Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos has reportedly been forced out of the running to purchase the Washington Commanders amid offers falling short of owner Dan Snyder’s $6billion valuation.
According to the New York Post, an unidentified bidder sent Snyder an offer of around $5.5bn at this week’s deadline. This was reportedly similar to the offer submitted by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris, while Bezos allegedly wanted to participate in the auction only to get prevented from doing so by Snyder.
Snyder is seemingly blocking Bezos from buying - and even bidding for - the Commanders as the 59-year-old owns the Washington Post, which published a number of articles exposing the alleged cases of sexual harassment in the NFL franchise. Since he bought the franchise 1999, Snyder has endured a reign littered with accusations of a toxic workplace culture, as well as the lack of success sustained by the team.
Bezos is reportedly looking to sell the Post in order to help facilitate a move for the Commanders. He bought the Post back in 2013 for $250m and is reportedly in negotiations to sell after a leaked video from a town hall meeting of employees showed a conversation on looming layoffs in the first quarter of 2023.
Bezos has reportedly been interested in buying the Commanders for some time, so other NFL team owners could still pressure Snyder to sell the team to Bezos and thus increase the value of all teams despite the owner’s insistence to avoid selling to the Amazon founder. It is expected owners will make a decision on whether Snyder will step away from the team at the annual owners’ meeting, which commences March 26.
Just one day after the it was reported Bezos had hired an investment firm to explore a potential bid for the team, the New York Post published a piece suggesting Snyder may not be interested in selling the team after all. The report claimed the top bids to buy the Commanders fell short of Snyder’s valuation, with Bezos - who has a net worth of $124bn - seemingly ‘benched’ from bidding on the team, which is valued at roughly $5.6bn.
If Snyder agrees a deal to sell the Commanders, the sale would still need to be approved by at least three-quarters of the league's other owners per NFL regulations. The Commanders last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy back in 1992 and are reportedly viewed by potential investors as a sleeping giant given their market.
Commanders fans will be desperate for Snyder to sell as the three-time Super Bowl champions have reached the playoffs just six times since 1999, and current head coach Ron Rivera is the 10th to take the helm since Snyder bought the franchise. The team went 8-8-1 in 2022, finishing bottom of the alarmingly competitive NFC East.
Todd Boehly is also reportedly in the running to bid for the team. The American owns stakes in Major League Baseball franchise Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and he set the record for the most expensive sports team purchase when he paid $5.3bln for Chelsea FC in May 2022.
The record for the most expensive NFL team purchase was also set this year - when the Denver Broncos were bought for $4.65bln.
