NFL owners on Wednesday unanimously approved the sale of the Seattle Seahawks to venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and his family, who are expected to run the team.
Neeru Kholsa, Vinod's wife, is expected to be the team's controlling owner.
The $9.6 billion price tag is the largest sum paid for a NFL team and is the third-biggest for in North American sports, with the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers selling for $10 and $12.5 billion in back-to-back years. The estate of Paul G. Allen, the former Microsoft CEO who died in 2018, announced the sale on July 11. The team was formally put up for sale, after years of speculation, two weeks after the team won Super Bowl 60 in February.
"How often do you get to buy a franchise that just won the Super Bowl?" Vinrod
Kholsa said after the announcement. "So we're incredibly lucky and humbled by this gift, I would say."
Aside from brief statements posted on social media, Khosla and his family remained quiet about the sale until it was formalized by the other NFL owners Aug. 26.
"Excited to be part of this great franchise," he wrote on X after the news of the deal was first reported.
In Atlanta, where the owners ratified the sale, Khosla told reporters "the task ahead is simple."
"Keep the winning streak alive," he said, "get to another Super Bowl."
Khosla became a minority owner of the San Francisco 49ers when he bought a 3.5% stake in 2025. The India-born, Stanford-educated venture capitalist possesses a net worth of $13.2 billion, according to Forbes. His firm, Khosla Ventures, focuses on experimental technologies such as biomedicine, robotics, and was the first venture firm to invest in OpenAI, per Forbes.
Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corporation, purchased the Seahawks in 1997 for $194 million. Allen died at age 65 and team ownership was transferred to the Allen estate, managed by his sister Jody, with the intention of his sports teams (the Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer) ultimately being sold.
The previous NFL record for a team sale came in 2023 ($6.05 billion) when the group led by Josh Harris purchased the Washington Commanders from Daniel Snyder.
Why were the Seahawks sold after Paul Allen's death?
The Seahawks were put up for sale less than a month after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, the team announced in a statement.
"The Estate of Paul G. Allen today announced it has commenced a formal sale process for the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise, consistent with Allen's directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all Estate proceeds to philanthropy," a Feb. 18 statement read.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was asked about a potential sale of the franchise leading up to Super Bowl 60.
"To go with the sale and the ownership… nothing's changed from two weeks ago or nothing's changed since I interviewed for the job with Jody two years ago," Macdonald said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL owners approve Seahawks' $9.6 billion sale to venture capitalist Vinod Khosla
