SANTA CLARA, Calif. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that the Seattle Seahawks were fined $5 million due to their ownership structure not being in compliance with league bylaws.
Speaking at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference, Goodell called the report of the fine “not true.”
According to the report, the NFL has been pressuring Jody Allen to sell the Seahawks because of a league rule that requires an individual to be the controlling owner of a franchise. The Seahawks and NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers have been owned by the Paul G. Allen Trust since the former owner and Microsoft co-founder died of cancer in 2018. Jody Allen, his sister, took control of the teams, and as the chair of the trust, she has a directive from her brother to eventually sell them and donate the proceeds to charitable efforts.
The Blazers are in the process of being sold after a deal was reached last summer.
The WSJ reported last week that the NFL gave Allen an extended grace period to sell the Seahawks due to a clause in Paul Allen’s agreement to build the stadium now known as Lumen Field. It stipulated that if the team were to be sold before a now-passed date — a source familiar with the clause told ESPN that it was in spring 2025 — then the state of Washington would be entitled to 10% of the sale proceeds.
But with that clause no longer in effect, the WSJ reported that the NFL fined the Seahawks for continued noncompliance with ownership guidelines. The story also cited the league denying the fine.
Bert Kolde, the vice chair of the Seahawks, attended Goodell’s news conference and declined to comment afterward on the WSJ report.
The Seahawks are facing the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The WSJ story was published after ESPN reported Friday that the Seahawks are expected to be put up for sale after the Super Bowl. The Paul G. Allen Trust released a statement Friday saying the team is not currently for sale and reiterated what Jody Allen has said in the past — that it eventually will be sold.
“I think when Paul Allen passed away, it was made very clear that as a matter of the trust, that the team would eventually be sold,” Goodell said Monday. “Jody is doing a great job of managing the team. Bert’s here. They’ve done a great job. They’re in the Super Bowl. I think from that standpoint, they’ve done a really important job in the context of the trust and the execution of that. But eventually, the team will need to be sold in accordance with that. That’ll be Jody’s decision when she does that, and we will be supportive of that.”
Paul Allen bought the Seahawks from Ken Behring in 1997, saving the team from a potential relocation to Southern California. Allen initially agreed to an option to buy the team on the condition that voters pass a referendum to foot the majority of the bill for a new stadium. Referendum 48 eventually passed with 51% of the vote.
Kolde was asked about whether he or Jody Allen could potentially maintain a stake in the team once it’s sold.
“Not going to get into all of that detail,” he said. “The Allen family put a lot into saving the Seahawks, keeping them in Seattle. We campaigned around the state. The voters agreed with us, and we put together Lumen Field and we delivered on everything we promised in that campaign — the team, the stadium … the Sounders launched as the most successful MLS soccer team, the World Cup is coming — we talked about World Cup back in that campaign. We’ve been all about sports in this community for decades.”
Kolde was asked whether the Seahawks learned anything useful from the Washington Commanders‘ sale in 2023.
“We studied all the sales of all teams,” he said. “That’s something we keep abreast of. But I’ll keep our conclusions to ourselves.”
Kolde was asked whether a Super Bowl appearance — or potentially a win — would impact the Seahawks’ sale price. The Boston Celtics were sold in 2025 for a valuation of $6.1 billion. That was after the team won an NBA title.
“I can’t predict that,” he said, “but I think the Celtics’ championship helped the Celtics’ sale price quite a bit.”
Kolde said the Blazers’ sale is on track to close in the spring.
ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler and Seth Wickersham contributed to this report.
