On Thursday, the Seattle Seahawks ownership sale took another sharp turn: Todd Boehly’s bid is out and only two bidders remain. The main frontrunner is the Aditya Mittal and Wyc Grousbeck group, both of the Boston Celtics. The other group is the Vinod Khosla group. Apparently, a former Seahawks player is involved with one of the groups, but no indication has been given which group that is.
While the current information presents that those are the only two bidders remaining, a new bidder could potentially emerge. Previously, the Los Angeles Clippers sale in 2024 showed a late arrival of Steve Ballmer. He came out of nowhere to offer $2 billion for the NBA franchise.
Wednesday, news dropped that Seattle Seahawks vice chair Bert Kolde appeared at the Allen and Co. business retreat. With both parties heavily involved with the process of the sale, its widely expected that conversations should ramp up. The Seahawks aim to complete the sale of the franchise before the beginning of the season.
Only Two Groups Remains for Seattle Seahawks Sale; Mittal Group in the Lead
GettyMittal and Grousbeck have experience running championship level organizations with the Celtics.
If Mittal and Grousbeck win the Seattle Seahawks sale sweepstakes, fans should feel confident that they will be hands off owners. The current Celtics front office led by Brad Stevens operates freely without intervention.
When Mittal and Grousbeck were first revealed to be interested in the Seahawks purchase, they outlined their structures right away. Mittal lives in London, so he would look from afar while Grousbeck plans to be in Seattle to oversee operations.
Mittal is the CEO of ArcelorMittal, a global steel manufacturing company legally based in Luxembourg. His father, Lakshmi, founded the company. The Mittal family is one of the richest families in India.
Mittal invested approximately $1 billion into the purchase of the Boston Celtics led by Bill Chisholm. Since Mittal and Grousbeck also have experience working together, there should be some continuity and respect for sports business.
Khosla Group Still Remains; Boehly Out
GettyKhosla is currently invested in the San Francisco 49ers.
Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and his son, Neal, lead the second group still in the running for the Seattle Seahawks. They both own a 3.1% share collectively in the San Francisco 49ers. Neal Khosla is the CEO and co-founder of Curai, which is an AI-affiliated telehealth company. In 2023, TIME magazine ranked him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in AI.
Boehly, Los Angeles sports mogul and owner of Chelsea Football Club, now sits out of the ongoing negotiations. Since becoming the owner of Chelsea, the team has struggled to stay among the elite teams. They’ve spent over £1.5 billion on player acquisitions and accrued massive deficits. They’ve also failed to win any major titles and generally finished below expectations. With how involved he remains with Chelsea, he is the exact opposite of what Seahawks fans want. Whoever the next owner is, they need to respect the job that Mike MacDonald and John Schneider are doing for the franchise.
Seattle Seahawks Sale: Frontrunner Runner for Ownership Revealed