Jody Allen says Seahawks will be sold eventually, maybe not for another 10+ years
The sale of the Seahawks isn’t a matter of if, but when.
That when might be a while.
Jody Allen, the team’s chair in the wake of her brother and owner Paul Allen’s death, broke her silence on the Seahawks’ ownership future Tuesday. She stated the Seahawks will be sold — eventually.
But maybe not for another 10 to 15 years.
Reclusive since taking over the Seahawks and her brother’s Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA upon his death in October 2018, Jody Allen took the extraordinary step Tuesday of issuing a statement on the franchises’ futures.
“As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams is for sale,” Allen wrote in a statement the Seahawks issued on team-logo letterhead online Tuesday, “and there are no sales discussions happening.
“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 pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold.
“Until then, my focus — and that of our teams — is on winning.”
The letter is signed:
“Jody Allen
“Chair of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks
“Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust.”
It’s the first time anyone from the Seahawks or Trail Blazers has confirmed Paul Allen wanted his two professional sports franchises sold from his trust following his death.
Jody Allen’s statement came one month and three days after news broke Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Alan Smolinisky delivered to the Blazers a written offer of $2 billion to buy Portland’s NBA team from the Allen Trust.
That led to speculation the Seahawks would be next to receive a multi-billion offer.
Jody Allen’s statement Tuesday puts the Seahawks’ sale as a longer-term proposition.
Allen is saying the team’s sale is likely to happen after the current regime that won the franchise’s only Super Bowl — coach/top football authority Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider — move on.
Allen has taken multiple steps in the last year to keep status quo atop the Seahawks.
Last November Allen re-signed Carroll to keep leading Seattle’s football operations through 2025. If he stays as Allen wants him to, Carroll will become the oldest coach in NFL history, past his 75th birthday.
Allen also re-signed Schneider to stay in charge with Carroll, as they’ve been since her brother hired Carroll from USC in January 2010. Schneider is signed with Seattle through the 2026 draft that spring.
Carroll was asked June 9, amid the news of Knight’s bid for the Blazer, about rumors the Seahawks would soon be for sale and whether Jody Allen had talked to Carroll about that.
“She’s never entertained that thought, at all,” Carroll said last month. “I haven’t heard her say that, at all.
“I’m talking about our club, so I don’t know anything about the Trail Blazers. They’re fun to watch.”
This story was originally published July 5, 2022 at 1:25 PM.
