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Bank of America, the investment bank hired by Commanders co-owners Dan and Tanya Snyder, is moving forward with the process for them to consider offers to purchase all or part of the team, per The Washington Post. The bank is set to send what amounts to a prospectus for the team to qualified potential buyers who agree to confidentiality.
According to the Post, they are most likely to sell the entire franchise. Any sale, whether it’s the entire franchise or a minority share, must be approved by at least three-quarters of the other NFL team owners.
The team first announced in November that the co-owners hired Bank of America to potentially sell all or part of the franchise. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the team is expected to sell for at least $5 billion, with the possibility of the price tag reaching $6 billion or $7 billion. The record sale for an NFL team was when the Broncos were sold in August for $4.65 billion.
What’s more, Dan Snyder bought out his three limited partners in March 2021 for $875 million. That transaction required the other NFL owners to grant Snyder a waiver to take on an additional $450 million in debt, which he must repay by ’28 if he remains owner. Per the Post, Snyder will face difficulty finding an investor willing to pay $1 billion to $2 billion to be his junior business partner unless the deal guarantees an opportunity to “buy him out” and become the full or principal owner at a future date.
The announcement in hiring Bank of America came after Colts owner Jim Irsay said Snyder should be removed from his position and that he believes there are enough owners’ votes to remove him as the Commanders’ co-owner. His comments came in the wake of an ESPN story published Oct. 13 saying Snyder told a close associate he has enough information to “blow up” several NFL owners, the league office and commissioner Roger Goodell. Per the report, Snyder has used private investigators to look into several NFL team owners and Goodell, the same tactics Snyder is said to have used within his own franchise.
As recently as Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation into the Commanders and Dan Snyder was released, finding that the embattled co-owner gave “misleading testimony” and the NFL “buried” Beth Wilkinson’s report and findings. Wilkinson investigated allegations of sexual harassment within the Washington franchise but her findings were never released. They were instead only verbally orally to Goodell and the NFL.
The recent report also found that Snyder “permitted and participated in” troubling conduct. The 79-page report, titled, “How the NFL and the Washington Commanders Covered Up Decades of Sexual Misconduct,” was a culmination of more than yearlong investigation by the committee into workplace misconduct and sexual harassment allegations within the Washington franchise.
