It’s been just about five years since Paul Allen, the majority controlling owner of the Seattle Seahawks, passed away. Eventually, a sale is coming, but it may not come as quickly as some had anticipated.
Allen’s will calls for the sale of the Seahawks, but it’s a complicated process that, as time has shown, can’t be solved easily.
Sources close to the situation expected a possible sale to come at some point during the 2024 calendar year, but that is no longer the case.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, now there’s a “growing sentiment” that the Seahawks may not be sold until 2025, at the earliest.
Another reason why the sale of the Seahawks could be taking longer than expected is due to an odd rule dating back to a 1997 referendum. Terms of the original construction of Lumen Field included a unique clause requiring the Seahawks to pay ten percent of the final sale price to the state of Washington if the franchise is sold before May of 2024. Yet, that rule expires after May, which could push the sale process along.
For now, it’s Allen’s sister, Jody, who’s been operating as the owner of the Seahawks until a sale agreement can be reached. Some have speculated that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could get involved after previously being linked to the Washington Commanders sale too. Bezos never made an official bid for the Commanders, but he remains one of the wealthiest individuals in the world with a net worth estimated to top $150 billion.
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