The Seattle Seahawks’ sale price shows NFL means big business – but will NFL owners experience the romance inherent in other sports?
Ten days after securing victory in Super Bowl 60 against the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks team was put up for sale by its owners.
The impending sale is not all about cashing in when the stock is at its highest. Owner Paul Allen died in 2018, having witnessed the Seahawk’s first Super Bowl win in 2013. Allen left instructions that when he died his sports holdings should be sold off and the proceeds from the estate donated to philanthropy.
So while the sale was always going to happen, the estate has chosen an optimum time to go to the market, with the Seahawks demonstrably recognised as the best team at the moment.
Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, bought the Seahawks in 1997 for $194 million. It is likely to prove an extremely astute investment, with estimates of the Seahawks being valued at around $10 billion, about twice as much as FC Barcelona.
But in the NFL such valuations are not rare. The Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants have all recently been valued in 11 figures, proving that ownership of an NFL team is limited to multi billionaires. The fact that the Allen estate is selling 100% of the franchise is also expected to increase the valuation.
There are a limited number of people in the world who could even consider purchasing the franchise. Local reporting in the States has already identified a few ultra-wealthy individuals with a Seattle connection who may be interested. These include Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Steve Ballmer (former CEO of Microsoft), Bill Gates (former schoolboy friend of Allen and Microsoft co-founder) and MacKenzie Scott (novelist and former wife of Jeff Bezos) – all of whom are multi billionaires.
But is the valuation worth it? Last year the Seahawks had revenue of $640 million – not to be sniffed at, but hardly a figure to lead to the inflated valuation. What American Football has that other sports lack is a sense of rarity. With only 32 teams, and no relegation or promotion, ownership of a franchise is literally for the very few. Unlike football, a billionaire could never undertake a project like the one Ryan Reynolds has with Wrexham FC, to invest in a minnow to try and gain promotion to the top echelon.
Also, changes of ownership in the NFL are rare. Over the last decade only three franchises have changed controlling owners – the Carolina Panthers in 2018, the Denver Broncos in 2022 and the Washington Commanders in 2023. With such a limited marketplace, billionaires passionate about NFL need to pay inflated prices to get a seat at the table.
The other major difference between the NFL and, say, the Premier League is that when an investor buys an NFL team, they don’t just buy the individual team, they also become a shareholder in the league. The NFL’s collective sale of media rights, revenue sharing and salary cap ensure that the sport remains competitive, protecting the league’s long-term appeal, leading to stable and predictable revenues for the teams – a sensible investment, but not very romantic!
One of football’s fairytale stories is the rise (and fall) of Leicester City. The Srivaddhanaprabha family purchased the club in 2010, and since that day has invested an estimated £500 million. The value of the investment can certainly be questioned, with the club currently sitting towards the bottom of the Championship, with the very real threat of being relegated into League 1 this coming May. You would never experience this predicament if purchasing an NFL team which is far less of a financial risk – hence the eye-watering valuations, and why the teams have become playthings for the select billionaires.
But while the business case for NFL ownership is compelling, the Srivaddhanaprabha family experienced the ultimate fairytale ride in 2016 when Leicester won the Premier League against all the odds – however rich they may be, that sort of romanticism will never be experienced by an owner in the NFL.
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David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
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The above is accurate as at 25 February 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
