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Byron Allen

Byron Allen, Jeff Bezos Prepare Bids For Commanders

November 3rd, 2022 at 8:52pm CST by Ely Allen

With news spreading that Commanders owner Dan Snyder is considering a potential sale of the team, speculation about who could possibly purchase the franchise has run rampant. Obvious names of some of the world and country’s richest people have surfaced, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein. Former comedian and head of Entertainment Studios Byron Allen and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were named by a source with knowledge of the situation as individuals who have expressed interest in bidding for the team, according to Mark Maske, Nicki Jhabvala, and Liz Clarke of The Washington Post.

Allen was one of the bidders for the Broncos and strives to become the NFL’s first Black principal team owner. He was courted quite a bit by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft during the Broncos’ sale in a concerted effort to help make that a reality. The league has a special interest in helping Allen after the owners “approved a resolution in March endorsing diversity in franchise ownership.”

What makes this difficult to accomplish for Allen is the league guideline that essentially requires a purchaser to have 30% of the final sales price liquid and available at the time of the purchase. With the Broncos selling at $4.65BB, the Commanders are largely expected to surpass $5BB. Forbes “estimated in August that the Commanders are worth $5.6BB,” and Jack Evans, a former D.C. council member, estimated that the team could sell for as much as $7BB. This requires the available amount to be upwards of $1.50-2.10BB.

An outrageous down payment like that makes it extremely difficult for someone like Allen to make the purchase alone, and Allen has made it clear that he would not like to join any groups as a minority investor. It sounds like, in order to make that happen, the league would have to revise the rules or make an exception to them, which could potentially happen if the league truly wants to encourage diversity in franchise ownership. It’s not likely that this will take precedence over bid price, though.

Bezos, on the other hand, being the fourth-richest person in the world, is in a much better position to cover the required initial amount with an estimated net worth of $113.2BB. The source who named Bezos claims that the Amazon executive might be interested in a group bid including music mogul Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z.

Bezos has ties to both D.C. and the NFL in his business experience. He owns The Washington Post and Amazon carries the NFL’s current “Thursday Night Football” package. Bezos has spent plenty of time with Goodell, attending a game with him earlier this year, and Kraft has advocated for Bezos to be involved in Seattle, where the Seahawks may soon find themselves for sale by the trust of late owner Paul Allen.

Carter also has ties to the NFL through the partnership his Roc Nation agency has with the NFL that makes it a co-producer of the Super Bowl halftime show. He also has experience with franchise ownership as a former part-owner of the Nets. The biggest strike against Bezos and Carter is that it is presumed that the NFL would prefer an individual buyer over a group.

It was made known, though, that Carter would not have interest in pursuing a minority stake in the franchise if Snyder remains the majority owner, which brings up an interesting point: Snyder has not divulged whether he is considering a full or partial sale of the team. In the recent past, Snyder attempted “to exercise his right of first refusal” to match offers made to former limited partners, effectively blocking the sale of partial ownership shares. The buyers who were blocked by Snyder, Clearlake Capital co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, reportedly went on to bid on the Broncos and could be considered candidates to buy the Commanders once again.

There is plenty that still needs to unfold before we see the conclusion of this story. Wrinkles need to be ironed out about how much of the franchise is for sale. Real bids need to be placed. The league will need to decide how serious it is about promoting diversity in ownership as well as how it feels about group ownership. We’ll likely see lots of similarities to the Broncos’ sale, and this sale could lay the groundwork for an eventual sale of the Seahawks. Plenty remains to be seen in the months to come.

Second-Round Broncos Bids Expected In Coming Days

May 31st, 2022 at 8:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

The process of finding a new owner of the Broncos is approaching a crucial next step. 9News’ Mike Klis reports (on Twitter) that second-round bids for the franchise are due by Monday.

That places a firm deadline on the bidding process, which was expected to reach this stage in the near future. As Klis notes, four groups are expected to place a bid, with the lone exception amongst prospects previously reported as showing interest being the one led by media mogul Byron Allen. He was still considered to be in the running earlier this month, but the list of finalists would seem to no longer include his name.

That leaves the group led by Rob Walton at the top of said list; the Walmart heir has a personal value of more than $70MM, and has consistently been labelled as the frontrunner to win the bidding process. Among his competitors is the pairing of 76ers owner Josh Harris and Magic Johnson, the group involving Todd Boehly (which is in the process of purchasing English Premier League club Chelsea) and, the most recent addition to the mix, brothers Mat and Justin Ishbia.

In a follow-up, Klis details that if the group including Boehly were to be successful, he would be a “limited partner”. Instead, Jose Feliciano would be the lead owner, something which would satisfy the league’s desire for minority ownership in this process. While Klis further tweets that the trio involving Boehly, Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali would constitute surprise winners in the bidding process at this point, they remain in contention to make a second major purchase in a matter of weeks.

With the next round of bids – long expected to approach the $5B mark, which would comfortably set a new North American sports record – set to be made in the coming days, Klis reports that the sales process could be completed by late June or early July (Twitter link). That would stay in line with the overarching thought that a new owner would be in place in time for the 2022 campaign, and bring an end to one of the league’s top off-the-field storylines.

Byron Allen Still A Candidate For Broncos’ Ownership

May 16th, 2022 at 9:17am CST by Adam La Rose

The field is narrowing for candidates to purchase the Broncos. Among the semifinalists is the group headed by Byron Allen, per Mike Klis of 9News.

The media mogul was one of the first prospective buyers to be named as an interested party back in February. He confirmed that the NFL had approached him years earlier about the possibility of buying a franchise when the opportunity arose. Doing so successfully would make the 60-year-old the first Black owner in the league.

Klis notes that Allen is set to become the third candidate to visit the Broncos’ facility. While his personal value is dwarfed by other potential buyers, he is “backed by a handful of investors with deep pockets”, per Klis. On that point, he adds that is is presently “unclear” whether or not Allen himself would assume the duties of controlling owner in the event of his group submitting the winning bid for the team.

While Klis further states that “the number of ownership groups under consideration is fluid”, it is still believed that former Walmart chairman Rob Walton remains the favorite to win the bidding process. The other candidate which has met in-person with team executives is Josh Harris; the New Jersey Devils owner Philadelphia 76ers managing partner recently made headlines when it was announced that NBA icon Magic Johnson is joining his ownership group.

It has been known since April that the winning bid will be valued at a minimum of $4B, so Allen’s inclusion on the shortlist of potential buyers demonstrates the wherewithal of his group. With the general belief still being held that the sales process will be completed in time for the start of the 2022 season, the competition amongst the various parties to submit the highest bid (and the role the likes of John Elway and Peyton Manning could play whenever said process is complete) will be worth watching in the coming weeks.