Washington Commanders Set to Have New Owner

 It might be the NFL offseason, but this is a league that never takes a rest, and that has been the case this offseason as well. While most teams are only looking to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft, there are other teams with much bigger issues.

It won’t be long until looking at NFL player stats will start to become a part of the daily routine, but there is still some time remaining. The Washington Commanders will be a team looking to bring in better players this offseason, but they have already made a big change in the organization.

The Washington Commanders were for sale this offseason, and a new buyer has emerged. NFL franchises don’t come up for sale often, and there were plenty of groups that put together a bid to buy the franchise.

Current owners Dan and Tanya Snyder have accepted a bid worth more than $6 billion from a group that is led by Josh Harris. This is the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise, but that record could fall the next time that a sale is made.

The group that agreed to purchase the Washington Commanders was led by Josh Smith, and he also co-owns teams in the NBA and NHL. This agreement is non-exclusive, which means that there is still a chance that another group could swoop in and buy the team.

Any change in ownership has to be approved by the other NFL owners, and that vote isn’t going to take place until May 22 at the earliest. This purchase price shatters the previous record that was set last year when the Denver Broncos were sold for $4.85 billion.

Dan Snyder has run into all kinds of trouble over the last few years, and the league has continued to investigate him for how he ran his franchise. The other owners want Snyder out of the league, but those owners are also particular about who they allow into their group.

Any deal would also include FedEx Field, and the current practice facility. Washington has been trying to secure a new stadium closer to Washington D.C., but those discussions have been stalled by the presence of the Snyder family.

Other Groups Could Make Late Push

Since this was a non-exclusive agreement signed by Harris and the Snyder family, other groups are going to continue to try to sneak into the negotiations. It’s going to come at an even bigger price tag, and it’s unclear if anyone is willing to pay that price.

Steve Apostolopoulos, a Canadian billionaire is trying to lead a group to purchase the team as well, and he is expected to continue to push hard. It’s unclear who else is a part of the group with Apostolopoulos, but he has been outspoken about trying to break into the ownership group in the NFL.

Tilman Fertitta was also involved in this sale process, and he is the current owner of the Houston Rockets. There were other groups involved in the bidding war, but most were forced to back out as the price just continued to grow.

Bezos Chooses to Back Out

There was some initial interest from Jeff Bezos to pursue ownership of the Washington Capitals, but that is no longer going to be the case. On Wednesday, Bezos reportedly backed out of the bidding as he wasn’t able to secure a large enough team to make it a worthwhile venture.

An initial report detailed a plan by the Snyder family to keep Bezos out of the bidding process, but the Snyders denied that report. There did appear to be a conflict of interest as Bezos owns the Washington Post, and that newspaper wrote several daming reports about Snyder and what went on behind the scenes.

Getting Bezos out of the mix was a huge boost to the group led by Josh Harris, as he wouldn’t have been able to compete with the kind of money Bezos could have paid. Magic Johnson is a part of the group led by Harris, but he would only be a minority owner if this deal went through.