
Will the Seattle Seahawks and/or Portland Trail Blazers be sold any time soon as has been widely reported? Doesn’t look like it.
Jody Allen, who’s the chair of both franchises and the trustee of her late brother Paul Allen’s trust, released this rare public statement saying that neither team is being shopped.
Statement from Jody Allen, Chair of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust pic.twitter.com/y3G5aSVhng
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) July 5, 2022
Here’s the full text if you can’t see the tweet:
“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. 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.
“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.”
Both teams are coming off disastrous seasons in which neither of them made the playoffs, marking the first time that both failed to qualify for postseason play in the same season since 2011. The Blazers in particular blew up a good chunk of the roster midseason and shed salary to get under the luxury tax. The big cloud looming over both teams has been speculation over ownership and whether or not there will be sales soon. Nike’s Phil Knight recently submitted a bid to buy the Blazers, but a statement from the Blazers said the team is not for sale.
Oregon-based reporter John Canzano wrote in May that insiders expected the Blazers to be positioned for auction within the next 6-18 months, with the Seahawks following thereafter. One thing to note is that if the Seahawks are sold before May 2024, 10% of the gross sale price would be handed over to the state of Washington, which makes any imminent selling of the Seahawks unlikely.
So for the moment, it looks like Vulcan Inc will remain in charge of the NFL and NBA teams for the foreseeable future. But this is business and anything can change fortunes and decision making quickly.
I’m sure what the fans of both teams want regardless of ownership is to have 2021 be an anomaly and that there will be a return to playoff contention again in the near future.