Getty Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks de facto owner Jody Allen.
Rumors have swirled throughout the summer of a potential sale of both the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers. Jody Allen, the sister of the late owner Paul Allen, made sure to publicly address those rumors.
Allen released an official statement on Tuesday to publicly respond to the rumors about a potential sale of both the Trail Blazers and Seahawks. The Seahawks shared the statement via their official Twitter account.
Statement from Jody Allen, Chair of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust
“As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams [are] for sale and there are no sales discussions happening,” Allen’s statement said. “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.”
A sale won’t be happening any time soon, according to Allen, but she also did acknowledge that there could be a new owner of the Seahawks once the Paul Allen Trust is ready to make a sale.
Paul Allen’s Legacy in Seattle
Paul Allen passed away in 2018, but even four years after his death, the legacy of the late Seahawks and Trail Blazers owner has been felt across the Pacific Northwest.
Allen became one of the richest men in the world after co-founding Microsoft with Bill Gates. The Seahawks owner had a net worth of over $20 billion at the time of his passing in 2018, when he lost a hard-fought battle against cancer at 65 years old.
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The Microsoft co-founder bought the Seahawks from Ken Behring in 1997. Behring had wanted to move the team to California, but ultimately Allen purchased the team and focused on keeping the franchise in Seattle.
A big part of Allen’s push to keep the Seahawks in Seattle was to help build a new stadium for the team. Shortly after purchasing the franchise, Allen committed $100 million of his own money to building a new stadium for the Seahawks to replace the Kingdome.
Washington voters eventually approved additional funding to build the stadium, which is now Lumen Field and home to the 12th Man.
After some down seasons with Behring as the owner, the Seahawks became one of the more dominant teams in the NFC during Allen’s time as owner. The team won eight division titles under Allen, made the Super Bowl twice, and won Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos.
Could Jeff Bezos Purchase the Seahawks?
Although Jody Allen made it clear that a sale isn’t coming any time soon, speculation is already starting about who the next owner of the Seahawks will be.
The clear favorite to be Seattle’s next owner is Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos. The billionaire started Amazon in a garage in Bellevue, Washington before opening up the company’s headquarters in Seattle.
Bezos already has ties to the city of Seattle, but he has also been tied to multiple NFL teams that have been put up for sale in recent years. The Amazon founder has been linked to four different NFL teams over the last few years, and it’s beginning to feel like it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a pro sports owner.
There’s still plenty of time before a sale happens, but Bezos is the early favorite to be the next Seahawks owner.
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Jody Allen Releases Statement on Seahawks Sale Rumors