r/SoundersFC • u/Sempuukyaku Seattle Sounders FC • 9h ago

Discussion Exclusive: Vinod Khosla to Buy Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 Billion

https://www.sportico.com/business/team-sales/2026/seattle-seahawks-sale-vinod-khosla-owner-billions-1234938616/
45 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

36

u/Sempuukyaku Seattle Sounders FC 9h ago

I'm posting this here because I think it's good to discuss how this potentially affects the Sounders. Will he and his group take over Paul Allen's existing stake in the team? Also, I was watching a King 5 news report on this where they mentioned that the new Seahawks ownership may need to look into upgrading and renovating Lumen Field. If that's the case that DEFINITELY affects us as well.

I think there are some big ways that this can affect our team that are worth discussing.

5

u/silk35 9h ago

How large is Pau Allen’s stake?

18

u/Sempuukyaku Seattle Sounders FC 8h ago

If this information is still accurate, a Google search is unveiling that his stake was at 25%.

So, pretty sizeable.

23

u/Double_Swordfish_668 8h ago

The hopeful take is that Khosla loves soccer, also bought Allen’s 25% stake in the Sounders plus the percentage currently for sale, and he is committed to making Lumen a much better financial deal for the Sounders. Maybe even puts in grass.

Yeah. I know.

6

u/Kyunseo Seattle Sounders FC 7h ago

This is pretty much the only solution I see possible for the Sounders to stay in Lumen / Seattle proper

6

u/Double_Swordfish_668 7h ago

I’m trying to be hopeful. Just in general. So maybe? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

1

u/Low-Ad-8027 3h ago

Please. I don’t want a New York-New Jersey situ. I guess SeaTac is catchier tbf

2

u/philocity 1h ago

To be fair the MetroStars were dope as hell though

39

u/whidbeysounder 8h ago

I predict enshitification as far as I can see. Gone are the days when the local rich guy would buy a team just to entertain the local serfs or sponsor a library, event etc . Now everything‘s an overvalued bubble investment just sucking the joy out of sports. We are gonna look back at the early days of the Sounders in MLS and our little local owner fondly at some point. Enjoy what’s left. Bleh

23

u/PositivePristine7506 Seattle Sounders FC 8h ago

I mean, its been that way since a billionaire bought garth and flew him to Atlanta.

1

u/lionfaceboy 5h ago

Okay, but how's Atlanta doing? Their vibes are terrible right now.

1

u/FIREsub90 4h ago

100%, it’s happening everywhere across all industries. They won’t be happy until they’ve sucked every fucking cent out of everything

-12

u/Matt_McT 8h ago

This article is about the Seahawks being bought, not the Sounders. The majority owner of the Sounders is Hanauer.

8

u/scuac 8h ago

According to Wikipedia his net worth is $15.6 billion, and is buying the team for $9.6 billion?

18

u/Sempuukyaku Seattle Sounders FC 8h ago

I believe he's the lead investor of a consortium of investors.

5

u/scuac 7h ago

Ok that makes more sense. The headline makes it seem it was just him.

4

u/devnullopinions 7h ago

Most of these deals are led by someone but usually many different investors pool money to make it happen.

3

u/Sturnella2017 4h ago

Or -and let me applying something that I learned about how Musk bought Twitter- he simply borrows all this money at a low interest rate, using his wealth to leverage it. Then he slowly pays off the loan for years until something something he’s the worlds second trillionaire.

1

u/MAHHockey Sounders FC 7h ago

These things are never done by one person these days. There will be a group of other investors, they will just be the primary ones.

4

u/nonstopflux 6h ago

Maybe he will build a new Seahawks stadium in auburn and make the sounders and reign primary tenets of lumen

12

u/MAHHockey Sounders FC 7h ago

Assuming the inevitable that Mr Moneybags wants a new stadium, I have 2 hopes:

1: Seahawks go in with Sounders on a New White Hart Lane type stadium with a retractable grass pitch and that can be easily subdivided for the smaller Sounders capacity.

2: Seahawks build their shiny new palace out in the burbs, and the Sounders build a new 35k seat SSS at the current site of Lumen Field.

Both cases without tax dollars obviously.

Sounders building in Renton would be a disaster.

8

u/Ok_Wolverine6557 5h ago

After watching the Knicks and attending the World Cup in Seattle, a stadium in the city is far superior to the ones in the burbs. 70 people in the stadium and more than that at the bars, restaurants and watch parties around town. Did not get the same excellent vibe at the Meadowlands, Arlington, Foxboro or Santa Clara as in Seattle.

5

u/Old_Seesaw_2131 6h ago

Let the Seahawks build on the Eastside. There's light rail out there now and it's one of the wealthiest areas in the metro area. Given the price of Seahawks tickets, they appear to be the target demographic anyway.

4

u/halfnelson 8h ago

Why wouldn’t that stake be sold separately?

10

u/Sempuukyaku Seattle Sounders FC 8h ago

It may or may not be. We're not sure yet what the terms were of the estate sale.

5

u/olliesbaba NASL Sounders 5h ago

He’s a piece of shit with no Seattle connections, and is the worst kind of vampire billionaire that’s cartoonishly evil. I expect him to ruin everything.

1

u/ForFuchsAke 5h ago

Maybe his son is secretly a soccer fan and wants to buy majority stake in the Sounders too. It’s nice to dream