Seattle Seahawks Release Statement on Report That Team is for Sale

Well, that was quick.

Mere minutes after an ESPN report from Seth Wickersham and Brady Henderson detailed plans for the Seahawks to be sold by the Paul G. Allen Estate after Super Bowl LX, a spokesman from the estate countered with a refutation of the story.

“We don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and the team is not for sale,” so started the statement. I can’t help but take note of the precise wording here. Saying that the team is ‘not for sale’ does little to contradict the suggestion from the ESPN article, which asserts that the Seahawks will be put up for sale ‘after Super Bowl LX’. Meaning, they’re not for sale right now.

Of course, the article did suggest that the groundswork for a sale has been laid over the last week, so the statement is not without some value. Still, it strikes me that there’s technically no contradiction.

“We’ve already said that will change at some point per Paul’s wishes, but I have no news to share,” the spokesman added, acknowledging the publicly-known fact that Paul Allen left a directive for the team to be sold at some point. The team was incentivized to wait until after 2024, to prevent 10% of the sale proceeds going to the state.

“Our focus right now is winning the Super Bowl and completing the sale of (Allen’s NBA) Portland Trail Blazers in the coming months.” And this final part of the statement probably drills down to the motive here, as news of an imminent plan to put the team up for sale qualifies as a distraction during super bowl week that the team does not need.

This should be a two-week period focused on the greatness and dominance of the 2025 Seattle Seahawks as they went on this shocking super bowl run that very few people predicted. The conversation being taken over by talk of a sale is not what the team wants, and may even end up being a detriment of some kind on game day.

Personally, I doubt very much that Wickersham and Henderson produced their report out of thin air, and am inclined to believe that there’s an intention on the part of the organization to begin a sale this offseason. The core of the article’s statement isn’t even really being refuted. They’re not for sale at the moment, but could be for sale in two weeks.

But I also understand that this is not the topic that the Seahawks want on people’s minds right now. There’s still one game left to play, and opportunities to play in this last game are precious. The Seahawks have accomplished amazing things on the field this season, and now is not the time for the focus to be off the field. So the statement makes sense to me as well.

The Seahawks play the New England Patriots in nine days. Once that game is over, whatever happens, you can bet this conversation will flood the NFL news cycle. Preferably, before then, we can keep the focus on the two teams.

The guys on the field need to finish the season before we start talking about this too much. — Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates with quarterback Sam Darnold (14). | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

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