Tag: Jody Allen

Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks chairman Jody Allen celebrates with the Vince Lombardi trophy on the podium after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Seahawks launch formal sale process of franchise

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are for sale.

The estate of late owner Paul Allen announced Wednesday that it had “commenced a formal sale process” for the franchise.

Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, died in 2018 at age 65 due to complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He bought the Seahawks in 1997, saving the team from potentially being moved to Southern California.

According to Forbes, Allen paid $194 million. The publication’s most recent valuation was $6.7 billion, 14th in the NFL.

The Washington Commanders are the NFL team that sold most recently, purchased in 2023 by a group controlled by Josh Harris for a record $6.05 billion. A Seahawks sale is expected to eclipse the $7 billion mark.

Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, is the executor of the estate and has been in charge of the Seahawks since his death. He also owned the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, and a sale of that franchise is in progress.

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is under contract to buy that team in a deal valued at $4.25 billion.

Investment bank Allen & Co. and law firm Latham & Watkins have been selected to lead the Seahawks sale process.

In his estate plan, Allen directed that his sports franchises eventually be sold, with proceeds to philanthropic giving.

–Field Level Media

Jan 29, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; A Seattle Seahawks Riddell speedflex helmet. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NFL disputes report of $5M fine of Seahawks for ownership rules violation

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NFL said Sunday that the Seattle Seahawks were not fined for failing to comply with league ownership requirements to sell the team, contrary to a report of a $5 million penalty in the Wall Street Journal.

“As we told the WSJ yesterday on the record, the team was not fined,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Pro Football Talk on Sunday.

The Wall Street Journal article on Saturday included the league’s denial as well as the team — through a spokesman for Vulcan, Inc., the late Paul Allen’s company that manages the Seahawks — declining to comment on the fine.

The league and other owners are putting pressure on the trust that has controlled the franchise since owner Allen died in 2018, to sell the Seahawks, according to the article.

League rules require controlling ownership be an individual, not a larger entity such as a trust, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

Allen, a Microsoft co-founder who also owned the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, made the stated intention that the teams eventually be sold, with proceeds going to charity. His sister, Jody Allen, is executor of the trust.

Multiple reports on Friday said the Seahawks are up for sale immediately after Super Bowl LX next Sunday, when Seattle faces the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif.

“We don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and the team is not for sale,” the Paul G. Allen Estate said in a statement on Friday. “We’ve already said that will change at some point per Paul’s wishes, but I have no news to share. Our focus right now is winning the Super Bowl and completing the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers in the coming months.”

The Trail Blazers went on sale in September 2025 and reportedly are being sold for more than $4 billion to a group of investors led by Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

Paul Allen’s estate does not include a hard deadline to sell the Seahawks, but one term expired in 2024 that would have required 10% of the proceeds to go to the state of Washington.

Per Sportico last summer, the Seahawks were valued at $6.59 billion, in the middle of the pack for NFL teams. Forbes’ December 2024 list of worldwide sports franchise values put the Seahawks in a tie for 24th place with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $5.45 billion.

The latest purchase of an NFL club was the $6.05 billion sale of the Washington Commanders in 2023. ESPN cited an anonymous team executive saying the Seahawks could be sold for $7 billion to $8 billion.

The highest-valued sports franchise is the Dallas Cowboys, listed by Sportico at $12.8 billion and by Forbes a year earlier at $10.1 billion.

Paul Allen spent $200 million in 1997 to buy the Seahawks from Ken Behring at a time when there was talk of the team relocating.

–Field Level Media

Seahawks deny reports team will be sold right after Super Bowl

Posted on | by Field Level Media

A week before the Seattle Seahawks will play in the Super Bowl, the team denied multiple media reports on Friday that it will be up for immediate sale following the title game.

Paul Allen owned the Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers until his death in 2018. The clubs are currently controlled by his trust under the management of his sister, Jody Allen. Paul Allen’s request was that the teams eventually be sold, with the money going to charity.

“We don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and the team is not for sale,” a club spokesman said in a statement on Friday. “We’ve already said that will change at some point per Paul’s wishes, but I have no news to share. Our focus right now is winning the Super Bowl and completing the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers in the coming months.”

Per Sportico last summer, the Seahawks were valued at $6.59 billion, in the middle of the pack for NFL teams. Forbes’ December 2024 list of worldwide sports franchise values put the Seahawks in a tie for 24th place with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $5.45 billion.

