By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — NFL owners on Wednesday unanimously approved the sale of the Seattle Seahawks to the Khosla family, including Vinod Khosla.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell congratulated the Khosla family for having “great timing” in purchasing the team that is coming off its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history.
“It’s not very often you can buy a Super Bowl championship team, but you’ve done that,” Goodell said. “Many of our members struggle to find ways to get in the Super Bowl and win a trophy and you’ll be walking into your new building shortly with a fresh, shiny trophy there for you.”
The sales agreement for $9.612 billion was announced on July 11 and awaited Wednesday’s approval at a special owners meeting in Atlanta to become final. The sale was in accordance with the wishes of late team owner Paul Allen.
Vinod Khosla thanked Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, and the Allen Trust “for trusting us for this franchise.”
“As Roger said, it’s pretty simple when the team is functioning as well as it is today,” Khosla said. “How often do you get to buy a franchise that just won the Super Bowl? So we are incredibly lucky and humbled by this gift, I would say, from the Allen Trust.”
The Khosla family will be required to relinquish its ownership stake in the San Francisco 49ers as part of the deal. Khosla joined the 49ers ownership group as a minority owner in 2025, purchasing 3.1% of the team.
Goodell said the family’s experience with the 49ers was attractive to other NFL owners.
“They know our league well,” Goodell said. “As you know, they have been ownership in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers. They understand the passion of the NFL, they understand the 12s, they understand this Seattle community and the NFL. And so that makes this transaction particularly attractive to all of us.”
Khosla also paid tribute to the Seattle fans known as the “12s.”
“Having been to Lumen Field and watching the 12s everywhere, I do want to thank them for their passion and fervor,” Khosla said. “And the community in Seattle is incredibly valuable. So we hope we’ll engage a lot more with the community also.”
Khosla’s wife, Neeru, said their son, Neal, played a role in the family’s interest in buying the team. They attended Wednesday’s meeting with Khosla’s daughter, Nina.
“He’s been a big fan of sports, and in particular, football,” said Neeru of Neal. “… So he’s the one who actually really pushed us into doing this. He worked really hard, so I’m really proud of him.”
Vinod Khosla, who was born in India, said he was first a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he moved to the United States in 1976.
“We’ve been very passionate about football for a long time,” he said. “I would say we’ve been going to home games at the 49ers since (Neal) was 5, maybe half of all home games since he was five. And so football is definitely a passion. … I was originally and still am a big Steelers fan. … Little known fact, but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.”
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