Seahawks, Trail Blazers owner shuts down sale rumors for both franchises
Neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Portland Trail Blazers will be on the market anytime soon.
Jody Allen, who is the owner of both the Trail Blazers and Seahawks, put out a joint statement through both organizations on Tuesday insisting that neither are currently up for sale.
“As chair of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of,” she said. “Like my brother Paul, I trust and expect our leaders and coaches to build winning teams that deliver results on and off the court and field.
“As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams is for sale and there are no sales discussions happening.”
Longtime Trail Blazers and Seahawks owner Paul Allen died in 2018. Allen first purchased the Trail Blazers in 1988 for $70 million, and then he acquired Seahawks in 1997 for $194 million. According to Forbes, the Seahawks are valued at around $1.87 billion, and the Trail Blazers are worth about $2.05 billion — which places both teams right in the middle of their respective leagues, value-wise.
After Paul’s death, control of the organizations went to his sister, Jody, through a trust. It’s expected that the trust will sell both teams eventually as it works through Paul’s assets, but it’s unclear when that will be.
“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,” Jody said. “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.”
Nike founder Phil Knight placed an offer to buy the Trail Blazers for more than $2 billion last month, which would undoubtedly keep the team in Portland for the foreseeable future. While Knight — who was joined in the offer by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinsky — made the offer, the Trail Blazers insisted that the team “remains not for sale.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals that he expects the team will be sold “at some point.”
As Jody said, however, she does not have a “pre-ordained timeline” to sell either franchise. So, at least for now, the teams are not for sale.
