Jerry Jones wants Jeff Bezos to buy the Seahawks. Be careful, Jerruh.
In the wake of Paul Allen’s death, there’s been a lot of speculation on the future of the Seahawks franchise. Jeff Bezos is a very interesting possibility.
The death of former Seahawks owner Paul Allen was a sad day for 12s. Of course his impact went far beyond the Seahawks. Portland Trailblazer fans felt the loss too. And if you’ve ever used a computer that isn’t a ginormous room-filling mainframe, Allen had a big impact on your life, too. He will be missed for all he’s done for the community as a whole.
What does his passing mean for the future of the Seahawks? According to many reports, it’s likely the team will be sold. As reported by Jared Cowley of KING 5 News, Allen’s sister doesn’t have sports ownership high on her list of priorities. At least, this is according to Brian Berger, host of Sports Business Radio:
"“There has been a plan in place for the Blazers and Seahawks for a couple of years in the event of Paul Allen’s death,” he tweeted. “Paul’s sister Jody does not want to own either team, according to my sources. So look for both team’s to be sold by Allen’s estate.”"
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There are other reports that Ms. Allen may be very interested in keeping the team. Considering her long-term involvement with the team, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her hang on to the keys to the office. She’s the Vice-Chair of First and Goal, the company that operates CenturyLink Field. And she’s a fan of the team as well. I have a feeling she’ll keep the Seahawks in the family.
But if she does sell, one very interesting name has been mentioned by another NFL owner. No, I’m not talking about Allen’s partner Bill Gates. Although it would be cool if he helped a brother out, right? He’s been mentioned, along with a few other ultra-rich white guys. The big name though is Amazon owner and Medina resident Jeff Bezos.
Bezos is the white whale for the NFL, as they really like really rich guys. And Bezos, currently at least, is the richest. How rich? Well, the current valuation of each NFL team averages $2.57 billion dollars, according to statista.com. This is in line with Forbes, which lists the value of each club individually. Both lists add up to $82.2 billion. That’s a nice bit of change. Even the MegaMillions winner couldn’t buy an NFL team.
But for Jeff Bezos, it’s no sweat. He would only have a little over half his money left if he bought every team in the league. According to time.com, Bezos is worth a cool $166 billion. Jerry Jones, by the way, is a relative pauper worth $5.6 billion. And that’s why I say that Mr. Jones may want to be very careful about his wishes.
Ownership in the NFL is the ultimate show of power equals money. Paul Allen was the wealthiest NFL owner, and he was worth a little over $20 billion. He was respected and admired by his fellow owners, mainly because he earned it. Make no mistake, they paid attention to who the leader in the clubhouse was in the bank account race, too. If Bezos is interested in the Seahawks, his $166 billion is going to speak very loudly indeed.
Bezos is hardly the old school character that Jones is. Jerruh has already been in trouble with the league office. First he was in hot water for his opposition to Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension. Then he put his foot in his cavernous mouth by arguing about the league’s rule regarding anthem protests. Jeff Bezos has the kind of money that could very easily force a combative owner out of the club. Be careful, Mr. Jones, or you may wind up being a footnote in league history.