Josh Harris

No Issues Expected In Upcoming Commanders Sale Vote

July 7th, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Adam La Rose

July 20 looms as the date at which NFL owners will convene to vote on the sale of the Commanders to Josh Harris. Issues with his historic bid to purchase the franchise have been detailed in recent months, but they are not poised to interrupt or threaten the sale being approved.

Last month, the NFL scheduled a special league meeting for July (the earlier of the two proposed dates) to bring the sales process across the finish line. As has been the case since Harris entered into an exclusive agreement with outgoing owner Dan Snyder, the expectation remains that the league’s finance committee will provide a unanimous recommendation for the owners to approve the sale.

On that point, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that the situation is “right on course” as the vote approaches. Concerns have been raised with respect to matters such as financing Harris’ $6.05 billion purchase (comfortably the largest sum paid for a North American sports franchise) and the size of his investment group, but the league has been eager to smooth them over in their attempt to oust the embattled Snyder. The ratification vote taking place as planned would, of course, mean the outstanding problems concerning the Harris takeover have been fully resolved.

Another matter to monitor is the status of the Mary Jo White report into the Commanders’ workplace and allegations of financial improprieties. With the ratification vote imminent, the league is facing a new round of pressure to release the findings of the report, something commissioner Roger Goodell has publicly committed to doing. The same was not true of the Beth Wilkinson-led investigation into Snyder and the team in 2021, one which resulted in a fine and suspension for the much-maligned owner.

With the transition to Harris all-but assured, questions have also been raised regarding the organizational changes the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner could make. The team’s front office and coaching staff appear to be safe for now, as Harris may be best suited to take a patient evaluation approach while coming into power not long before the start of his first season at the helm. His tenure as owner should still be expected to commence later this month with no hurdles left to clear.

Josh Harris Not Expected To Make Major Changes Following Commanders Sale

July 1st, 2023 at 9:48am CST by Ben Levine

Josh Harris will officially become the Commanders owner later this month. While Daniel Snyder‘s sale of the team will surely have a long-lasting impact on the organization, the new owner isn’t expected to make any immediate changes.

According to Ben Standig of The Athletic, Harris isn’t expected to “make major staff changes” when he officially takes over the organization. This includes the job status of team president Jason Wright, with a source telling Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of the Washington Post that Wright will “absolutely have the opportunity to perform in his role.”

Wright was hired by the Commanders in 2020, becoming the first Black team president in NFL history. As Jhabvala and Maske write, the executive was hired to “improve the workplace culture of a franchise embroiled in controversy,” and Wright did help navigate the organization through multiple investigations and eventual “senior business personnel” overhauls.

The team president has also faced criticism, mostly when it comes to near-league-bottom ticket sales over the past two years. Wright also drew some ire when it came to the Commanders’ “missteps in honoring the late Sean Taylor, a bounced raffle check and the tepid public response to its new name.”

Harris isn’t expected to shake things up, at least right away. Per Standig, the owner intends to “take his time to evaluate current staff before considering changes.” This buys executives like Wright some extra time to build a rapport with their new boss, but as Standig points out, Harris surely has “a list of potential executives to join him in Washington.”

It sounds like Harris also won’t make any rash decisions when it comes to the coaching staff and front office, including head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew. Of course, considering the timing of the sale, it seemed extremely unlikely that Harris would shake up those two areas of the operation with training camp rapidly approaching.

A league meeting has been scheduled for July 20 to ratify the Commanders sale. As the Washington Post notes, Harris and his group aren’t allowed to “to speak with employees of the team about future changes” until that time.

Date Set For Vote On Commanders Sale Ratification

June 23rd, 2023 at 9:50pm CST by Adam La Rose

Not long after a pair of dates were provided to NFL owners as possible days on which a special league meeting could take place to ratify the sale of the Commanders, one has been agreed upon. The final step in the sales process now appears to be in place.

A league meeting has been scheduled for July 20, as detailed by Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. That represents the earlier of the two possible dates floated last week (August 8 being the other), and could allow the sale to be approved in time for the opening of training camps around the league. The Commanders’ camp opens on July 26.

