The next round of NFL owners’ meetings are not on tap until October, but the league is making preparations for a special session regarding the Commanders sale.
Owners have been informed to be available on July 20 or August 8 for a meeting that would include a ratification vote, according to the SportsBusiness Journal’s Ben Fischer (Twitter link). Vetting of Josh Harris‘ Commanders purchase is ongoing, but dates emerging certainly points to confidence the sale will be ratified by one of these two dates. Roger Goodell said recently he expects the sale to be ratified, providing a rather clear indication the item will meet the required 24 votes to pass.
Harris, who agreed to terms with Dan Snyder to buy the Commanders for a record-shattering $6.05 billion, has said he is willing to work with the league on a more amenable deal structure. Issues concerning the amount of debt held by the potential new owner, as well as some tax and incentive matters, have arisen. But the NFL owners have long been eager to finalize Snyder’s exit, opening the door for the large Harris-headed ownership group.
Harris is not believed to need to make many adjustments to his bid structure, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter). He and group member Mitchell Rales met with the NFL’s eight-man finance committee last week, and the meeting is believed to have gone well. Signs continue to point to the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner adding an NFL team to his portfolio before the start of the season.
The NFL most recently held a special session last August — for the ratification of Rob Walton‘s summer 2022 Broncos purchase. That did not encounter any speedbumps, and owners approved the Walton group’s acquisition just less than two months after the $4.65 billion bid arrived. Harris’ more complex bid structure has brought a slower-moving vet. He reached a nonexclusive agreement with Snyder in mid-April, and the parties came to terms on the exclusive deal — one the NFL is still vetting — May 12. If the NFL calls the meeting for July 20, the time between the Harris purchase and ratification will not end up being much longer than Walton’s.
Walton’s $70 billion-plus in net worth provided no liquidity-driven complications, whereas Harris’ net worth (estimated at just more than $6 billion) has required a number of investors. A prospective primary owner must be able to furnish 30% of the total sales price in cash at the time of the purchase, and while this component has added to the finance committee’s task, it would still be a shock if Harris was not ratified as the new Washington owner. While this bid structure might not be approved under normal circumstances, the owners’ chance to end Snyder’s increasingly scandal-ridden tenure running a franchise has long superseded concerns pertaining to the bid.
I still can’t believe they won’t make the team name the Hogs.
The Hogs were a force in the 1980’s, the NFL and new ownership is not looking for 40ish fans. They are looking to make The Hogs era grandkids as new fans to the team.
What the team needs is a rebrand designed around the digital age. Something appealing on the large screen and video game.
Perhaps the new owner will return the team emblem to the original spear and a less offensive name for the formula crowd? The Chiefs don’t seem to having any issues so find a compromise and get rid of those high school designed helmets!
As part of the sale the ‘owners’ should require a team name change to something more ‘football conventional’. Commanders is bogus, we get the reference to ‘politicos’ but really the reference is more to incompetence than directional assurance and success.