Amazon founder Jeff Bezos cannot bid for the Washington Commanders, the team’s banker, Bank of America, said the billionaire, a person briefed on the sale process, confirmed to The Athletic.
The person added that Bezos’ bid ban has been a reality for months.
Bezos owns The Washington Post, which ran a series of stories documenting a culture of sexual harassment on the team that ultimately helped build sales pressure. But beyond that, team owner Daniel Snyder has long felt those close to him have said over the years that the paper was trying to oust him from the NFL.
“It’s a free country, he can sell to whoever he wants,” said the person briefed on the sale process. Bezos didn’t have access to the team’s finances because he’s barred from applying.
The New York Post first reported Friday that Snyder kept Bezos out of the sale process, adding that the Commanders owner could choose to retain control of the franchise he’s owned since 1999 if bids don’t reach his desired price .
However, a person close to the situation told The Athletic that activity has “ramped up” with the potential sale.
The Athletic also confirmed a Washington Post report that Bezos has been working with banking firm Allen & Co. while he ponders an offer.
Commander Coach Ron Rivera completed a month-long search for an offensive coordinator last week. The new signing, former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, asked Rivera and team president Jason Wright for clarification on the franchise sale during the meeting.
“That’s part of what I certainly had to answer,” Wright said Thursday after Bieniemy’s introductory press conference. “And that’s my job, right? I’m the closest. Eric, like the rest of us, sees the transition as good for the organization… There is nothing but benefits for the organization and we are already having a lot of success rebuilding the football side of the business from where we started when Ron took over. “
Bezos didn’t submit an offer in the recently concluded first round of bids.
Those bids reportedly totaled less than $6 billion, although sports banking and legal professionals said some may be higher than that number.
Previously, the market said Snyder would accept no less than $7 billion, a figure that now appears to have dropped to $6 billion. That’s still $1.35 billion more than the Denver Broncos sold last year, a record for a professional sports team. While the Broncos are in a smaller market, the Commanders’ attendance and market reputation are among the worst in the NFL.
Under intense pressure to cede the club after waves of scandals and negative attention, Snyder announced in November that the club had hired Bank of America to conduct a process that could result in a full or partial sale of the team, though doubts remain insist that he will follow through.
Those doubts are fueled further by the exclusion of Bezos and the news that bidding may not have reached Snyder’s preferred threshold.
“This is playing out exactly as many feared,” a sports attorney said of the scenario that Snyder would set an unrealistic price threshold, exclude the richest bidder and not sell the team.
Among the bidders are the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils and Crystal Palace partner Josh Harris. Other potential bidders reported include some who fell short at the Broncos, including media investor Byron Allen and Clearlake Capital founders Behdad Eghbali and José Feliciano. Harris also bid on the Broncos.
The Athletic previously reported Harris recently toured the team’s facilities. Two tours involving potential bidders have taken place, a person close to the situation told The Athletic.
Wright said Bieniemy asked as many questions about Washington’s directors as the team sought information from its eventual new play-caller.
“I mean, of course, the question of stability, organization and the transaction process and the sale and all those other things,” Wright said. “For someone who will be a close colleague and a leader committed to taking us to a championship, it was important to be able to answer these.”
The Commanders and Snyder are the subject of an NFL-led investigation into sexual harassment and workplace misconduct, as well as an investigation into concerns that he withheld revenue that was to be shared with other owners. Both are overseen by former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White.
It’s been over a year since the NFL commissioned White to investigate, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has repeatedly said the league has no control over when its investigations are complete. Some are skeptical of this claim, believing the findings of the investigations could be brushed aside if Snyder sells, or threatened with release if he resists the sale.
Colts owner Jim Irsay was the first of Snyder’s peers to publicly say there is merit for a fall at the league’s fall meetings last year, telling reporters in New York there “may” be enough support from other owners will to have Snyder removed.
It would take 24 of the 32 owners to vote to oust one of their peers, an event unheard of in any league in the US
If it comes to that, Snyder will be sure to argue he can’t get a fair price for the team because he’s being forced to sell, and bidders know that, said a sports investment banker who asked not to be known because he had deals in the past with the team. NFL owners will want to see the highest price because it affects the ratings of their own franchises.
How Bezos’s expulsion fits into this narrative, however, is unclear. And it’s always possible that the NFL will pressure Snyder to let Bezos bid.
Bezos’ Amazon is an NFL affiliate through its show of Thursday Night Football. And there are even rumors that Bezos could sell the Post, though it’s uncertain if that’s enough for Snyder and his apparent visceral dislike for anything to do with the newspaper.
(Photo by Jeff Bezos: Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)