7 ms·

Vinod Khosla to Buy Seattle Seahawks for $9.6B

23 points by kpw94 2mo ago

ulfw 2mo ago
Billionaires and their toys
- khurs 2mo ago
  Is it? A lot of sports businesses are businesses - sports fans are willing to pay, and pay and pay to support their team. Few businesses have that kind of customer loyalty for life - even if the product sucks (team is doing badly for decades), the customer still shows up unlike most other business where the customer would leave. And if the previous owner did't maximise revenue it could be an opportunity. Investors from all over the world for example are buying European Soccer teams, and valuation of the company over time goes up.
  - shonenknifefan1 2mo ago
    NFL teams might even be a better investment than European soccer teams since they have a monopoly over professional football in a region, and are not susceptible to significantly decreased valuation that might result from being relegated to a lower league.
skybrian 2mo ago
I wonder what the Allen estate will do with the money?
- zeafoamrun 2mo ago
  Reopen the Living Computers Museum!
  - zeafoamrun 2mo ago
    Oh it's actually been liquidated now https://www.geekwire.com/2024/paul-allen-estate-sells-remaining-living-computers-artifacts-and-systems-to-museum-near-atlanta/ https://www.geekwire.com/2024/paul-allen-estate-sells-remain...
  - rasz 2mo ago
    Didnt put it in his will. Allen seemed to live in the moment, Carpe Diem. Didnt even bother to invest more than 1% of his wealth to study lymphoma when he established Allen Institute.
- mulmen 2mo ago
  In accordance with his will they will fund his “passion projects”. His list of favorites is probably different than yours. Being disappointed about that is not new.
- skybrian 2mo ago
  Looks like the Allen Family Philanthropies has given away about $500 million so far and has about $100 million in “active” grants. I guess they will be giving away a lot more? https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/who-we-are#reports https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/who-we-are#reports
484994949595 2mo ago
[flagged]
Cider9986 2mo ago
Sports/streaming is marketed to investors as more piracy-resistant–it's not. If you're interested: https://fmhy.net/video#live-tv-sports https://fmhy.net/video#live-tv-sports It's insane how bad the destruction of ownership and subscriptions are, now, when piracy is a significant force and anyone can watch anything for free with the right link and an ad-blocker. Imagine what it'd be like without piracy as competition. The greed is infinite.

23 points by kpw94 2mo ago

ulfw 2mo ago

Billionaires and their toys

khurs 2mo ago
Is it? A lot of sports businesses are businesses - sports fans are willing to pay, and pay and pay to support their team. Few businesses have that kind of customer loyalty for life - even if the product sucks (team is doing badly for decades), the customer still shows up unlike most other business where the customer would leave. And if the previous owner did't maximise revenue it could be an opportunity. Investors from all over the world for example are buying European Soccer teams, and valuation of the company over time goes up.
- shonenknifefan1 2mo ago
  NFL teams might even be a better investment than European soccer teams since they have a monopoly over professional football in a region, and are not susceptible to significantly decreased valuation that might result from being relegated to a lower league.

skybrian 2mo ago

I wonder what the Allen estate will do with the money?

zeafoamrun 2mo ago
Reopen the Living Computers Museum!
- zeafoamrun 2mo ago
  Oh it's actually been liquidated now https://www.geekwire.com/2024/paul-allen-estate-sells-remaining-living-computers-artifacts-and-systems-to-museum-near-atlanta/ https://www.geekwire.com/2024/paul-allen-estate-sells-remain...
- rasz 2mo ago
  Didnt put it in his will. Allen seemed to live in the moment, Carpe Diem. Didnt even bother to invest more than 1% of his wealth to study lymphoma when he established Allen Institute.
mulmen 2mo ago
In accordance with his will they will fund his “passion projects”. His list of favorites is probably different than yours. Being disappointed about that is not new.
skybrian 2mo ago
Looks like the Allen Family Philanthropies has given away about $500 million so far and has about $100 million in “active” grants. I guess they will be giving away a lot more? https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/who-we-are#reports https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/who-we-are#reports

484994949595 2mo ago

[flagged]

Cider9986 2mo ago

Sports/streaming is marketed to investors as more piracy-resistant–it's not. If you're interested: https://fmhy.net/video#live-tv-sports https://fmhy.net/video#live-tv-sports It's insane how bad the destruction of ownership and subscriptions are, now, when piracy is a significant force and anyone can watch anything for free with the right link and an ad-blocker. Imagine what it'd be like without piracy as competition. The greed is infinite.