NFL owners gave their final stamp of approval on Wednesday, clearing the way for the Seattle Seahawks to move from Paul Allen’s estate to a group led by the Khosla family in a record-setting $9.612 billion deal.
The vote at the special league meeting in Atlanta was unanimous. It had been expected after the NFL’s finance and ownership policy committees already recommended approval last week. The sale required at least 24 of 32 owners to sign off.
According to The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta, the transaction is expected to be finalized within the next week. Once that happens, the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks will officially enter a new era after 29 years under the Allen family’s ownership.
The Khosla-led group was first announced as the agreed-upon buyer on July 11 by the Paul G. Allen estate. The family group is headed by tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, along with his wife Neeru Khosla and their son Neal Khosla.
The price tag blew past the previous NFL record of $6.05 billion, set when the Washington Commanders sold in 2023. It also sits below only one North American pro sports franchise sale: the Los Angeles Lakers, who were sold for $10 billion in October 2025 and are now in the process of being sold again for $12.5 billion.
Vinod Khosla, 71, co-founded Sun Microsystems and later founded Khosla Ventures. Forbes pegs his net worth at about $13.3 billion.
A memo reportedly sent by the NFL to its teams says Neeru Khosla is expected to be the Seahawks’ controlling owner, with Neal Khosla taking on “a significant leadership role” in the ownership group.
There’s one wrinkle to sort out. Vinod and Neal Khosla purchased a 3.1% stake in the San Francisco 49ers in May 2025, and NFL rules will require them to give that up. Sportico has reported that buying into another NFL team first has become a fairly common path for incoming owners, helping both sides get comfortable with the process.
The road to this moment has been a long one. The Allen estate announced in February that the Seahawks were being put up for sale, less than two weeks after the franchise captured its second Super Bowl title. A sale had been anticipated for years after Allen died in 2018, since his trust directed that both the Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers be sold and the proceeds used for philanthropic efforts.
When the deal closes, the Khosla family will become the fourth ownership group in Seahawks history, following Lloyd Nordstrom from 1976-87, Ken Behring from 1988-96 and Allen from 1997-2018. After Allen’s death, his sister Jody Allen served as the Seahawks’ chair.
The Seahawks are scheduled to open the 2026 NFL season on Sept. 9 at Lumen Field, where they’ll face the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch.
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