SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks are going up for sale in accordance with the wishes of late team owner Paul Allen.
Allen's estate announced Wednesday that it has begun the process of selling the team, which is coming off its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, nor did Allen's estate have anything further to add beyond its brief statement, it said.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell commended Allen’s estate on its time owning the Seahawks.
“They’re in the Super Bowl, and I think from that standpoint they’ve done a really important job in the context of the trust and the execution of that,” Goodell said. “But eventually the team will need to be sold in accordance with that. That will be Jody’s decision for when she does that, and we will be supportive of that.”
Investment bank Allen & Company and law firm Latham & Watkins will lead the sales process, which is estimated to continue through the offseason. NFL owners must then ratify a final purchase agreement.
The estate said the sale is consistent with Allen’s directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy.
The Seahawks have been in the Allen family since 1997, when Paul Allen bought the team for $194 million from then-owner Ken Behring. Allen was critical in keeping the Seahawks in Seattle, which is where the team is expected to remain after the sale is finalized. The Seahawks have a lease at Lumen Field that runs through 2032 with three 10-year options.
Since Allen, co-founder 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 could be completed this spring.
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.
It already has been an offseason of change for the Seahawks less than two weeks removed from their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.
The Las Vegas Raiders plucked away offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and hired him as their head coach. The Seahawks are moving to hire San Francisco 49ers tight ends coach and run game coordinator Brian Fleury as their offensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the hiring process said Sunday, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a deal was still being worked on.
The Seahawks’ roster could look quite different in 2026, too.
Defensive starters safety Coby Bryant, cornerbacks Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen and edge rusher Boye Mafe will become unrestricted free agents this offseason. Offensive standouts wide receiver/return specialist Rashid Shaheed and running back Kenneth Walker III will be unrestricted free agents in March, too.
Both Shaheed and Walker, who was the Super Bowl MVP, have said publicly they would like to return to Seattle next season.
Should the Seahawks’ sale wrap up by this offseason, though, the team will not be owned by the Allen family for the first time in nearly three decades.
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