Seahawks are not for sale as owner puts Trail Blazers on the market

Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times on May 13, 2025

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — The Portland Trail Blazers, owned since 2018 by Jody Allen after the death of her brother Paul, are for sale, the team announced in a statement Tuesday morning.

But the Seattle Seahawks, which Allen also owns, are not.

“This news does not affect the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise or the estate’s 25% interest in the Seattle Sounders MLS, and neither is for sale.”

In May, a clause in the terms of the 1997 referendum that funded the building of Lumen Field that would require Allen to hand over 10% if the team were sold to the state of Washington will no longer be in effect. It was often reported as 2024, but a source confirmed 2025 is the actual date.

Tuesday’s statement puts to rest for now any speculation that date might spur a sale.

Paul Allen bought the Trail Blazers in 1988. He purchased the Seahawks in 1997, buying them from Ken Behring, who had attempted to move the team to southern California the year before.

Allen died in October, 2018, which led to speculation about the future of each franchise. Jody Allen released a statement in July, 2022, that neither team was for sale.

The Trail Blazers’ statement Tuesday stated that the team has “commenced a formal sales process” for the Blazers that is “consistent with Allen’s directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy.”

The statement said the estate has selected the investment bank Allen & Company and law form Hogan Lovells to lead the sales process, “which is expected to continue into the 2025-26 basketball season.’’ The sale would have to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors.

Upon the death of Paul Allen, Jody Allen officially took the title of team chair with the Seahawks.

While she has made no public statements about the Seahawks, she has been involved behind the scenes, attending NFL league meetings earlier this spring and was shown in pictures in the team’s draft room during the NFL draft last month.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider said she was an active participant as the team made major moves this offseason, notably the trades of quarterback Geno Smith and receiver DK Metcalf.

“We get with her ahead of time like, ‘This is the game plan,’” Schneider said. “… We have to let her know. We have Zooms with her a bunch, (saying): ‘OK, this may be coming, this may be coming. These are alternatives, this is A, B and C, this is what it looks like and it might go quick.’”

Forbes assessed the Seahawks as worth $5.45 billion in August 2024, 15 th among NFL teams.

That’s a staggering increase from the $194 million Paul Allen bought the team for in 1997, a 9% increase from the year before and part of a 13% overall annual increase, according to Forbes.

Jody Allen said in 2022: “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 preordained timeline by which the teams must be sold.

“Until then, my focus — and that of our teams — is on winning.”

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