Washington Commanders fetch would-be-record bids of $6 billion
Two teams – one led by billionaire Josh Harris and one other by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos – have formally submitted bids to buy the Washington Commanders, marking a major step towards longtime proprietor Daniel Snyder’s potential sale of the workforce.
ESPN first reported Tuesday that the absolutely financed bids each meet Snyder’s “asking worth” of $6 billion. If both is accepted by Snyder and authorized by NFL house owners, it might shatter the earlier report sale worth for an NFL franchise of $4.65 billion, set final 12 months in Rob Walton and Greg Penner’s purchase of the Denver Broncos.
Forbes has valued the Commanders at $5.6 billion.
Spokespeople for Harris and the Commanders declined to remark to USA TODAY Sports activities, whereas makes an attempt to succeed in spokespeople for Apostolopoulos had been unsuccessful.
Harris has lengthy been within the combine as a possible bidder for the Commanders. He expressed curiosity in buying the Broncos previous to final 12 months’s sale, per a number of experiences, and is a part of possession teams for a number of different sports activities franchises, together with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
Billionaire Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson are additionally a part of Harris’ potential possession group. Rales, like Harris, grew up within the Washington space.
Houston Rockets proprietor Tilman Fertitta is also within the image as potential bidders, based on The Related Press.
Information of the Harris group’s bid got here on the ultimate day of the NFL annual league assembly in Phoenix, and roughly 5 months after the Commanders introduced that Snyder and his spouse, Tanya, had hired a bank to explore “potential transactions” with the workforce.
“I believe he’s put the workforce up on the market. I consider that one thing is near occurring,” New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft instructed reporters Monday. “I don’t know that for certain. We’ll wait and see what occurs.”
Snyder’s household bought the workforce in 1999. In recent times, he and the Commanders have been the topic of quite a few investigations relating to allegations of office harassment, misconduct and monetary impropriety. Two of these probes have been commissioned by the NFL and one, led by Mary Jo White, is ongoing.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
