It’s not over until its over
The Washington Post is reporting that Bank of America, who were hired by Dan Snyder to assess a potential sale of part or all of the Washington Commanders, is going to release a prospectus on the franchise to qualified potential buyers. On November 2nd, news of the potential sale broke and Washington fans everywhere celebrated. Snyder would not confirm whether he, and his wife and co-CEO Tanya, would sell the entire team, or were looking to sell a minority stake, but all options were left on the table.
Snyder has been under enormous pressure from fans and other NFL owners to sell the team that he bought for $800 million in 1999. He has faced multiple investigations into the team’s toxic workplace over the last two decades, and alleged financial improprieties. State and federal governments, the House Oversight Committee, and the NFL have, and/or continue to investigate Snyder and the organization.
There has not been a lot of news recently on the movement on the sale, but there has been plenty of speculation about potential new owners, especially a reported pairing of Amazon founder, and Washington Post owner, Jeff Bezos with rapper and businessman Jay-Z. With the slow news cycle there was some speculation reported by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. It included Snyder not really intending to sell, and possibly flushing out Bezos as a potential buyer who was running a smear campaign. Bezos is someone Peter King said Snyder would never sell to. PFT’s story also said buyers were meeting resistance in the process.
Today’s news is a big step in the right direction if you want Snyder to become the former owner of the Washington Commanders. The Post makes it clear that this move does not mean a full sale is happening, and the Snyder’s intentions likely won’t be revealed.
The investment bank hired by Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is moving forward with the process for him to consider offers to purchase all or part of his franchise. Bank of America is poised to send what amounts to a prospectus for the team to qualified potential buyers who agree to the confidentiality provisions, according to two people with knowledge of the process.
While those materials likely will not specify whether Snyder intends to sell the entire franchise or a portion of it, four people familiar with the process said they believe a full sale is the most likely outcome. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the level of secrecy surrounding the deliberations.
One person expressed the belief that it no longer is feasible for Snyder to inform fellow NFL owners that he plans to keep control of the team and sell only a minority share. Any sale, whether it involves the entire team or a portion of it, must be approved by at least three-quarters of the other NFL team owners.
Those owners were conducting their quarterly meeting Wednesday at a Dallas-area hotel. Snyder was not in attendance. The team was represented Tanya Snyder, his wife and the Commanders’ co-CEO, and team president Jason Wright.