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brady hendersonESPN
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SEATTLE (AP) — Jodi Allen, de facto owner of the NBA’s Seattle Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, said in a statement Tuesday that the teams are not currently for sale but eventually will be.
Allen’s statement follows a report last month by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinsky made an unsolicited offer of more than $2 billion to buy the blazers. Judy Allen has been the guardian of the Paul G. Allen Trust since the death of her brother, the Microsoft co-founder, in 2018.
“As president of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of,” Allen’s statement read. “Like my brother Paul, I trust and hope that our leaders and coaches build winning teams that deliver results on and off the field and on and off the field.
“As mentioned above, none of the equipment is for sale and there are no discussions about sales.
“There will come a time when these changes will be in light of Paul’s plans to dedicate the vast majority of his fortune to charity, but properties of this size and complexity can take 10-20 years to complete. There is no predetermined timeframe in which teams can sell them.
“Until then, my focus, and the focus of our teams, is to win.”
In a statement last month, a Blazers spokesman confirmed Knight’s offer and said the team is “not for sale.” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said last month about the possibility of Allen selling the Seahawks: “She didn’t like the idea at all. I never heard her say that.”
But Allen’s statement represents the first official acknowledgment that the Seahawks are not for sale, while clarifying that the Trust plans to eventually sell both teams in accordance with Paul Allen’s wishes.
A clause in Paul Allen’s deal to buy the Seahawks in 1997 could make it unlikely the team will be sold in the next 22 months. According to the Sports Business Journal, a sale before May 2024 will qualify the state of Washington for 10% of the total proceeds.
Last summer, Forbes ranked the Seahawks as the 12th most valuable franchise in the NFL with an estimated $3.5 billion. The Denver Broncos have since reached an agreement to sell him for $4.65 billion. The Broncos ranked 10th on Forbes’ 2021 list with an estimated $3.75 billion.
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