The NFL record for a team sale has been broken again, as the Seattle Seahawks are the latest team to benefit from the league’s media and commercial success.
The Seattle Seahawks have been acquired for $9.6bn by the Khosla Family becoming an NFL record for a team purchase.
The NFL confirmed the team has been sold to the Khosla Family as its controlling owner, with Vinod Khosla, a limited partner at the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the head of the group.
Khosla will be required to relinquish its ownership stake in the San Francisco 49ers as part of the deal.
“We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks,” said Vinod Khosla in a statement.
“We look forward to building on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organisation and fans everywhere.”
The Seahawks were put up for sale after its 29-13 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in February 2026. The sale was in motion as it was mandated under the terms of its agreement with the NFL.
The Seahawks have been under the ownership of the Paul Allen Estate since 2018, following the passing of former owner Paul G. Allen.
Since his passing, Allen’s sister Jody Allen has assumed control of the Seahawks and NBA franchise the Portland Trailblazers, which was also owned by Allen, on behalf of the estate.
There was an estate directive in place for the sale of the Seahawks and Trailblazers for all proceeds to be donated to charity. A Washington state law deadline in May 2024 required 10% of the proceeds from the sales of the franchises to be paid to the state.
Neeru Khosla – Vinod’s wife will serve as a controlling owner while their son, Neal Khosla, serves in a principal leadership role on the board.
Who are the Seahawks’ new owners?
As previously mentioned, Vinod Khosla and his venture capital arm, Khosla Ventures, owned a 3.1% minority stake in the San Francisco 49ers – a historic rival of the Seahawks.
This investment in the 49ers was the Family’s first venture into sport’s ownership, but it has a vast portfolio of investments into some of the most high-profile companies across their respective industries.
Khosla Ventures has significant investments in fintech – financial technology – companies such as Block, parent company of Square and Cash App, Stripe, Aven and buy now pay later company Affirm.
Perhaps its most notable investment is in OpenAI, the developer and owner of ChatGPT which could be on the verge of a public listing for a $1 trillion valuation. Other consumer retail company investments are in DoorDash, EightSleep and InstaCart.
NFL valuations continue to soar
The $9.6bn paid for the Seahawks becomes the second consecutive time the record for an NFL team purchase has been broken in the last three years.
The previous record holder was when the Washington Commanders were acquired by the Josh Harris Group for $6.05bn.
There are a variety of reasons as to why NFL team valuations continue to soar in recent years. The most common reason is the league’s seismic media rights deals with the likes of ESPN, FOX, CBS, NBC, Amazon Prime and Netflix. The NFL is expected to earn an estimated $24bn across the entirety of all its media rights deals until 2033.
Due to the league’s revenue sharing model, 60%-70% of the NFL’s revenue – media, sponsorships, licensing, etc. – is split evenly between all 32 franchises.
In 2023, for the first time, the NFL expanded its ownership and investment rules to allow outside capital to be added to franchises, which has since seen teams’ valuations soar.
The rules state new investors must adhere to a six-year holding period and not exceed a maximum of six investments across multiple NFL franchises. Direct investment from sovereign wealth funds is prohibited. Controlling/majority owners can sell up to a maximum of 10% in an NFL franchise, but no lower than 3%.
The most recent minority ownership acquisition came in March 2026, when former VC of the Chinese electronic company Xiaomi, Lin Bin, acquired a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins, which saw the team’s valuation jump to $12.5bn.
The Bay area team also sold off stakes in the past to bring on the likes of ICONIQ Capital’s Will Griffith, Sun Microsystems’ Vinod Khosla, and Venture Partner’s Bryron Deeter, with each acquiring 6.2% stakes.
The New England Patriot’s valuation surged to $9bn after private capital firm Sixth Street and US financier Dean Metropoulos acquired a 3% and 5% stake, respectively, in September 2025.
With the New York Giants also scaling its valuation to over $10bn following similar minority investment deals, the average valuation of all NFL franchises has increased by 25% since the league brought in the new rules in 2024.
Before the start of the 2025/26 season, Forbes estimated the average valuation of an NFL franchise was $7.1bn, an increase from the $5.4bn average the year before.
