‘Deal’ to sell Commanders for record price

Image: FedExField, Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0

Owner Dan Snyder has a deal in place to sell the National Football League’s (NFL’s) Washington Commanders for the biggest price paid for a North American professional sports team.

‘AP’ stated that a group led by the American investors Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson (American former professional basketball player) reportedly has an agreement in principle to buy the team for a record $6.05 billion.

The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area (US). Formerly known as the Washington Redskins, the team competes in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference East division.

The FedExField is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, 5 miles east of Washington, D.C. (US). The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 until 2010, it had the largest seating capacity in the NFL at over 91,000. As of 2022, the capacity is 67,617.

‘AP’ further stated that few people confirmed the deal was a fully financed, non-exclusive agreement that was not yet signed. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized.

Reliable sources stated that a deal hasn’t been sent to the NFL for approval yet. The league declined to comment.

New York (US)-based the National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

Once the deal is approved, Harris would own controlling stakes in teams in three of the four major North American pro sports leagues. He and David Blitzer have owned the National Basketball Association’s (NBA’s) Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) New Jersey Devils since 2013.

Harris has owned a piece of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, which he needs to sell before getting the Commanders.

The price for the Commanders tops the previous record of $4.65 billion set when Walmart heir Rob Walton’s group bought the NFL team Denver Broncos last year. Johnson, the basketball Hall of Famer who also owns part of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, was also part of Harris’ bid for the Broncos.

Rales, Co-Founder of the American conglomerate company Danaher Corporation and a Maryland resident, and Johnson were relatively late additions to the group. Rales and Harris grew up in Bethesda in the Washington suburbs and give the team local ownership roots.

The sale of the Commanders is pending the execution of a contract and then approval from the rest of the league’s owners, which could happen as soon as their next meeting in Minnesota in May but may take longer. It would need 24 of 32 votes to pass, which is not expected to be a problem after the Broncos sale was unanimously approved and given that Snyder was beginning to fall out of favor with the group.

Snyder bought his boyhood favorite team in 1999 for $750 million and despite mounting criticism repeatedly said he’d never sell. That changed after multiple investigations by the league and Congress into Washington’s workplace misconduct and potential improprieties. The Congressional investigation found Snyder played a role in the toxic culture prevalent.

The NFL team Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay in October last year became the first to suggest there was “merit to remove” Snyder, a nearly unprecedented move that would have also taken a three-quarters majority to happen. Instead, two weeks later, Snyder and wife Tanya hired Bank of America Securities to explore a possible sale of the team.

It quickly became apparent the Snyders, who bought out the previous minority owners in 2021, were not looking to maintain a controlling interest. The Canadian investor Steve Apostolopoulos and the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta were among the other bidders after early interest from Washington-area businessman Todd Boehly and mortgage executive Mat Ishbia, who instead paid $4 billion for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Phoenix Mercury.

The group led by Apostolopoulos was the only other one to submit a fully financed bid.

Lawyers representing over 40 former team employees hailed the news of an agreement in principle, saying it “marks the end of a long, difficult chapter” for their clients and fans. Attorney Lisa Banks and employment lawyer Debra Katz welcomed the new owners and said they “hope a new chapter can truly begin” within the organization.

Lisa Banks represents over 12 former female Washington Football Team employees over the toxic work culture issue. Alongside Lisa Banks, Katz represents 40 former employees of the Washington Commanders. The clients accused the organization of fostering a toxic and abusive work environment for years, in which women were frequently subjected to sexual harassment.

Harris and Rales will soon assume control of a once-storied franchise that has fallen far from its 1980s and early 1990s glory days, when Washington won the Super Bowl three times. With Snyder in charge, the team made the playoffs just six times in 24 seasons, only twice won a postseason game and went 166-226-2 overall.

The new owners will inherit Coach Ron Rivera, who has run Washington’s football operations for three seasons, none with a winning record, including an NFC East title at 7-9 in 2020 followed by a first-round loss.

Their biggest immediate challenge for the long-term future of the organization is a new stadium to replace the FedEx Field, the rushed-to-completion home of the team since 1997 in Landover, Maryland, that has not aged well. Virginia abandoned a stadium Bill last Spring given the number of off-field controversies swirling around the team.

Getting fans back is a major priority after Washington ranked last in the league in attendance in 2022 and were second-last in 2021. The team rebranded last year as the Commanders after dropping the name Redskins in the Summer of 2020 and going by the Washington Football Team for two seasons.

It was not immediately clear what latitude Harris and Rales might have to make their own changes to the team name, logo or other aspects of design, or if they have any interest in changing course when they take over.

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