No NFL Vote Imminent On Josh Harris’ Commanders Purchase

The prospect of next week’s owners meetings being the venue for a ratification vote on Josh Harris‘ Commanders purchase looked like a long-shot proposition. The NFL has since confirmed no vote will take place at the May 22-23 set of spring meetings in Minneapolis, according to the Associated Press.

Harris’ $6.05 billion exclusive sale agreement with Dan Snyder remains under standard review, and the deal’s complications will almost definitely drag this process out well into the summer. While Harris (and an expansive number of investors) are prepared to put up a record-shattering price for the Commanders, speedbumps have emerged.

Last year’s Broncos sale — a sweepstakes that featured Harris’ group finishing second — brought a two-month gap between Rob Walton‘s then-record-setting bid ($4.65 billion) to his August 9 ratification. As expected, the Walmart heir’s group encountered no turbulence. The league vetted Harris — who owns the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Premier League club Crystal Palace — during the run-up to Walton’s Broncos acquisition, but issues with the structure of his Commanders bid have caused concern among other owners, ESPN.com’s John Keim adds.

The sale must go through the NFL finance committee and then receive 24 votes from the other owners to be ratified. The number of partners in Harris’ group (north of 12) will lengthen the vetting timetable, especially with some of the investors based outside the country. Magic Johnson, billionaire Mitchell Rales and David Blitzer, who is part of Harris’ Devils and 76ers ownership groups, are among the investors.

Matters pertaining to the NFL’s debt limit, with league rules stipulating buyers of teams being able to borrow up to $1.1 billion secured against the franchise, also serve as barriers en route to Harris’ purchase. The finance committee considers the Harris deal well above the debt limit, per Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. No red tape regarding financial construction would have likely emerged had Amazon founder Jeff Bezos submitted a bid, but the longtime Snyder nemesis did not do so. Bezos bowing out immediately preceded Harris moving into pole position.

These hurdles have led to rumors that this Harris bid would not be approved were it not for owners’ desire to see Snyder’s scandal-ridden ownership tenure end. That said, Harris’ group contends, per Keim, the NFL has not voiced concerns about the sale agreement to this point. That chapter may be in store, but for now, the league continues its examination stage regarding Snyder’s exit.