It is expected the league’s finance committee will provide a unanimous recommendation to approve the sale, the Post report adds. The committee met at length with prospective owner Josh Harris and investment group member Mitchell Rales earlier this month to discuss the outstanding issues with the proposed purchase agreement. The number of investors and an ability to remain under the league’s debt ceiling have been causes for concern during the vetting process, but the scheduling of the ratification vote suggests they will have been smoothed out by next month.

Harris and current owner Dan Snyder reached an exclusive agreement on a sale in May. The $6.05 billion price tag will comfortably surpass that of Rob Walton‘s Broncos purchase last summer and thus set a new North American sports record for franchise sales. It will also represent an end to Snyder’s much-maligned tenure at the helm of the Commanders, one which has been marked by a number of investigations into toxic work environments and financial improprieties.

A probe led by NFL investigator Mary Jo White into Snyder and the Commanders remains ongoing, but it could conclude in time for the ratification vote. The findings of that investigation are set to be made public, and the Post notes that they could result in commissioner Roger Goodell imposing a fine on the team. Issues of indemnity regarding Snyder and the other owners have been a sticking point over several months, but the eagerness to remove the former from the league has long been a driving force during the sales process.

At least 24 votes will be required to approve the sale to Harris’ ownership group, something which has not been in doubt since he and Snyder first entered into a purchase agreement. With the finance committee set to compete its vetting process and present a ‘yes’ recommendation to the full slate of owners in the coming weeks, the finish line in this process is firmly in sight.

Dates Emerge For Ratification Vote On Commanders Sale

June 13th, 2023 at 6:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.

Latest On Sale Of Commanders

June 7th, 2023 at 8:27pm CST by Ely Allen

In one of our most recent updates on the situation, we mentioned a meeting between Josh Harris and the NFL owners finance committee set to take place today. The meeting with the eight-member committee did, in fact, occur today, and according to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, it went very well.

Harris attended the meeting with fellow investor Mitchell Rales. Rales, co-founder of the Danaher Corporation, is one of the group’s top investors and reportedly holds favor with the committee. Other reported investors include South American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo, whose family’s portfolio includes the likes of Anhueser-Busch InBev, Chilean bank Corpbanca, and Spanish bank Inmobiliaria Colonial, ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, chair of the DC Open tennis tournament Mark Ein, and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.

The meeting was intended to be an opportunity for Harris to address a number of issues the committee had with his most recent proposal, namely issues concerning the amount of debt held by the potential new owner, as well as some tax and incentive issues. Maske and Jhabvala reported that the two and a half hour meeting “was productive and, barring any unforeseen setbacks, the sale is advancing toward expected ratification by the league’s team owners as soon as next month.”

In the meeting, Harris was apparently very cooperative and “continued to pledge to make the requested adjustments to his deal.” The impending ratification is contingent on Harris meeting those requests, but everyone around the situation seems nearly certain that he will be able to do that.

The next owners’ meeting isn’t scheduled to take place until October, but a call for a special session is expected to take place to assist the progress of the sale. The special session could take place as soon as late July and would require approval from 24 of the league’s 32 owners. The approval is not a main concern, as the owners generally follow the finance committee’s recommendations in situations like the sale of a franchise. The vote, theoretically, could be taken remotely, but for important matters such as this, the league tends to prefer an in-person meeting.

Part of the rush comes from the exclusivity of the deal. Harris reached a signed, exclusive agreement with current owner Dan Snyder on May 12, following the submission of a nonexclusive version of the deal to the NFL for an informal review. The exact number isn’t known but the time limit on Harris’ exclusivity is estimated to be either 60 or 90 days. Seeing as the next scheduled owners’ meeting is far beyond that deadline, the special session becomes crucial.

So, to this point, Harris and the finance committee have come to an agreement as to what will make the deal acceptable. The finance committee will meet several more times virtually to ensure that things are on track and a vote will hopefully be taken in the next 60 days. The owners are reportedly eager to approve the deal and oust Snyder, but they need Harris to meet their demands. The finish line is coming more and more into focus with each report and seems just on the horizon.

