Daniel Snyder reportedly has reached an agreement in principle to sell the NFL’s Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris.
Harris, who also is a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has teamed with fellow billionaire Mitchell Rales in a group that also includes NBA legend Magic Johnson to purchase the team.
The $6.05 billion price would be the highest in NFL history, topping the Denver Broncos’ purchase for $4.65 billion by the Walton-Penner group last year.
The Washington agreement was first reported by Sportico.
The deal isn’t finalized or signed. In fact, Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos is still involved in the process, according to ESPN. But the league’s network reported that “a finalized sale is expected if all goes well.”
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos looked into possibly buying the team from Snyder but never officially submitted a bid.
A sale requires the approval of 24 of the NFL’s 32 ownership groups. Owners are scheduled to meet next May 22-24 in Minneapolis at the spring league meeting.
Assuming a bid is submitted to the league prior, that week should mark the official end of Snyder’s tumultuous ownership of a franchise he originally bought for $800 million in 1999.
The NFL will be glad to be rid of Snyder, although the league seemingly has enabled and protected him, too.
Snyder is under investigation by former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White for alleged sexual misconduct and financial wrongdoing. He has refused to be interviewed in the investigation.
It’s incomprehensible that the investigation hasn’t concluded and resulted in Snyder’s outright removal by his peers.
But in March, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners seemed to be hanging the incomplete investigation over Snyder’s head as incentive for him to sell the team to avoid seeing White’s findings released to the public.
Goodell promised that the NFL would “make the findings public,” but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a point of saying publicly that he wanted White’s findings released whether Snyder sold or not “because I know everything in the report.”
Giants co-owner John Mara, asked if a Washington sale would be good for the NFC East that includes the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles and Commanders, cracked: “The NFC East doesn’t need any help. The NFC East is strong enough.”
Indeed, there is no telling how drastically Washington will improve as a franchise and team with competent ownership. It has been a long time.
Washington, which is in desperate need of a franchise quarterback, conceivably could become a suitor for the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson if he doesn’t agree to a long-term deal with his current team.
Or Harris might make a different kind of big splash for his roster.
Either way, getting Snyder out of Washington is a good start.
