The NFL — and Washington fans — are finally getting what they’ve wanted all along: Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is selling the team.
It became official Friday when a statement from Snyder and his wife/co-owner, Tanya, confirmed that, yes, he was selling the team to a group led by Josh Harris. Others confirmed, with statements from Harris and two of his partners, Mark Ein and Magic Johnson, and legendary Washington head coach Joe Gibbs.
While there have been many ups and downs throughout this process, with fans wondering if Snyder would ultimately decide to keep the team, that’s not happening. But there have been hurdles outside of Snyder, mainly the NFL’s stringent rules on new potential owners.
One of those rules requires the new primary owner — in this case, Harris — to pay 30% down in cash. That’s not an easy task unless you’re the Walton family or Jeff Bezos. However, Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils is worth well over $7 billion, while his primary partner, Mitchell Rales, is worth over $6 billion. In addition, Harris has a super-impressive list of investors that also includes Ein, Johnson, the Santo Domingo family, Eric Schmidt and others.
But according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Harris and Rales “may be taking on more than the allowable amount of debt to purchase the team.” This means while the NFL would love to approve the sale tomorrow, it’s not quite that easy as the NFL Finance Committee must vet each of Harris’ partners. Harris, of course, was vetted last year when he was runner-up to the Walton-Penner family for the Denver Broncos.
Breer thinks this Commanders’ purchase highlights some of the flaws in the NFL’s current setup and it could change for future team purchases.
But this sale could be the one that changes how NFL rules read on buying a franchise, mostly because the prices of the teams, in 2023, have skyrocketed to the point where the pool of potential buyers is pretty microscopic. And if guys such as Harris and Rales aren’t ready to pony up the actual cash needed to finish a sale like this one inside the NFL guardrails, that’d probably be a pretty good sign that change should be afoot soon.
Something to keep in mind with the Harris group, they will also be funding a new stadium. So, while they are purchasing the Commanders for $6.05 billion, it’s actually much more considering the work in front of them.
What is clear is that this is an impressive group full of successful businessmen, two of whom [Harris and Johnson] have had success as professional sports owners. The future is full of promise for the Commanders and their long-suffering fans.