As was announced at the turn of the month, there’s a belief around the league that Jody Allen, controller of late Seahawks former owner Paul Allen‘s estate, could finally be ready to sell the franchise following Seattle’s bid for a second Lombardi Trophy. With a valuation around $6.59BB, per Sportico, and the potential to reach a sales price of $7BB or $8BB, the next question to arise: who is going to be in the running to buy the latest NFL franchise put up for sale? 
There are only so many billionaires in the world, and one of them used to live in Seattle for about 30 years. Jeff Bezos‘ name has been thrown around NFL circles for some time now, most recently finding headlines when the Commanders were up for sale. After rumors identified him as a prospective bidder for the Commanders, Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, hired an investment firm, spurring speculation that a bid on the D.C. franchise could be coming. Ultimately, a bid never came, but that didn’t stop reports that the league was lobbying for Bezos to find his way into the ranks of NFL ownership.
According to Mark Maske, writing for Bezos’ Washington Post, those with knowledge of the situation “expressed skepticism” that Bezos would be in the running to purchase the Seahawks, should they become available. Way back in 2019, shortly after Allen’s death, Patriots owner Robert Kraft had advocated for Bezos to get involved in the Seahawks’ situation as someone more “community-oriented” than other prospective buyers would be. While, with an estimated net worth of $250BB, cost would be no concern for the 62-year-old businessman, it’s thought that his connection to Seattle has diminished since his move to Miami in 2023.
Recent rumors indicate that not only has the NFL been pushing for consideration of Bezos as a potential owner, but it’s also been pushing for the Seahawks to sell sooner rather than later. Mike Sando of The Athletic pointed to the ever-rising valuations of NFL franchises as a potential driver of this pressure from the league and its owners. And, according to Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal, the NFL’s frustration with the Allen estate’s timeline for the eventual sale led to the league issuing a $5MM fine to the Seahawks for “being out of compliance with ownership requirements.”
Part of the reason for the delay in the sale of the franchise came from a clause stemming from the construction of Lumen Field, stipulating that if the franchise were sold before an undisclosed date, the state of Washington would be owed a 10-percent share of the proceeds collected on the sale of the team. It’s believed that the league gave Allen’s estate some grace in order to avoid that lost revenue, but when that undisclosed date came and went without any sign of a sale in the near future, the fine was levied to send a message that the grace period had passed, as well, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
Beaton’s report drew some opposition shortly after being made public. Per Beat0n, Jason Hunke, a spokesman for the umbrella organization that oversees Allen’s sports assets, gave no comment on the fine, choosing to focus, instead, on the team’s upcoming Super Bowl matchup. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came out to refute the report of the $5MM fine, per Maske, calling it “not true.” Shortly after, the league issued a statement to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, insisting that Seattle was not fined for ownership issues.
Jody Allen will eventually sell the team when she wants to, so other NFL team owners should shove a #@$% up their a$$, especially Robert Kraft.
Patriots pushing propaganda to try and make distractions ?
Absolutely NO on Bozos. I love this team too much for it to be bought by that brazen bribery artist who will have AmazonSurveillance everywhere throughout Seahawks Stadium. Go spend your 8 billion on Melania II and let some upstanding hedge fund manager buy the team.
Might as well move to Colorado and become a Broncos fan