Jodi Allen, President of the Seahawks and Trail Blazers and Member of the Paul G. Allen Trust, issued a statement on Tuesday, with confirmation that neither team is up for sale and that there are no discussions about selling any of the franchises at this time.
“As president of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of. Like my brother Paul, I trust and expect our leaders and coaches to build winning teams that deliver results on and off the field and field,” Allen wrote.
“As mentioned before, neither team is for sale and there are no discussions regarding sales.”
Allen has served as head of both teams and trustee of her brother’s estate since October 2018, following the death of Paul Allen at the age of 65. She acknowledged that her brother had plans to dedicate the “vast majority of his fortune” to charity, but said there was no “predetermined timeline” that would dictate when the franchises would be sold.
“Until then, my focus – and the focus of our teams – is on winning,” Allen said.
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Allen’s strong statement about its immediate plans for the teams comes amid growing speculation that both franchises will be on the market in the near future. At the time of Paul Allen’s death, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported The Seahawks will eventually go on sale.
Recently, Nike founder Phil Knight was reported to have offered to buy the Blazers for more than $2 billion, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The franchise was kept while it was not for sale.
Allen’s latest refusal should calm talks about selling the franchise for now, but it shouldn’t take long for speculation to return.
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