The price of doing business in the NFL, somehow, just went up again, with San Francisco 49ers minority owner Vinod Khosla agreeing to buy the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion — the most money ever paid for an NFL franchise.
“A group led by San Francisco 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla has agreed to purchase the Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion, a record sale price for an NFL franchise,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on Saturday. “The deal is subject to NFL owner approval. Owners have been given the date of August 26 to keep open for a special meeting to approve the deal, sources said.”
The Seahawks were purchased by the late Paul Allen in 1997 for $197 million and have been run by a trust overseen by his sister, Jody Allen, since he died in 2018.
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, died at 65 years old and had an estimated fortune of $20.3 billion. It’s the 2nd pro sports franchise the Allen estate has unloaded in recent months, after selling the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers for a reported $4.25 billion in April.
Paul Allen purchased the Trail Blazers for $70 million in 1988.
The record sale for any professional sports franchise remains the $10 billion paid by Mark Walter for the Los Angeles Lakers in June 2025.
The Seahawks confirmed the news in a post to their social media accounts.
Vinod Khosla Made Billions Through Tech
Khosla, 71, made his fortune as the co-founder of tech company Sun Microsystems, and now serves as the managing director of Khosla Ventures.
In May 2025, Khosla purchased a 3.1 percent minority stake in the 49ers at a valuation of $8.5 billion — approximately $263.5 million.
One investment in particular promises to see Khosla’s wealth only continue to grow in the near future.
From Forbes: “Khosla Ventures invests in experimental technologies such as biomedicine, robotics, and was the first venture firm to invest in OpenAI, valued at $852 billion as of March 2026, after closing a record-breaking $122 billion funding round.”
Seahawks Sold at Exact Right Time
The Seahawks sold at the perfect time — coming off a Super Bowl win and with the roster from that team on the path to staying intact for the foreseeable future, as well as doing so with a 2nd-year head coach in Mike Macdonald.
The Seahawks won 2 Super Bowls under the ownership of Allen and his estate, winning the 1st following the 2013 season under former head coach Pete Carroll.
“Khosla’s group beat out a handful of other bidders, including a group led by billionaire Aditya Mittal, a member of one of India’s richest families, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the details are private,” Sportico’s Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams wrote on July 11. “It’s not immediately clear how the deal is being financed. Khosla didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The Allen estate said Saturday in a statement that the team had been sold to the Khosla family and included a quotation from Khosla himself. The statement did not provide any details about the deal structure or financing, but said the Khoslas would be the team’s new control owner.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post 49ers’ Limited Partner Buys Seahawks for Record-Setting Price Tag appeared first on HEAVY.