Should the Paul G. Allen Trust sell the Seahawks?

They say everyone has a price. And for sports franchises this has always been the case. The question to be generally asked is not if a franchise can be purchased, but how much money is required to purchase. And what is needed to run the franchise successfully?

The requirements of different leagues across different sports around the world differ when it comes to ownership. The NFL is no exception. They have rules required of any potential franchise owners who are considering bids to purchase an NFL team.

For those of us unaware of these rules, here is a quick summary of some NFL prerequisite qualifications to even be considered a legitimate candidate for ownership.  

How a team can be purchased

An advanced degree is required. A bid for a franchise must be fully financed or capitalized at the moment of submission (to restrict money raising efforts after the offer has been made). Approvals from all other NFL owners must be made to finalize the sale.

Purchasing a franchise seems to be pretty simple if you look at only those three rules. However, reality is a little more complicated.

There are a lot of pre-approval steps that need to be taken, and passed, before a person or group is even allowed to make a formal bid for a franchise. Basically, as long as you the individual or you the group are financially viable and members of the billionaire club, the steps will be more of a formality than actual hurdles.

If you do not belong to this elite group of people these steps can become daunting and would scare off any potential bidders from putting in the effort to complete these requirements.  

Record deal for Denver Broncos

As of 8 June 2022, the Denver Broncos are the latest team to be sold in the NFL pending formal approvals by the other owners in the league. The winning bid was made by Walmart heir Rob Walton and his team of investors. Their winning bid of 4.65 billion dollars was enough to secure a franchise estimated at 3.75 billion dollars.

Before the Broncos, the last team to be sold are the Carolina Panthers in 2018. They were sold  for 2.275 billion to now owner David Tepper. That is quite a jump to go from 2 billion to a 4,5 billion price tag in 4 years which included a global pandemic that created a lot of lost revenue for all sports teams across the globe.

So why is it that even now with recessions looming, inflation spikes and global economic woes ongoing, that sports teams are still generating so much interest from the wealthy?

Well, sports is one of the world’s industries that will always have an audience hungry for content. While attendance and sales might go down, viewership and tv rights deals have remained constant over the years, indicating that sports have a great return on investment.  

Why sell

The reasonable follow up would of course be: so why would you ever sell your franchise? This is a loaded question as there are many potential reasons for selling your cash cow that would be an article in and of itself.

The main reasons oftentimes are either loss of interest of the inherited franchise due to ownership passing is not a passion project for the heirs of these franchises.

Paul G. Allen, the former owner of the Seattle Seahawks, was majorly invested in the franchise. It was truly his passion project from the start and all the way until his unfortunate passing in 2018 after which the team ownership and daily operations was transferred to the Paul G. Allen trust with Paul’s sister Jody serving as chair of the trust and executor of his estate.

Earlier in this article, we mentioned that a common reason for franchises being sold are because the heirs do not envision them as the passion projects of their predecessors. This also seems to be very true for the Seahawks. While the trust publicly denies any interest to sell the team, there have also been public contradictions made about this stance by prominent figures.

Adam Silver, the current commissioner of the NBA has publicly stated that he expects the Portland Trailblazers to be on the market somewhere near the end of the year or early next year. The Allen trust also owns this franchise, and it could be a precursor to what’s to come with the Seattle Seahawks in the near future.  

Why would the trust deny interest to sell the team if they are secretly planning a staggered sale of both the Trailblazers and the Seahawks in the coming year? The main reason will always be money. At the end of the day, everyone has a price for everything, even the Allen trust.

Earlier in this article we mentioned the Broncos sale which is crucial to the Seahawks potential sale. Why? Well, if the Broncos fetched a sale price closer to the indicated franchise value, then holding on to the Seahawks a little longer would benefit the trust as the economy of the world in an upswing will loosen the purse strings and allow for a higher sale price.

With the Broncos fetching almost a billion dollars more in the sale than their projected value, this will surely bring a renewed interest for a sale by the Allen trust as the sports franchises they own are not the passion projects they were for the previous owner Paul Allen.

Without passion, loyalty and vision, the franchise is doomed to mediocrity and existence over success and championships.

Time to sell up in Seattle

A sale would benefit the trust, the fanbase, the team and most of all the Seattle area. Renewed passion could spark a new run at a Super Bowl and drive the team to sustained success for many years to come.  

My personal opinion is to prepare the team for sale this coming 2022/2023 season, start the process as soon as the season ends and swing for the fences to find the best bid by the best candidate that will take this franchise and continue the passion that Paul Allen displayed for many years.

The team deserves it. The city of Seattle deserves it. And most of all, the fans deserve it. They have lingered in a holding pattern ever since the legion of boom lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on a controversial play.

It will be very interesting to see the development of this trajectory as the public statements seem to clearly contradict what is going on behind the scenes. Let us all hope for a mutually beneficial solution to bring the team back to prominence with new leadership and direction for a successful future of the franchise.