Jeff Bezos

Latest On Jeff Bezos, Potential Commanders Sale

January 30th, 2023 at 8:58am CST by Adam La Rose

The possibility of Dan Snyder selling the Commanders remains a key NFL storyline as the offseason approaches. The sense of an ownership change being on the horizon has grown over the past several months, with it coming out in November that a sale is at least being explored.

One of the names immediately brought up as a candidate to purchase the embattled franchise was Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder has owned the Washington Post for the past decade, and was reported in 2019 to be on the radar of joining the NFL’s ownership group. It came as little surprise, then, that the 59-year-old was said to be interested in submitting a bid for the Commanders not long after it was known the team could soon be up for sale.

However, the initial bidding process came and went in December, and Bezos was not involved, as detailed by A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports. The reasons for that could be closely linked to another notable takeaway from the first round of bidding: no one reached the $7BB mark Snyder is thought to be seeking from the candidate who would become the team’s controlling owner. With an estimated net worth of over $122BB, Bezos could certainly win out over any number of other contenders if liquidity were to become a sticking point, but another factor is thought to be in play in his situation.

Personal grievances involving Bezos and Snyder have been raised as a potential roadblock to a sale being finalized between the two. Specifically, the way in which the Post has covered the Commanders recently amidst controversies connected to their alleged toxic workplace and investigations into financial improprieties has led to a widespread belief of disdain for Bezos on Snyder’s part. Several outlets have stated that Snyder is not interested in selling to him at any price.

Against that backdrop, Josh Kosman of the New York Post reports that Bezos could be lining up a sale of the Post as a first step towards buying the Commanders. While he cites conflicting information from sources on whether or not such a move could be coming soon, it could be construed by Snyder as a “gesture of goodwill” which may “go a long way” in terms of the latter warming up to the notion of selling to Bezos. In terms of his competition, Liz Clarke, Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post note that the finalists for the Broncos are expected to be “contenders” to buy the Commanders.

Denver’s sale to the Rob Walton group last offseason shattered the North American sports record at a cost of $4.65BB. A deal seeing the Commanders change hands could dwarf that figure, especially if the framework were to be in place for a new stadium deal. The Seahawks were believed to be a target for Bezos at one point, but owner Jody Allen emphatically said in the summer that the NFC West franchise will not be sold any time soon. That will leave Bezos connected to Washington if the sales process moves forward in the near future.

Latest On Dan Synder’s Potential Sale Of Commanders

November 9th, 2022 at 8:46pm CST by Ely Allen

New information continues to develop concerning the possible sale of the Commanders franchise from current owner Dan Snyder. Our most recent report included an estimated value of $5.6BB with a potential sales price of up to $7BB. We also pointed out that it was still uncertain whether Snyder was determined to sell all of his stake in the team or whether he still desired to remain a part-owner of the Commanders.

Mike Florio of NBC Sports was able to provide an update to these points this past weekend, reporting that Snyder is determined to sell “all of it — not some of it,” contradicting an earlier report where he quoted Cowboys owner Jerry Jones‘ opinion that Snyder was simply “testing the waters” in an attempt to sell a minority interest in the team. This also makes a moot point of fellow NBC Sports contributor Peter King, who posed that if anyone were to buy a minority stake, it would have to include a clear path to eventually buying Snyder all the way out “in a defined number of years.” The goal is for the full sale of the team to occur by March of 2023.

The report also mentions that Snyder hopes to get the full $7BB amount for the franchise. Florio points out that achieving that $7BB amount would result in a profit of $6.25BB from his original purchase price of $750MM. Florio also points out that the odds of reaching that sales price become more and more likely as lots of interested buyers create the potential for a bidding war. One of the potential bids we had mentioned previously was a group that was rumored to be forming around Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and music mogul Shawn Carter, also known as rapper Jay-Z. Since that rumor began, a number of others have expressed interest in joining the bid. Actor Matthew McConaughey was reported to be exploring the possibility of joining Bezos and Carter or forming his own investment group to bid, according to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. Nets star forward Kevin Durant is also reportedly hopeful to join the franchise’s ownership group, according to ESPN’s Nick Friedell.

McConaughey and Durant are both big fans of the Commanders and have some recent experience in franchise ownership. McConaughey is a co-owner of the Major League Soccer’s recent expansion team in Austin. Durant owns a 5% stake in the MLS’s Philadelphia club as well as a minority stake in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Gotham FC. Most recently, Durant became a co-owner last month of a pickleball team. Neither McConaughey nor Durant are in the financial position to lead a bid for the Commanders and would have to rely on an investment group to enter a bid.

Red Sox owner John Henry has also been seen as a possible bidder, according to Josh Kosman of the New York Post, after his recent efforts to sell the Liverpool Football Club. The UK-based soccer team is set to sell for around $2-3BB, a sum that could contribute to the eventual bidding war for the Commanders.

One of the finalists in the sale of the Broncos, mortgage company executive Mat Ishbia also reportedly plans to consider contending with a bid for Washington, according to Maske and Jhabvala. Ishbia issued a statement directly to The Washington Post claiming that he is “interested in exploring this opportunity further.”

The constant emergence of new names supports the prediction that a bidding war could easily drive the team’s price up to the $7BB price tag that Snyder covets. King, from above, suggested that, as “Snyder detests The Washington Post,” he would never want to sell to its owner, Bezos. Perhaps the sheer volume of other investors in the potential investment group will change his mind. If not, it doesn’t sound like Snyder will be lacking for interested buyers.

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.