“Feel Sad”: Seahawks Owner Vinod Khosla Makes His Stance Clear on Moving the Team Away From Seattle

When Vinod Khosla – the new owner of the Seattle Seahawks – spoke to Axios’ Dan Primack for an interview recently, he faced an interesting question: Will he make a commitment to “keeping the team in Seattle long-term?” Khosla’s answer had already made his intentions perfectly clear, but the opening words of his answer caused a frenzy in the NFL community.

“I will never say never,” Khosla told Primack. “Will this team be in Seattle 500 years from now? But I have no current plans to change anything about the team, including the coach, president, operation or Lumen Field. It all functions well.”

As the media houses ran with the quote, it sparked a buzz about a potential relocation looming for the Seahawks in the near future. Naturally, the 12s were worried about losing their team – the same team they’d held a Super Bowl victory parade for just this February. The online reactions prompted Vinod Khosla to issue a public statement addressing the fanbase’s concerns and called out the media narratives in the same breath.

“To all Seahawks fans and 12s, we have no plans to move the team, have never discussed it, haven’t even thought about it. End of story. I’ve said repeatedly we have no plans to change anything. Feel sad for the reporters looking for views and clicks who distort my answer out of context and sent an entire city into a spiral for no reason.”

Now, even as Khosla issues this clarification, many were quick to point that since he’s an NFL owner, every statement and every public appearance from him will be inadvertently tied to the team’s identity. But in his defense, in that Axios interview, he did make it absolutely clear that he’s not changing anything.

Furthermore, Seattle doesn’t really have an immediate concern owing to the fact that their lease on the Lumen Field runs through 2032. The team even has the option of renewing this lease thrice for a duration of a decade each time. To add to this, Vinod Khosla was also asked if he’s planning on renovations or moving to a new stadium when the lease expires in ‘32. But Khosla also shut that down.

“Three months ago I wasn’t even thinking about buying an NFL team. Now, I ended up with a Super Bowl-winning team with one of the most amazing fan bases. But I know very little about running a team. I don’t think I’ll do anything but learn for a while.”

As the Seahawks host the Los Angeles Chargers for Week 4 in Lumen Field, with the air officially cleared out, the 12s can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing their team isn’t going anywhere, and focus on cheering for them instead.

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