\u201cThe task ahead is actually pretty simple,\u201d Vinod Khosla said after the vote. \u201cKeep the winning streak alive. Get another Super Bowl. That\u2019s simple. In general, our approach is generally going to be long-term focused. That\u2019s our inclination always. So keep winning, take a long-term approach, and learn a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The estate of Paul G. Allen, which inherited the NFL team after his death in 2018, agreed to terms with the Khosla family after a search for a new owner. Allen\u2019s will stipulated that the team be sold and assets be distributed to various charities.<\/p>\n
The price tag is an NFL record for a franchise sale. It is the second-highest valuation in North American sports history; the Los Angeles Lakers sold for $10 billion last year and were more recently valued at $12.5 billion, as Bob Iger and Josh Kushner plan to purchase a majority stake in the NBA team from Mark Walter.<\/p>\n
The Washington Commanders were sold for approximately $6 billion in 2023 to a group headed by Josh Harris.<\/p>\n
Paul Allen bought the Seahawks for $194 million from Ken Behring in 1997 and helped keep the team in Seattle. Allen, cofounder of Microsoft, also owned the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers, with his sister Jody Allen assuming duties as owner for the estate.<\/p>\n
Vinod Khosla thanked Jody Allen and the Allen Trust \u201cfor trusting us with this franchise\u201d.<\/p>\n
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the family\u2019s experience with the 49ers was attractive to other NFL owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know our league well,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cAs you know, they have been in ownership in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers. They understand the passion of the NFL, they understand the 12s, they understand this Seattle community and the NFL. And so that makes this transaction particularly attractive to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ap_6a8fcd9e7c333-1787809182.jpg\")
Seattle Seahawks owner\u2019s The Khosla family, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Nina Khosla, left, Vinod Khosla, Neeru Khosla, and Neal Khosla [Brynn Anderson\/AP]Who is Vinod Khosla?<\/p>\n
The 71-year-old is a venture capitalist and a limited partner of the San Francisco 49ers \u2014 buying 3.1 percent of the franchise last year at a more than $8.5 billion valuation, according to the ESPN network.<\/p>\n
He will have to relinquish his stake in that team as part of the agreement to buy the Seahawks, as the transaction could close before the defending Super Bowl champions open the season on September 9 against the New England Patriots, the team they defeated 29-13 in February for the title.<\/p>\n
Khosla, born in Pune, India, is the cofounder of Sun Microsystems and founder of the venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures. Neeru Khosla, who also was born in India and met Vinod when they were children, will be the controlling owner, according to The Athletic. It says their son, Neal, is expected to have a major role in the organisation.<\/p>\n
Vinod Khosla said he was first a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he moved to the United States in 1976.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been very passionate about football for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cI would say we\u2019ve been going to home games at the 49ers since [Neal] was five, maybe half of all home games since he was five. And so football is definitely a passion. \u2026 I was originally and still am a big Steelers fan. \u2026 Little known fact, but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The price tag is an NFL record for a franchise sale and the second-highest valuation in North American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[634,64,63,44,593,588,85],"class_list":["post-870123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-american-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-nfl","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}