NFL owners unanimously approve sale of Seahawks to Khosla family

The NFL owners unanimously approved the sale of the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, marking the first change in ownership in nearly 30 years.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced at a short press conference at a hotel near the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, shortly after the start of what was called a “special meeting by the league”.

The Allen Trust has agreed to sell the franchise to the Khosla family at a reported $9.6 billion dollars, the biggest ownership deal in league history.

FULL: NFL owners approve $9.6 billion sale of Seattle Seahawks to Khosla family

Jody Allen and Bert Kohde, the longtime stewards of the franchise after the death of Paul G. Allen, were seen strolling through the corridor of the hotel and entering the meeting before the official announcement.

Vinod Koshla, Neeru Koshla, son Neal and daughter Nina joined Goodell at the podium before a small group of reporters.

Although the league approved the deal, the Khoslas limited their comments until final financial transaction documents are completed with the Allen Trust.

However, the moment carried with it the ceremonial photo opportunity and the handing of the Seahawks helmet to the Khosla family.

“I just want to thank Jody, the entire Allen family, and of course the Seahawks for their stewardship of the team since Paul's death,” said Goodell. “I know that the Khosla family respects that, appreciates that, and will do their best to beat that standard. They know our league well.”

“I would say their experience in technology and innovation, and as we address many of those issues. I think their expertise will be incredibly valuable to us in helping us make better decisions moving forward,” added the Commissioner.

“We hope we'll engage a lot more with the community. Also, the task ahead is actually pretty simple: keep the winning streak alive, get another Super Bowl,” said Vinod Khosla, who founded Sun Microsystems and has long been a tech industry venture capitalist.

“In general, our approach is generally going to be long-term focused. That's our inclination always. So keep winning, take a long-term approach and learn a lot. We don't know enough, and so hopefully the other owners have been incredibly welcoming and willing to teach us. And so we'll learn a lot,” he added.

Vinod also said he’s had ties to the Seattle tech community for quite some time.

Neeru pointed to her son Neal as pushing the family to make the effort to buy the franchise.

“He's been a big fan of sports and, in particular, football, so he's wanted forever to get involved in actually strategizing and kind of doing something about that. So he's the one who actually really pushed us into doing this. He's worked really hard, so I'm very proud of him.”

Vinod said he had a message for Seahawks fans.

“I just want to say a big thank you for being such a passionate fan base," Vinod said. "It's actually pretty incredible. I think it's the best fan base in the country of any NFL team, and the Twelves is such an iconic brand that it's hard not to be honored and humbled by inheriting that and being part of that fan base.”

Vinod also commented on the future of Lumen Field, the Seahawks' home.

“Lumen Field is iconic and very much a part of the Seahawks brand. So that's all I will say for now," Vinod said. "Obviously, we are not owners yet, and we need to learn a lot more. But we will work with management and with others and the community in Seattle to hopefully preserve this iconic brand.”

And with that, the family left and went back into the special NFL owners' meetings, officially branded by the league as the new owners of the Seattle Seahawks.

After it was over, Jody Allen was seen leaving and entering a waiting vehicle. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others did the same.

Goodell then addressed reporters on a variety of subjects but set a tone that not much had changed about the Seahawks’ immediate future and that there was no clause in the deal about it.

“There has never been any of that discussed,” Goodell said, noting the league has done its due diligence. “It’s an ownership transition, a sale of an asset.”

He then also jumped into a waiting vehicle and went back to the airport.

It is believed the financial transaction itself will be completed in the coming days, before the start of the upcoming season. After that, it is expected there will be further discussion about the roles of every member of the family in the organization.

The Seahawks face the Patriots on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Lumen Field and will defend their Super Bowl title with a new owner leading the charge.