Latest On Sale Of Commanders

June 4th, 2023 at 9:53pm CST by Ely Allen

We had a couple of recent updates to the situation around the sale of the Commanders from Dan Snyder to Josh Harris this week. We were provided with a peek into the thoughts of the owners on one of the factors holding up the sale, as well as an update into the Brian Davis lawsuit.

The sale has been stalled lately in part due to some concerns over current requirements for franchise sales, specifically the requirement that a prospective primary owner must be able to furnish 30 percent of the total sales price in cash at the time of the purchase. There’s been some recent speculation that, due to the skyrocketing price tags on franchises, the league may rethink this stipulation. The practice was much more sensible years ago, when the Panthers sold for around $2.28 billion, but with the Commanders’ bids breaching $6 billion, the 30 percent requirement is much more difficult to manage.

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, it doesn’t sound like the current owners care. Breer reports that none of the owners he spoke with had an “appetite for changing the rule.” The owners currently believe that Harris will come up with the cash necessary and, if he does, the issue will be pushed down the road.

It could be pushed two sales down the road if the Seahawks are next on the chopping block. If presumed bidders Steve Ballmer or Jeff Bezos end up with winning bids, they likely wouldn’t have any trouble coming up with the cash. That should be a non-issue, though, as chairman of the team’s ownership group Jody Allen has confirmed that the team is still not for sale, according to Rachel Bachman of The Wall Street Journal.

In unrelated news, gaming law and sports betting attorney Daniel Wallach provided the update that Davis’s lawsuit against Bank of America has been withdrawn. Davis’s company, Urban Echo Energy, sued Bank of America claiming that they failed to present his bid to buy the Commanders to the responsible parties. Bank of America came back with allegations that the documents provided as proof of the transfer looked obviously fictitious.

It sounded like the case may reach a negotiated settlement, but with the allegedly fictitious documents in hand, it sounds like Bank of America may have earned an upper hand. The demand for the lawsuit, originally a ludicrous $500 billion, already was dropped to $990K. Bank of America did not join Urban Echo Energy in the filing of the withdrawal, so it’s unclear what the steps are moving forward. It sounds like Davis’s attorney may potentially face sanctions if the documents and claims are deemed fictitious, but in the meantime, Davis’s involvement in the sale of the Commanders has likely come to an end.

Latest On Josh Harris, Commanders Deal

June 2nd, 2023 at 9:54pm CST by Ely Allen

As many times as it’s been said in this situation, the end seems to be drawing nigh in the sale of the Commanders from Dan Snyder to Josh Harris. The newest breakdown, provided by Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, details the plans of the NFL finance committee and provides an update on the progress of an indemnification agreement for Snyder.

Harris and Snyder agreed to an exclusive deal that would transfer ownership to a Harris-led group for $6.05 billion. The deal faced some hurdles, though, as the increasingly expensive price tag for NFL franchises has made it difficult for buying groups to complete purchases under the finance committee’s existing debt rules. Issues ranged from the amount of debt being taken on by Harris personally to the international source of some of his contributing investments to a reported “earnout” incentive designed to pay Snyder “an amount contingent on the franchise reaching specified financial benchmarks.”

According to Maske and Jhabvala, Harris “has given assurances that he will make the necessary adjustments…to secure the approval of the league’s franchise owners.” Harris is scheduled to have an in-person meeting with the eight-owner finance committee in New York this coming Wednesday, in which he will propose his solutions to the committee’s previous concerns and allow for further questions.

Additionally, in an effort to accelerate the progress of the deal, the finance committee has plans “to meet remotely several times in the coming weeks.” Assuming the two sides leave New York with a mutual understanding, there is hope that a vote to ratify the sale could potentially happen as soon as late-June or early-July. How soon that vote can occur also depends on whether the NFL would allow a vote to be taken remotely or if they would insist on an in-person meeting. Regardless, a possible owners’ meeting, special to this purpose, has been mentioned with a proposed date in August, as the next scheduled meeting isn’t until October.

