Matt Calkins: Reports of Seahawks going up for sale won't be Super Bowl distraction

Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times on Jan 30, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — Just about anybody, anywhere could have told you what some of the prominent Super Bowl storylines would be.

A rematch between the Seahawks and the Patriots 11 years after one of the most heartbreaking moments in Seattle sports history. A quarterback showdown between journeyman-turned-star Sam Darnold and second-year sensation Drake Maye. A pending chess match between the two leading Coach of the Year candidates — the list could go on.

But … the Seahawks going up for sale after the season?!?! That was a blind-side sack of a report.

The key word there is report — not announcement. Despite the story being on ESPN and The Wall Street Journal Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Paul G. Allen Estate said in a statement that “the team is not for sale.”

But the denial feels more like an attempt to prevent this from being a distraction from the Super Bowl two Sundays from now. My two cents? It won’t be. Not for the players and coaches, at least.

When Jody Allen inherited the team her brother Paul’s passing, it came with the directive that she eventually sell it and donate the proceeds to charity. Jody is already in the midst of selling Paul’s other pro sports team — the Portland Trail Blazers — a transaction expected to be completed later this year.

This is not the liquidating of an asset that buys Jody a yacht and leaves Seahawks fans bewildered. It was an inevitability that the estate likely wanted to keep secret until after the Super Bowl. That didn’t happen. But that’s OK.

It’s true that the Seahawks have become one of the NFL’s most consistently successful franchises, and one should give a nod to ownership for getting them there. When Jody inherited the team in 2018, she not only kept it, but eventually signed off on general manager John Schneider taking the reins on all personnel moves, which is a major reason the Seahawks are one win away from their second championship.

You could tell that she cares — not just by excitement she showed when raising the 12 Flag before Sunday’s NFC championship game, or by her joy after her team advanced to the Super Bowl — but in the way those she works most closely with speak of her.

“The thing that sticks out to me about Jody was her enthusiasm about where she wanted our team to be and our franchise to be as the vision of the Seattle Seahawks, and that was during our interview process,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “Honestly, that’s really where it was like, this is something I feel really strongly about that I think that I could help create that.”

So assuming the reports about the sale are true, there could be a lot of volatility going forward. Perhaps whoever buys won’t view Schneider or Macdonald with the same warmth that Jody seems to. Perhaps they’ll insist on interfering in areas in which they lack expertise. Perhaps they won’t be as creative or as amenable to pushing the salary cap.

Bad ownership is a real thing. You think it’s a coincidence the Cowboys or Raiders or Chargers haven’t reached a Super Bowl in 30 years?

But none of this should affect this year’s Super Bowl: Why? It’s doubtful anyone on the roster is thinking about it.

NFL players are bombarded with potential distractions all season long. Trade rumors, critiques by pundits, social-media avalanches — the noise can be incessant if they let it. But most are able to play through it — and the idea that there may be a new owner next season isn’t likely to penetrate their head space. Not now, at least.

Standing in front of these players and coaches is an opportunity they may never get again. They have a chance to win a Super Bowl and immortalize themselves in Seattle and beyond.

A family member suffering? That could be a distraction. Nerves about the whole world watching the biggest game of your life? That could be a distraction. An injury? That can definitely be a distraction. Who’s in charge when training camp starts next summer isn’t.

No doubt that Friday’s report of the pending sale is one of the biggest Seahawks stories we’ve seen this decade. It could forever change the trajectory of this organization if it falls in the wrong hands.

Fans have every right to worry about it in the long-term. But in the short-term? Nah. Enjoy the Super Bowl. It’s all that matters right now.