NFL Owners Unanimously Approve $9.612 Billion Seahawks Sale to Khosla Family

NFL team owners voted unanimously Wednesday to ratify the league-record $9.612 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks to a group led by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla's family, according to Front Office Sports. The owners cast their ballots during a special one-day league meeting at an Atlanta airport hotel. The result followed a unanimous recommendation from the NFL's finance and ownership policy committees the week prior.

The sale ushers new ownership into the reigning Super Bowl champions, which beat the Patriots in February in Santa Clara, California, for their second title under the Allen family's ownership. The franchise has been controlled by Paul Allen's family since Allen completed the purchase in 1997 for $194 million after buying an option to acquire it in 1996. Allen died in 2018 and directed that the Seahawks and his NBA franchise, the Trail Blazers, be sold and the proceeds donated to charity. Jody Allen, Paul Allen's sister, served as the Seahawks' de facto owner as trustee of her brother's trust following his death. The estate announced the sale process for the Seahawks after the Super Bowl, with investment bank Allen & Company and law firm Latham & Watkins overseeing the transaction.

Neeru Khosla, Vinod Khosla's wife, will serve as the Seahawks' controlling owner, with their son Neal Khosla holding a role in the franchise's ownership, per Front Office Sports. Vinod Khosla, 71, is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $13.4 billion. The Khosla family holds a minority ownership stake in the 49ers and must divest that interest to comply with league rules. Under NFL rules, an ownership group can contain no more than 25 investors and the principal owner must hold at least a 30 percent stake. The new owners have not yet identified the other investors in their group.

At the owners' meeting, Vinod Khosla stated, "As Roger said, it's pretty simple when the team is functioning as well as it is today. How often do you get to buy a franchise that just won the Super Bowl? So we are incredibly lucky and humbled by this gift from the Allen trust." He added, "The task ahead is actually pretty simple: Keep the winning streak alive. Get another Super Bowl. That's simple. In general, our approach is generally going to be long-term focused. That's our inclination always. So keep winning, take a longterm approach and learn a lot. We'll just be in learning mode for quite some time."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said of the new ownership, "They know our league well. They understand the passion of the NFL. They understand the 12s. They understand the Seattle community and the NFL. And so that makes this transaction particularly attractive to all of us." He also noted that Khosla's expertise "will be incredibly valuable to us in helping us make better decisions moving forward."

The $9.612 billion price tag represents a 59 percent increase over the $6.05 billion that a group led by private equity investor Josh Harris paid to acquire the Commanders from Daniel Snyder in 2023, the previous NFL record. The deal is expected to close in September 2026. The Seahawks are scheduled to host the NFL's season-opening game September 9 against the Patriots at Lumen Field in Seattle. The franchise's front office is overseen by executive John Schneider on the football-operations side, with Mike Macdonald as head coach, per Front Office Sports.

The Khosla family's divestiture of their 49ers minority stake remains a pending requirement, though similar situations involving other NFL owners have sometimes taken months to resolve.