Another hurdle the league has to overcome before the sale can be ratified is the remaining issues with Snyder as he reportedly seeks indemnification against legal and financial liability as a part of the sale. He has also supposedly beseeched the NFL to withhold the findings of their second investigation into Snyder and the Commanders being carried out by attorney Mary Jo White, although Washington denies both claims.

Regardless, Maske and Jhabvala report that a resolution of this situation was “95 percent done” as of last week. It’s unknown whether or not Harris’s group will indemnify Snyder or to what degree, but it’s common knowledge that the league’s owners have no desire to indemnify him. In fact, they want Snyder to indemnify them, a practice commonly found in previous sales.

Either way, the finish-line looms on the horizon. If the resolutions of both major impediments truly are close at hand, we may see the end of this ordeal in the weeks leading up to the 2023 NFL season. Many of the contributing sources were quick to cover themselves by adding a colloquial “it’s not over until the fat lady sings,” but it is seeming more and more that the end is in sight.

Latest On Brian Davis’s Commanders Bid

May 28th, 2023 at 6:23pm CST by Ely Allen

For a moment about a month and a half ago, the snag in the Commanders sale from Dan Snyder to Josh Harris had nothing to do with the source of Harris’s funds or awaiting a vote for ownership approval. Back then the snag in the deal was another bidder as Brian Davis offered up a $7 billion bid.

Davis is a D.C. native and a former star for the Duke Blue Devils basketball team, winning two national championships alongside Christian Laettner in the early-1990s. The two remained close friends and eventually pursued a few sports ventures together. They have businesses in real estate development and founded D.C. United Holdings, a holding company that controls the operating rights to the MLS team D.C. United.

Davis entering in a bid nearly $1 billion over Harris’s may have some wondering why Davis isn’t the presumed future owner of the franchise, but questions were almost immediately raised about Davis’s bid. Primarily, while Davis asserted a $7.1 billion bid, the firm tapped to handle the sale of the Commanders never considered the bid to be legitimate. Davis alleges that the reason for this lies with Bank of America, leading to a current lawsuit between Davis’s company Urban Echo Energy and Bank of America.

According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, the lawsuits “claims that Bank of America failed to present the $7.1 billion bid to outgoing owner Daniel Snyder and that, if Bank of America had done so, Snyder would have accepted it.” According to Davis’s company’s attorneys, Davis deposited $5.1 billion for the transaction as a proof of funds in two separate transfers. In the court filings, the team included “images of two alleged copies of the bank drafts,” according to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports. The attorneys allege that “upon information and belief, (Bank of America) never made the Snyders aware of the existence of the bank drafts.”

Pending the first court hearing tomorrow, Bank of America told the appointed judge that the documents they have in their possession raised “considerable concerns about their genuineness,” claiming that the documents look “fictitious,” according to Daniel Wallach of The Athletic. If Bank of America truly had doubts about the legitimacy of Davis’s transfer documents, it stands to reason that they were unwilling to back his bid for the sale.

On the other side of things, with the Harris deal, progress reportedly continues to be made towards an eventual sale and approval by the NFL. According to Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of The Washington Post, until the deal is ratified by the league’s team owners, Harris “cannot have any role in team operations.” Harris’s group is actively working though the approval process with the league, and discussions appear to be productive.

Roger Goodell Expects Commanders Sale Ratification

May 26th, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

With the latest round of league meetings having come and gone, the sale of the Commanders remains an ongoing process. The agreement which would see Josh Harris become the team’s majority owner is the subject of review from the league and could see adjustments made in the coming weeks, but optimism is in place regarding the chances of the deal going through.

Commissioner Roger Goodell is striking a similar tone on the subject. His comments regarding the sale point to a ratification vote taking place at some point, though no timetable is in place for that to happen. At least 24 owners would need to approve the deal, something which is not expected to be in doubt if the finances of the Harris purchase can be worked out.

“I think we’ll get it to a place where it will be approved,” Goodell said, via Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “The [finance] committee really just had their first meeting [Monday] on the matter. We really got the documents last week. So we’re hard at work as a staff looking at that, as we do every transaction. There’s a lot of due diligence as well as compliance issues. All of that’s happening and working full speed… And we’ll have a meeting at the appropriate time.”

