Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen hasn't always made the right investment decisions. Anyone remember Metricom, Charter Communications or Mercata? But there's one investment that's done pretty well for the billionaire over the past decade or so: The Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks -- which Allen bought for $194 million in 1997 -- is now valued at $989 million, according to a special report on NFL valuations by Forbes. The Seahawks ranked 19th in terms of overall value, and it was one of only 12 teams in the NFL which did not lose value over the past year. (The tough economy forced the average team value to fall two percent to $1.02 billion).

Paul Allen

And the good news for Allen is that the team's value held up despite a miserable performance on the gridiron last year. (The Hawks went 5-11, and canned first-year coach Jim Mora shortly after the season ended).

With former USC coach Pete Carroll now in charge, the Hawks are hoping to return to their winning ways. And winning teams -- especially those which regularly make the playoffs -- are more valuable.

And just imagine what would happen to the value of the team if the Hawks returned to the Super Bowl. Probably won't happen this year, but you can dream, right?

The most valuable team in the NFL remains the Dallas Cowboys, with a value of $1.8 billion, according to Forbes. They are followed by the Washington Redskins, New England Patriots and New York Giants.

[Hat tip to the PSBJ]