NFL owners unanimously approved the $9.612 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, clearing the way for the Khosla family to become the team’s new controlling owners. The deal, which must still close, came during a one-day league meeting at the Atlanta Airport Marriott.
For Vinod Khosla, 71, the vote locks in a record-setting purchase. Forbes lists his net worth at $13.8 billion, and his family’s group is now set to take control of the Seahawks from the Paul G. Allen Estate in what is the highest price ever paid for an NFL team.
The league needed at least 24 of its 32 owners to ratify the sale. Instead, it got unanimous support, a sign that the final paperwork for the transfer had moved far enough for owners to sign off on a deal that has been under discussion for months.
Khosla’s path to the Seahawks is unusual even by NFL standards. He will have to give up his stake in the San Francisco 49ers as part of the purchase agreement, meaning he is stepping out of one ownership circle while entering another at a higher price and with far greater control. The Khosla family includes Vinod Khosla, Neeru and Neal, though it remains unclear who else may join the group as limited partners.
The sale has been moving in stages since the Paul G. Allen Estate said on Feb. 18 that it had begun the formal process. It then announced a formal sale agreement with the Khosla-led group on July 11. A close could come before the Seahawks open the season on Sept. 9 against the New England Patriots, giving the new owners a chance to take control before the first game is played.
The timing matters because the Seahawks have been in the Allen family’s hands for 29 seasons, first under Paul Allen and then under Jody Allen after his death in 2018. In that span, the team reached four Super Bowls, won two and made the playoffs 17 times, with 268 regular-season wins. The sale now ends one of the NFL’s most durable ownership runs and puts one of its most valuable franchises into new hands before the season begins.