The desire on the part of other owners to use the sale as a means of ousting Dan Snyder is well known. The latter has become embroiled in a number of scandals and investigations during his 24-year tenure at the helm of the franchise. Those issues have led to indemnification becoming a key talking point in this process, with owners attempting to not only prevent Snyder from receiving legal protection, but also ensure that they are covered against any potential future action by Snyder.

The latter is “eager ” to finalize the sale, per the Post’s report. It adds that the NFL has been in discussions with Snyder’s representatives, and that talks on the issue of indemnification are now “95%” complete. That development is particularly important with respect to the ongoing Mary Jo White investigation into the Commanders. The results of that probe, Goodell has maintained throughout its process, will be made public regardless of if it is finished before or after the sale goes through.

“When she’s concluded the investigation, she’ll let me know,” Goodell said of White. “We have pledged to make sure we tell our ownership. And we’ve pledged to make sure that the findings are made public. So we will do that.”

On the financial side, concerns have been raised about the Harris deal’s number of partners and its breaching of the NFL’s $1.1 billion debt limit for franchise sales. Detailing the matter further, Forbes’ Mike Ozanian reports that $1 billion of the Harris bid comes in the form of unsecured debt. The matter of whether that amount is considered equity (which is strictly prohibited under NFL rules) as opposed to capital could represent a major hurdle. In addition, more than the maximum 24 limited partners could be counted as being involved in the Harris group if the investors in their respective organizations are taken into account, per Ozanian.

The likeliest outcome of this process seems to remain a ratification vote taking place in the summer, but a number of issues are yet to be resolved. Presuming a sale does indeed go through, however, all parties involved will have achieved a significant shared objective.

Colts’ Jim Irsay, Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Address Commanders Sale

May 23rd, 2023 at 9:58am CST by Adam La Rose

One of the key topics of conversation during the first day of the current league meetings was the sale of the Commanders. Despite the fact that a deal is in place for Josh Harris to replace Dan Snyder as owner, ratification from the league may not come for some time.

Harris and Snyder entered into a signed, exclusive agreement earlier this month. As a result of that deal, the franchise is on track to sell for a record-breaking $6.05 billion, though issues have arisen given the structure of the agreement. Specifically, the Harris group’s ability to stay under the league’s $1.1 billion debt limit to finance the purchase is a hurdle which has yet to be cleared.

As a result, no timeline is currently in place for the league’s finance committee to produce a recommended course of action, and, subsequently, for owners to vote on the sale. At least 24 owners would need to approve the deal, something which has long been considered a formality due in large part to the widespread desire to have Snyder’s tenure at the helm of the Commanders come to a conclusive end. Whether or not this process will be completed before the fall remains an open question, though.

When speaking on that point, Colts owner Jim Irsay said, via The Athletic’s Ben Standig, “we’d like to see it get done. But, we’re not there yet” (subscription required). Irsay added that “probably several more weeks of discussions” will be necessary to finalize the transfer of ownership to Harris, who has a controlling stake in the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and English Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Adding to the optimism that this deal will cross the finish line, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, “I would anticipate it being done. These are outstandingly qualified owners” (video link via Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports). Jones added that he does not foresee the agreement’s structure – which includes support from numerous investors, including NBA legend Magic Johnson – as being enough of an issue to prevent an ultimate approval.

“To have a new ownership group in there before the season opener, that would be a goal,” Irsay said. “It’s not an impossibility. There would be a special meeting after July 4 for something like that to happen. I know that the commissioner will continue to look and see what our schedule is going to be. But there’s work to be done.”

As the sale of the Broncos last offseason showed, a gap in time can exist between a winning bid emerging and final ratification taking place. Plenty of time remains for that to happen in this case, and the league will likely work with increased urgency to allow for Harris to be installed as owner in time for the regular season as the summer moves along.

“There are different layers of league policy that exist beyond just that acquisition and that sort of thing,” Irsay added. “So it’s just trying to make sure deals comply with that… In the end, we’re hopeful that we can work towards getting a deal done.”

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