SEATTLE — Natalie Welch, the director of Seattle U’s Albers School of Business and Economics' Sport and Entertainment Management MBA Program, has been closely following the saga of the sale of the Seattle Seahawks since the team was first put on the market Feb. 18.

Her reaction to Saturday’s news that the Khosla family has reached an agreement to buy the team from the Paul G. Allen Estate for an NFL record $9.612 billion?

“I think it’s a win all around, honestly," she said in an interview Sunday. “I think fans are always going to be extra critical, but I can’t think of anything that was kind of like, ‘Oh no this is not good, right?’

"And I think, too, that people forget that the NFL is such a massive operation and everything has to be approved by all the ownership and there are so many layers of approvals that they will definitely be scrutinized behind the scenes beyond what we ever see in public and I think that will just continue the momentum for the team."

While there had been an expectation that the Seahawks could go for $9 billion to $10 billion — ultimately falling almost right smack in the middle of that estimate — Welch said it was still somewhat jaw dropping to see it happen.

The price of the sale of the Seahawks — which fittingly had a 12 attached to the end of it — shattered the previous NFL record of the $6.05 billion the Washington Commanders went for in the summer of 2023 and is the second most for a North American sports franchise behind only the $10 billion of the Los Angeles Lakers last October.

“I know it had been talked about being close to $10 (billion), but that’s still really a huge, huge number compared to the last sale that was not even just a couple of years ago," she said. “Not surprised, but when seeing it finalized like that was still pretty wild."

It was just eight years ago that the Carolina Panthers sold for $2.275 billion, then a record amount.

Welch says one of the biggest drivers of the rapid increase in franchise valuations are the NFL’s vast media rights deals, that continue to just go up.

Each team in 2024 received $432.6 million as part of the league’s revenue sharing, as revealed in documents released by the Green Bay Packers, the league’s only publicly owned team. The Packers reported a profit of $83.7 million, likely on par with many other NFL teams.

With the NFL continuing to explore additional options for driving up media revenue — and looking to renegotiate its current deals with a thought some could be redone before the 2026 season — those numbers will only increase.

“I don’t know how long that increase is going to go, but it just continues to go up for now because you have Amazon, Fox, ABC and all these entities that are fighting for the NFL and the rights to show their games, so the money for that just continues to grow," Welch said.

“… It’s basically like guaranteed revenue for the entire league that has no bearing on how good a team is that’s going to be there no matter what. And then however you are able to manage your own individual team is a whole other entity. The Seahawks being Super Bowl champs at that moment is really great, but it (the sale price) is really due more to the NFL as a whole and the continued cash cow that it continues to be for owners."

Welch found it fitting that the Khosla family ownership group will include Neeru Khosla, the wife of Vinod Khosla and mother of Neal, who were all named as part of the group Saturday.

Neeru Khosla’s involvement had not been reported before Saturday, when it was revealed in a memo from the league announcing the sale to other teams that she will be the controlling owner.

Neal Khosla, the memo stated, will be “expected to have a significant leadership role in the ownership group."

A clearer breakdown of roles among ownership figures should become known after the sale is approved, which could happen as early as Aug. 26, according to a report from ESPN and confirmed by The Seattle Times. Owners have been told to leave that date open for a possible meeting to approve the sale, which will require yes votes from 24 of 32 owners.

With Jody Allen the chair of the Seahawks since the death of her brother, Paul, in 2018, the presence of Neeru Khosla as controlling owner will keep the Seahawks as one of 10 NFL teams that list a woman as either the sole owner, a co-owner or part of a family ownership group.

“That was a nice kind of wrinkle to that," Welch said. “But it seems like it’s going to be a family affair, which isn’t surprising. That’s really common."

Welch said the family’s previous ties to the 49ers should not be a concern.

Vinod has been a season-ticket holder for roughly three decades, often accompanied by son Neal, and their history with the team led them to buy a reported 3.1% share of the 49ers last year (which they will have to sell).

Welch noted it’s become increasingly common for people who are minority owners in one team to later become majority owners of another once they’ve gotten a taste of what the experience is like.

“There’s a lot of ‘Oh, the 49ers are buying the Seahawks,’ and that’s not how it works at all," she said. “It’s way more of a business decision than a fandom decision. You can’t find a better investment and a better return on investment than an NFL team if you have the opportunity and the funds."

While no one questions that the team will stay in Seattle, there have been rumblings that a new ownership group could examine the long-term viability of Lumen Field — which opened in 2002 spearheaded by the vision of Paul — and might at some point want a new stadium somewhere else in the area. The Seahawks have a lease at Lumen through 2031.

“It’s a little bit of kind of fearmongering that will happen any time a new owner comes in," she said.

But if anything, Lumen Field earned rave reviews for its hosting of six World Cup soccer games over the last few weeks might only make it more likely the new group would want to improve Lumen instead of looking elsewhere.

“I think that’s another win and just shows how great being in the city is," she said. “And while there may be updates that need to be done, it seems to me that the money would be better spent on reinvesting it into Lumen and doing some renovations versus trying to do a completely new stadium.

“Again Seattle is so unique because like where are you going to put (a new stadium)? Other places like Atlanta, Kansas City, Illinois there are other spaces. But unless you put it out on the water you are very limited in space (in Seattle).

"And I think the World Cup competition was a really big win for Lumen to keep that space and keep that kind of idea of like Seattle is this unique place where you have an MLB park and NFL park right there in the city and I think the fandom definitely agrees with that."

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