The list of potential buyers for the Seattle Seahawks is starting to look like an NFL Pro Bowl roster of billionaires, venture capitalists and global business leaders.
Billionaire financier Todd Boehly is the latest high-profile name linked to the franchise, according to a report from Semafor, joining a field of prospective bidders that reportedly includes venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, steel executive Aditya Mittal and former Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck.
Boehly, the chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries, is best known in sports circles for ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Chelsea FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. Before launching Eldridge, he helped build the credit-investing business at Guggenheim Partners.
The Seahawks could fetch as much as $9 billion, a price tag that would eclipse the $6 billion sale of the Washington Commanders in 2023 and set a new record for an NFL franchise.
The Seahawks are being sold by the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, following instructions in his estate plan directing that his sports holdings ultimately be sold and the proceeds used for philanthropic purposes. In February, Allen’s estate formally listed the Seahawks for sale, shortly after the franchise captured its second Super Bowl title.
Among the other reported bidders is Khosla, the Sun Microsystems co-founder, founder of Khosla Ventures and an early backer of OpenAI, DoorDash and Stripe. Khosla — who also owns a small slice of the San Francisco 49ers — reportedly submitted a letter of intent as part of the bidding process.
Khosla spoke in Seattle last year, saying at the time: “I have found that the person who learns faster is way better at building businesses than the person who is a deep expert.” His firm has backed Seattle-area startups including Loti, Mudstack, Viome and Lexion, which was acquired by Docusign in 2024. It is also an investor in Seattle’s AI2 Incubator.
The Seahawks sale is shaping up as one of the largest ownership transfers in professional sports history, attracting investors from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, international industry and private equity.
For Seattle’s technology community, the process marks the beginning of a new era.
Since purchasing the team in 1997, Allen helped transform the Seahawks into one of the NFL’s premier franchises.
Formal bids are expected in the coming weeks, according to Semafor.
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