Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has no plans to enter the bidding for the Washington Commanders, a person familiar with the bidding process said Wednesday, potentially clearing the way for a group led by Josh Harris to complete a deal to purchase the franchise from Daniel Snyder.
Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, declined to comment through a spokesperson. But the person with knowledge of the process said Bezos does not intend to bid on the team, and others familiar with the sale process have said they believe Harris’s group would be the favorite to purchase the franchise from Snyder if Bezos does not bid.
It was not clear Wednesday whether an agreement between Harris’s group and Snyder might be close. The Commanders declined to comment through a spokesperson.
Snyder has not notified the NFL and its finance committee that he has reached a deal to sell the team, a person with direct knowledge of the league’s inner workings and the views of the owners said Wednesday. But hopes are growing that a sale could occur in the coming weeks, that person said.
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Harris, the owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of $5.9 billion. His investment group includes Potomac, Md., businessman and philanthropist Mitchell Rales and Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Rales, the co-founder of the Danaher Corporation, has an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Harris’s group and another group led by Canadian commercial real estate developer and private equity executive Steve Apostolopoulos entered competing formal bids last month for the Commanders, people with direct knowledge of the sale process said then. The bid by Harris’s group was for about $6 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the process.
Other prospective buyers were aware throughout the process that Bezos — the world’s third-richest person, according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $120.9 billion — was capable of outbidding any competitors if he chose to.
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Bezos hired a New York investment firm, Allen & Company, to evaluate a potential bid on the Commanders, two people with knowledge of that relationship have said. But Snyder previously blocked Bezos from moving forward on any efforts to purchase the franchise because of his disdain for The Post and its coverage of him and his team, a person familiar with the situation said in February.
Any sale would have to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 owners. The owners are scheduled to meet next month in Minneapolis.
Bezos still could reverse course, particularly if any deal struck by Snyder is not acceptable to other team owners, but Wednesday’s indication that he is not planning to bid could signal that the sale deliberations are in the final stages. One person with knowledge of the process said Snyder appeared to be attempting to use the potential of a Bezos bid to increase the price for Harris’s group.
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Forbes estimated the value of the Commanders last year at $5.6 billion. The record sale price for an NFL franchise is the $4.65 billion that a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton paid last year to purchase the Denver Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust.
The potential Commanders sale is taking place while attorney Mary Jo White conducts the league’s second investigation of Snyder and his team. Snyder has declined to be interviewed by White for the investigation, three people with direct knowledge of the league’s inner workings said last month. White was expected to make at least one more attempt before completing her investigation, according to one of those people.
Snyder and the team also are under investigation by federal authorities in the Eastern District of Virginia. The team has said it is cooperating with the federal investigation.
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The Commanders announced in November that Snyder and wife Tanya, the team’s co-CEO, had retained Bank of America Securities to consider potential offers for the franchise. The Commanders did not specify whether the Snyders would sell all or part of the team.
The other prospective buyers include Apostolopoulos, managing partner of Triple Group of Companies, a Toronto-based commercial real estate firm, and the founder of Six Ventures Inc., a private equity fund; and Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
Fertitta told CNBC on Wednesday that he bid $5.6 billion for the Commanders and would not raise his offer.
“That’s the value that Forbes had them at,” Fertitta said, “and at some point you’ve got to draw a line in the sand on everything. And that’s where we are. If they can get somebody to pay them more than that, good luck to them. That’s all I can say. I own a franchise, so I love them selling for a lot. But at some point, I don’t think $6 billion is the right number. ... Everybody that’s watched me do business for the last 40 years knows when I draw a line in the sand, I’m done. So I’m here. You know I can close. And that’s the way it is.”
Tilman Fertitta said during an interview with @CNBC today that he bid $5.6 billion on the Commanders, but "at some point you've got to draw a line in the sand." pic.twitter.com/7NpKM1Fb4X
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) April 13, 2023Bezos’s intention to not enter a Commanders bid was first reported by Puck.
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Amazon carries the NFL’s package of Thursday night games. Other owners have expressed a desire for Bezos to buy a team. Even if he stays out of the bidding on the Commanders, Bezos could get that opportunity if he pursues the Seattle Seahawks. That team is expected to be sold in the coming years.
“Bezos knows that Seattle is sitting there,” the person with knowledge of the NFL’s inner workings said Wednesday.
There were hopes that a deal between Snyder and a buyer might be struck before the owners met in Phoenix at the annual league meeting in March. But that didn’t materialize, leaving the owners’ meeting next month as the next checkpoint for clarity on the sale.
“We probably should have some more information before us” by the May meeting, the person with direct knowledge of the NFL’s inner workings said.
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Any potential deal would be vetted by the owners on the NFL’s finance committee, then placed before the full group of owners for ratification. In the case of the Broncos sale, the vetting and approval process took about two months.
It is not clear whether issues related to legal protections for Snyder have been resolved. Snyder is seeking for a buyer or for the league and other team owners to indemnify him against legal liability and costs, according to people with direct knowledge of the league’s inner workings and the views of owners.
“The whole issue is the writing of the [purchase] agreement and who gets indemnified and how,” the person with knowledge of the league’s inner workings said Wednesday.
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