
When the Seahawks are inevitably made available, one name will without a doubt be among the rumored suitors: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Bezos, who Forbes currently ranks as the fourth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $254 billion, has been linked to NFL teams in the past, including the Commanders and Broncos. The Seahawks could be a natural fit, as Seattle is the primary headquarters of Amazon.
Bezos is not the only ultra-rich businessperson with strong ties to the area, though.
“There are a bunch of Microsoft millionaires or billionaires in the Seattle area, including people who are on the cap tables for the Seattle Sounders and Kraken,” says one legal industry source who advises on sports deals.
Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is another natural candidate. He lives in Seattle’s metropolitan area and tried multiple times to keep the SuperSonics in the city before the team moved to Oklahoma City, and he pivoted toward buying the Clippers. With a net worth of more than $150 billion, Ballmer could buy the team without needing to raise additional capital.
The Sounders are majority-owned by Adrian Hanauer, who is also a part-owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. Other names who could come up once the Seahawks formally become available include Harry Sloan, David Nathanson, and Samantha Holloway, the daughter of the late billionaire David Bonderman, who owns the Kraken. Holloway has previously told FOS she’s interested in bringing the NBA back to Seattle.
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
