NFL
Exclusive: NFL Insiders Doubt $10B Seahawks Price Tag Amid Bezos Silence
The pending sale of the Seahawks is attracting interest but Amazon's Jeff Bezos is not involved. Speculation suggests the team could fetch $10B, but insiders believe a sale closer to $8.5B is more realistic. Bezos may be eyeing an East Coast team like the Ravens next.
Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks by Ronald Martinez | Getty Images
The pending sale of the Super Bowl winning Seahawks will take considerable time to sort out, though numerous interested parties have already made themselves known to league officials, a group that has yet to include Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, according to league sources.
Bezos also, surprisingly to some given his connections to Washington, was not a bidder for the Commanders on the open market, though it remains something of a fait acompli in league circles that he has designs on joining their billionaire boys club at some point.
While many are linking him to Seattle, and suggesting that team will fetch $10B, top officials for other NFL teams believe neither will end up being the case.
What Are The Seahawks Worth?
While $10B is certainly a nice, round number, it’s also a bit rich.
Execs from the other teams, whose owners are always acutely interested in what their franchise value might be, pegged a sale at close to $8.5B. “Could they get $9B, with the right circumstances … possibly,” said one ownership source. “But I wouldn’t bet on it.”
What might be a safer bet is Bezos lurking for an East Coast team.
The Baltimore Ravens are widely viewed as the team most likely to hit the market after Seattle, with owner Steve Biscotti speaking openly about his intent to sell while he is still young enough to enjoy the spoils, and he will not be handing it down to his children. Perhaps that will strike Bezos’s fancy.
For now, league insiders expect the Seahawks process to move deliberately rather than quickly, with the NFL certain to scrutinise any eventual ownership transition carefully. Even if Bezos ultimately looks elsewhere, his long-rumoured interest in NFL ownership continues to loom large over future franchise sales, meaning any team that does come to market in the coming years will inevitably be viewed through the prism of whether the Amazon founder is finally ready to make his move.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.