Washington Commanders fans are excited, thinking the day has arrived; Daniel Snyder is actually going to sell! Will he actually go through with it?
Mike Ozanian of Forbes broke the story that Daniel Snyder has hired Bank of America Securities to consider potential transactions. He was a guest Wednesday on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
Ozanian believes at this point all options really will be considered. Snyder might be ready to cash in and sell the entire franchise were he to receive a good offer from someone who can actually afford it.
Yet, Ozanian was clear from the outset that this newest development could mean only that if someone comes along and offers to buy ten percent of the franchise, the Snyders could use that cash back toward the team.
Why now, Sheehan inquired. Ozanian pointed to the rebranding to Commanders has resulted in their sponsorship revenue being up 20 percent. “It’s a good time if you own a team to raise some capital.”
Sheehan contested Ozanian on this, stating as long as Snyder is the majority owner of the franchise, the business arrow is not going to be pointing upward for long.
If it's real, if Snyder truly is gone, it'll be the best sports day since _________? I don't know if it beats the 2 titles but it would mean so much. My kids can be Washington football fans. We could go to games like my dad & I used to. We could look forward to seasons again.
— Danny Rouhier (@funnydanny) November 2, 2022
“The NFL (pause) we can’t look at it anymore as ticket money and TV money. What deals does it get you into in terms of technology? What deals does it enable you to be linked with in sports betting? ”
Sheehan accurately pointed to the Washington franchise being an exception because, “so much of this fan base is already gone and won’t come back until he is gone.” Sheehan did agree the demographics of the DMV market are very attractive.
Ozanian reminded listeners that NFL rules require that a managing partner who intends to buy the team for controlling interest has to put 30 percent down. Thus, there are not many out there right now who could do that.
Is there enough support among NFL owners to put out Snyder by vote? Ozanian also suggested that Snyder may be simply trying to stay out in front, ensuring for now there is not a vote among fellow NFL owners to force Snyder to sell.
Snyder owning land around both FedEx Field and the Ashburn facility, holds very attractive assets for a new owner. It’s also in a very high net worth of the country.
Ozanian warned that he does not see Snyder selling the entire team unless he were to receive an offer for upwards to $8B. For potential purchasers, Ozanian suggests looking on the Forbes 400 Rich list, who are billionaires.
On the field, the team has not won a playoff game since the 2005 season. The almost unanimous consensus of the fan base for a decade now is that Snyder must go.
