The value tag is an NFL report for a franchise sale and the second-highest valuation in North American sports activities historical past.
Printed On 27 Aug 2026
The house owners of the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL) in the USA have unanimously authorised the sale of the Seattle Seahawks for a league-record value of $9.6bn to a bunch led by the Khosla household.
The gross sales settlement was introduced on July 11 and awaited approval at a particular assembly of the house owners in Atlanta on Wednesday to turn out to be official. The sale was in accordance with the needs of the late crew proprietor, Paul Allen.
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At the very least 24 of 32 house owners had been required to approve the sale, which was anticipated after the NFL’s finance and possession coverage committees voted unanimously final week to advocate ratification.
“How typically do you get to purchase a franchise that just won the Super Bowl?” stated the multi-billionaire businessman Vinod Khosla, standing together with his coowners, spouse Neeru and son Neal. “We’re extremely fortunate and humbled by this present, I might say, from the Allen belief.”
“The duty forward is definitely fairly easy,” Vinod Khosla stated after the vote. “Preserve the profitable streak alive. Get one other Tremendous Bowl. That’s easy. On the whole, our method is usually going to be long-term targeted. That’s our inclination all the time. So preserve profitable, take a long-term method, and study lots.”
The property of Paul G. Allen, which inherited the NFL crew after his dying in 2018, agreed to phrases with the Khosla household after a seek for a brand new proprietor. Allen’s will stipulated that the crew be offered and property be distributed to varied charities.
The value tag is an NFL report for a franchise sale. It’s the second-highest valuation in North American sports activities historical past; the Los Angeles Lakers offered for $10 billion final yr and had been extra not too long ago valued at $12.5 billion, as Bob Iger and Josh Kushner plan to buy a majority stake within the NBA crew from Mark Walter.
The Washington Commanders had been offered for about $6 billion in 2023 to a bunch headed by Josh Harris.
Paul Allen purchased the Seahawks for $194 million from Ken Behring in 1997 and helped preserve the crew in Seattle. Allen, cofounder of Microsoft, additionally owned the NBA’s Portland Path Blazers, together with his sister Jody Allen assuming duties as proprietor for the property.
Vinod Khosla thanked Jody Allen and the Allen Belief “for trusting us with this franchise”.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated the household’s expertise with the 49ers was enticing to different NFL house owners.
“They know our league properly,” Goodell stated. “As you already know, they’ve been in possession within the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers. They perceive the fervour of the NFL, they perceive the 12s, they perceive this Seattle neighborhood and the NFL. And in order that makes this transaction notably enticing to all of us.”
Who’s Vinod Khosla?
The 71-year-old is a enterprise capitalist and a restricted accomplice of the San Francisco 49ers — shopping for 3.1 p.c of the franchise final yr at a greater than $8.5 billion valuation, in line with the ESPN community.
He should relinquish his stake in that crew as a part of the settlement to purchase the Seahawks, because the transaction may shut earlier than the defending Tremendous Bowl champions open the season on September 9 in opposition to the New England Patriots, the crew they defeated 29-13 in February for the title.
Khosla, born in Pune, India, is the cofounder of Solar Microsystems and founding father of the enterprise capital agency, Khosla Ventures. Neeru Khosla, who additionally was born in India and met Vinod after they had been kids, would be the controlling proprietor, in line with The Athletic. It says their son, Neal, is predicted to have a serious function within the organisation.
Vinod Khosla stated he was first a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he moved to the USA in 1976.
“We’ve been very captivated with soccer for a very long time,” he stated. “I might say we’ve been going to dwelling video games on the 49ers since [Neal] was 5, possibly half of all dwelling video games since he was 5. And so soccer is unquestionably a ardour. … I used to be initially and nonetheless am a giant Steelers fan. … Little recognized truth, however I nonetheless watch all of the Steelers video games, too.”
