PHOENIX – Dan Snyder will soon have $6 billion and a $6 reputation.
The Washington Commanders will soon be sold to a new owner, and sources say Snyder could figure out who to pick within a week or three.
Multiple sources tell CBS Sports there are as many as four bidders for the team at this point. Josh Harris and Steve Apostolopoulos have agreed to hit the magic $6 billion mark, according to ESPN, and Tilman Fertitta is sticking with it despite not yet having to tour the team’s facilities officially.
Sources also say there is a mysterious fourth bidder, but there are no further details on who it might be.
NFL team owners and executives here at NFL league meetings have been encouraged not to speak about Snyder in the media. Colts owner Jim Irsay surprised the league with his October comments when he said there was “merit” to remove Snyder, but he has since backed down from the strong language in interviews.
That’s because everyone just wants this to get done. Snyder wants to sell. His co-owners want him to sell. The league office wants to sell him. Commanders fans want new owners. There’s little reason to nudge the bear at this point, weeks after a resolution.
“The briefing [from the NFL] was, if we find out anything, we’ll let you know,” said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at the end of the meetings.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank told a small group of reporters he believes Snyder has moved to London and he and his wife Tanya reportedly changed legal residency earlier this year. His son Gerry is no longer on the Appalachian State football roster, and a school boy confirmed he is not enrolled at the university this semester. Snyder has a DC-area property for sale on the market and has vacated property offices.
“The league is doing everything we can to support the Snyders in this transaction and transition,” Blank said. “I saw Tanya this morning and wished her well, Dan too. I think her family moved to London I think. We’ll see what will happen. He is a young man, his children are young, his wife is young and they have a lifetime ahead of them. I certainly wish them all the best.”
Additionally, there has never been any real appetite among NFL team owners to vote Snyder out. That was always seen as a nuclear option, but the team owners had the patience to wait for what’s happening now to eventually happen.
Mary Jo White’s investigation into Snyder continues, and a source confirmed a Washington Post report that Snyder has yet to agree to an interview with White. Sources across the league believe things will play out like this: Snyder will not conduct the interview, the results of the probe will be released without Snyder defending himself, and he will be living abroad and away from the public eye for some time.
Who Snyder will sell the team to is the biggest remaining question. Bidders have been battling for the money needed for the largest team purchase in NFL history, and it appears Harris and Apostolopoulos got there first. But crossing that finish line doesn’t win a race.
Fertitta and the mystery bidder could also hit the $6 billion mark and leak it. But it’s an art, which sources have said doesn’t necessarily have to be an auction.
Snyder doesn’t have to sell to the highest bidder. He can sell to whichever group he likes best. And because he’s been so calm about this sale — remember, commanders still haven’t confirmed the team is actually up for sale — he might not care how leaky some of the groups were.
The groups have an interesting collection of people in them. Basketball legend Magic Johnson is part of Harris’ group to buy the Commanders, a Johnson spokesman told CBS Sports in March. Johnson had previously been part of Harris’ group to buy the Denver Broncos, which eventually went to the Walton-Bum group in 2021.
There are significant financial hurdles that a potential NFL owner must overcome. Under NFL rules, a controlling owner must be able to fund 30% of the purchase price. Selling the Commanders for $6 billion would mean writing a check for $1.8 billion.
Last year, the NFL made it a “key goal” for new owners to diversify their groups. Rob Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune, barely had to add anyone to his group to buy the Broncos for $4.65 billion. But the Walton-Bum group also includes Condoleezza Rice, Mellody Hobson and Lewis Hamilton.
“NFL member clubs support the important goal of increasing ownership diversity,” the league said in a March 2022 statement Consider and significant factor when the group includes various individuals who would have a significant equity interest in the club and an interest in the club, including serving as controlling owner of the club.
Rumors circulated last week that Michael Jordan was part of one of these groups. A former minority owner of the Washington Wizards, Jordan is in talks to sell his controlling interest in the Charlotte Hornets.
Jump Management, Jordan’s family office, was quick to quash those rumors in a statement to CBS Sports.
“Michael Jordan is not interested in or involved in any offers for the Washington Commanders.”
Harris owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils and has joined forces with Johnson and billionaire Mitchell Rales in the bid. Former Washington quarterback said Robert Griffin III on the radio on Tuesday he has held talks with Harris about joining the ownership group.
Apostolopoulos is the founder of the private equity fund Six Ventures Inc. and a managing partner of a Toronto-based real estate company. His group is believed to include others involved in Canadian real estate.
And Feritta owns the Houston Rockets, having made his fortune in hospitality and entertainment. Just this week, at league meetings, NFL team owners went even deeper in their embrace of legalized sports gambling.
Once a bidder is selected, the league has yet to approve that owner and group, a process that will take months before final official approval.