The Seahawks are getting a new owner, and the number attached to the deal is enough to make every other NFL sale look like a garage sale. Adam Schefter broke the news that a group led by Vinod Khosla, a limited partner in the 49ers, has agreed to buy Seattle for $9.6 billion, a record price for an NFL franchise.
Adam Schefter broke the news of the Khosla group's agreement to buy the Seahawks.
Word spread fast, and the internet did what it does best. SleeperNFL's post amplifying the news collected the same reaction everyone else had: a 49ers investor is now walking away with a division rival, and the jokes about ownership loyalty wrote themselves.
49ers owners jumping ship 🤣🤣🤣
Schefter followed up with the fine print that actually matters here. This isn't a done deal yet — it still needs NFL owner approval, and a memo sent to all 32 teams laid out the process: Allen & Co. ran the sales process for the Estate of Paul Allen, fielded what it called "very robust interest," and the Khosla group emerged as the preferred bidder among multiple qualified suitors.
The league memo sent to all 32 teams laying out the terms of the sale.
Owners have been told to hold August 26 open for a special meeting to vote on it, per Schefter. That's the last real hurdle. And Khosla, per reporting, will have to give up his 49ers stake to take control in Seattle — a stake he only picked up in 2025 at an $8.5 billion valuation for San Francisco, which now looks like pocket change next to what he's paying for Seattle.
The exact figure — $9.612 billion — is 50% more than the Washington Commanders sold for back in July 2023, a deal that itself set a record at the time. Put it in perspective: Paul Allen bought the Seahawks in 1997 for $194 million. Thirty years later, the same franchise is changing hands for nearly 50 times that amount, a number that captures just how absurd NFL franchise values have become.
The Seahawks were purchased by Paul Allen in 1997 for $194 million. Almost 30 years later they’re being sold for $9.612 billion.
Khosla himself is an interesting character to be dropping the biggest check in league history. He built Sun Microsystems, then reinvented himself as a venture capital heavyweight through Khosla Ventures, backing tech companies for decades before dipping into sports ownership. Now he's set to control a franchise that's coming off real success on the field, giving Seattle fans a new name to learn while the money side plays out in league boardrooms over the next six weeks.