 In 1996, Behring and Hoffman transferred the team's operations to Anaheim, California–a widely criticized move, although the team continued to play in Seattle.The team almost relocated, and was in bankruptcy for a short period.The NFL threatened Behring with fining him $500,000 a day if he did not move the team's operations back to Seattle; with this, Behring and Hoffman sold the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1997 for $200 million.