Nfl Owners Approve Sale Of Seahawks
Billionaire Paul Allen officially owns the Seattle Seahawks.
NFL owners have approved Allen, the league announced Tuesday.
Allen purchased the team from Ken Behring for $200 million after the state’s voters approved plans for a new $425 million outdoor football stadium in a special election June 17.
Allen, who co-founded the Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates, will become the league’s richest owner with a net worth of approximately $14 billion. He also owns the NBA Portland Trail Blazers.
The vote was at least 23-0, new Seahawks president Bob Whitsitt said after being notified by the NFL in New York.
Thirty ballots were sent to the owners by the league last Friday. All the votes weren’t in by Tuesday afternoon, Whitsitt said.
“The only hurdle left on the table was the NFL,” Whitsitt said.
Whitsitt said he had talked to “quite a few” of the other NFL owners about Allen’s addition to the league.
“Certainly all the ones I’ve met feel that Paul can add a lot of value to the NFL with his expertise in a lot of other areas,” he said. “All the people I’ve met over the last year and a half have made us feel very comfortable.”
The sale of the Seahawks will be completed by next Tuesday, Whitsitt said. Lawyers and accountants are working on it now, he added.
Seahawks waive Innocent
The Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday got their roster down to 60 players by waiving running back Dou Innocent after giving him an injury settlement. The second-year player played four games on special teams last season.
Mum’s the word on no-shows
The Seattle Seahawks will no longer divulge their no-shows.
“I’ve always thought of no-shows as a negative statistic,” Whitsitt said. “You pay the visiting team on tickets sold, not bodies in the building.”
The NFL used to require teams to announce no-shows but, as of this season no longer, requires it.
In going 7-9 last season, the Seahawks had three home crowds of less than 40,000. Those crowds were the number of fans who showed up in the Kingdome.
The Seahawks didn’t have any sellouts last season. The Seahawks have sold 43,000 season tickets for 1997, up from 37,000 last season.