The Seattle franchise will go on the market and a record price is expected to be paid to acquire it

The Seattle Seahawks They will go on sale after Super Bowl LXthey informed ESPN league and ownership sources familiar with the deal, ending years of questions about when the team would seek new owners following the 2018 death of former owner Paul G. Allen.

Sources noted that talks about the sale have been taking place at the ownership and league level for at least the last week.

The Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers have been owned by Allen’s estate since the former Microsoft owner and co-founder died in 2018 after a years-long battle with cancer. His sister, Jody Allen, has controlled the teams as executor of the trust, with her late brother’s instruction to eventually sell both teams and donate the proceeds to charity.

An NFL spokesman declined to comment. The Seahawks They also declined to comment, referring to Allen’s past statement that the team would eventually be sold.

Now, the Seahawks have passed the date by which a sale would have required sharing 10 percent of the profits with the state of Washington.

If the Seahawks go on sale, it would be the first time in the era of superbowl that the entire team that played in the championship game is put on the market shortly after the game. In February 1991, Preston Robert Tisch bought 50 percent of the champion New York Giants.

The Seahawks They will face the New England Patriots on February 8 in Santa Clara, California.

Paul Allen agreed to buy the Seahawks to Ken Behring in 1996, and the deal was made official in 1997. The deal saved the team from a possible relocation to Southern California. If sold, the franchise could set a record for sale price for an NFL team, coming after an appearance in the superbowl and possibly a championship.

The Seahawks they have made the playoffs in seven of the last 10 years. They play at the legendary Lumen Field, which players have called one of the toughest stadiums to play in, and which is receiving nearly $20 million in upgrades ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The franchise also boasts one of the best general manager/head coach combinations in the league, John Schneider and Mike Macdonald.

Sports team valuations have skyrocketed in recent years. Sportico values ​​the Seahawks at $6.59 billion, the fourteenth most valuable team in the league, according to its ranking. The most recent NFL team to sell was the Washington Commanders, which a group led by Josh Harris purchased in 2023 for a record $6.05 billion. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers sold a majority stake in the team at a valuation of $10 billion last June.

A team executive told ESPN that the Seahawks They could reach a price of 7 to 8 billion dollars.

The Blazers are in the process of being sold to a group of investors led by Tom Dundon, who has agreed to buy the team for more than $4 billion. Dundon owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

Jody Allen, who raised the team’s No. 12 flag before the NFC Championship Game in honor of his brother, has typically not given interviews during his time managing the team, and his first public comments came onstage at Lumen Field last Sunday, while the Seahawks “I am incredibly proud to be here today and accept this on behalf of all 12 present, all 12 across the country and all 12 in the world,” she said.

Allen issued a statement regarding the ownership situation in July 2022, saying that although neither the Blazers nor the Seahawks were for sale at the time, eventually they would be. This was after Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Alan Smolinisky made an unsolicited offer to buy the Blazers for more than $2 billion.

In his 2022 statement, Allen said the teams would eventually be sold, “as Paul’s plans are to dedicate the vast majority of his fortune to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to dissolve. There is no pre-established timeline for the sale of the teams.”

p> “Until then, my focus — and that of our teams — is on winning.”

The most significant decision Allen has made since taking over the team was letting legendary head coach Pete Carroll go after the 2023 season, elevating Schneider to the role of the team’s top decision-maker. Schneider hired Macdonald, who has guided the Seahawks to regular seasons of 10 and 14 wins, and now to the fourth appearance in the superbowl in the history of the franchise.

“What stood out to me most about Jody was his enthusiasm about where he wanted our team and our franchise to be as a vision for the future.” Seattle Seahawks“Macdonald said this Friday during the team’s media availability. “That was during our interview process. Honestly, that’s where I thought ‘Okay, this is something I really believe in and I feel like I can help create that.’ So I think we’ve seen everything from that perspective. It’s very clear what kind of team she wants and she’s been incredibly supportive. “She’s been amazing.”