It was a busy day for the Washington Commanders. Washington introduced new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Eric Bieniemy to the media on Thursday to much fanfare. Several Washington players were in attendance.
However, on Thursday evening, some potentially massive news broke, courtesy of The Washington Post, regarding the sale of the Commanders.
According to Mark Maske, Liz Clarke and Nicki Jhabvala, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has hired an investment firm to look into a potential bid for the NFL franchise. Washington owner Dan Snyder reportedly wants $7 billion for the franchise he purchased in 1999 for $800 million.
Bezos hired Allen & Company, which is based in New York and is known for transactions involving professional sports franchises. Interestingly enough, Allen & Company was also involved in the last two team sales of the Carolina Panthers [2018] and Denver Broncos [2022].
While others have made their interest known in the Commanders, such as Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris, Bezos has remained in the background. Many believe he would sit out the early rounds of bidding and come in late with the winning bid, similar to what the Walton family did with the Broncos last year. The purpose of that strategy is so Bezos isn’t essentially bidding against himself.
Bezos has a net worth of $119 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Harris and at least two other potential buyers have visited Washington’s headquarters in Ashburn, Va.
Dan and Tanya Snyder announced in November that they had hired Bank of America to explore potential transactions of the franchise. While Snyder has never declared his intention to sell the entire team, most around the NFL believe that is the outcome.
Some reports have indicated that Snyder would not sell to Bezos, who owns The Washington Post. However, no one can compete with Bezos if he’s serious about buying the team.
Bezos hiring Allen & Company does not mean he will buy the Commanders, but that he’s exploring the possibility.