The latest purchase of an NFL club was the $6.05 billion sale of the Washington Commanders in 2023. ESPN cited an anonymous team executive saying the Seahawks could be sold for $7 billion to $8 billion.

The highest-valued sports franchise is the Dallas Cowboys, listed by Sportico at $12.8 billion and by Forbes a year earlier at $10.1 billion.

Paul Allen spent $200 million in 1997 to buy the Seahawks from Ken Behring at a time when there was talk of the team relocating.

The Seahawks, who joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1976, will make their fourth Super Bowl appearance when they oppose the New England Patriots on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif. Seattle lost in the title game to the Pittsburgh Steelers after the 2005 season, beat the Denver Broncos for the championship after the 2013 season and fell to the Patriots for the crown after the 2014 season.

–Field Level Media

Oct 2, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll with GM John Schneider pre game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Seahawks’ coaching search ‘wide open’; hire will report to GM

Posted on | by Field Level Media

John Schneider’s partnership with Pete Carroll resulted in one Lombardi Trophy and another Super Bowl appearance. Now, Schneider said he must “look forward” as he helps lead the Seattle Seahawks’ search for a new head coach.

Schneider met with reporters Tuesday for the first time since the Seahawks announced Carroll would not remain their head coach after 14 seasons.

Carroll, 72, will assume an advisory role within the organization instead.

“Pretty emotional press conference the other day,” Schneider said. “When I say your emotions are all over the place, it’s moving on from a very, very historic partnership and amazing, amazing level of success and achievement that Pete and myself are extremely proud of.

“I look forward to being able to call Pete and text him. He’s already texting me like crazy all the time like, ‘Hey Johnny, what’s going on with this and that?’”

It marks Schneider’s first search for a head coach. He and Carroll joined Seattle in the same offseason in 2010. Schneider joked that he was prepared to lead that head-coaching search but found out the franchise had already decided on Carroll.

Carroll reported directly to owner Jody Allen, who has controlled the team since her brother Paul Allen passed away in 2018. But now, the structure will change and the eventual hire and his staff will report to Schneider.

“Our setup earlier was … the coaching staff did not fall under my umbrella, and now it will,” Schneider said. “It’s not necessarily a Jody Allen decision or choosing this person or that person, it’s just a contractual situation.”

Schneider said the team has not decided whether to consider candidates from the college ranks. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh — Carroll’s old rival in both the Pac-12 and the NFC West — is testing the NFL waters again, having interviewed with the Los Angeles Chargers.

“It’s wide open still,” Schneider said. “There’s so much movement in college football already.”

The Seahawks have requested interviews with at least eight candidates, per multiple reports:

–Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero
–Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham
–Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson
–New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka
–Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris
–Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn
–Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik
–Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith

Schneider said Jody Allen has been “concise” in describing what she wants the Seahawks’ next head coach to bring.

“We want to keep our positive culture, everything that’s been created here … ” Schneider said.

“There’s so many special people in this building. It’s amazing to be on the phone with all these agents and the people that are interested in this position and to be able to explain to them, ‘Hey, there’s a foundation here that’s incredible.’”

–Field Level Media

Nov 4, 2018; Seattle, WA, USA; A moment of silence is observed in the memory of Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Jody Allen: Neither Seahawks nor Blazers are for sale — yet

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Jody Allen, chairwoman of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers, issued a statement Tuesday saying neither franchise is for sale and that there are no sale discussions happening at this time.

However, she acknowledged that a “time will come when that changes.”

Allen is the sister of the late Paul Allen and trustee of his trust, worth billions. Speculation has swirled the past month that both franchises are poised to be sold, including the Blazers in the next 6 to 18 months, due to the wishes of the co-founder of Microsoft.

Paul Allen, who passed away in October 2018 at age 65, stipulated he wanted both franchises — among other assets — sold and the proceeds used for his passion projects.

“As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams is for sale and there are no sales discussions happening,” Jody Allen said in the statement. “A time will come when that changes given Paul’s plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down.

“There is no pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold.”

Paul Allen passed away due to complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He purchased the Trail Blazers for $70 million in 1988 and the Seahawks nine years later for $194 million. He was one of the founders of the Seattle Sounders in 2007.

–Field Level Media