ATLANTA — NFL team owners voted unanimously Wednesday to ratify the league-record $9.612 billion sale of the Seahawks, ushering in a new era for the reigning Super Bowl champions following nearly three decades of ownership by the family of late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen.
The owners vote came during a special one-day league meeting at an Atlanta airport hotel. The result was a foregone conclusion after the owners on the NFL’s finance and ownership policy committees voted unanimously last week to recommend approval of the purchase by a group led by the family of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.
The deal is expected to close next month. Allen’s estate announced last month that it had reached an agreement with the Khosla-led group. Khosla’s wife, Neeru Khosla, will serve as the Seahawks’ controlling owner. Their son, Neal Khosla, is to have a role in ownership of the franchise.
The Khosla family holds a minority ownership stake in the 49ers and must divest itself of that interest, although similar situations involving other NFL owners sometimes have taken months to resolve.
The new Seahawks owners have not yet identified the other investors in their ownership group. Under NFL rules, the group can contain no more than 25 investors and the principal owner must hold at least a 30% stake.
