Dan Snyder made a deal to sell the NFLs Washington commanders for the highest price paid for a North American professional sports team.
A group led by josh harris and Mitchell Rales that contains Magic Johnson has an agreement in principle to buy the team for a record $6.05 billion, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.
People confirmed that the deal is a fully funded, non-exclusive agreement that hasn’t been signed yet. People spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is ongoing.
Another person told The AP that a deal has not yet been submitted to the NFL for approval. The league declined to comment.
Once the deal is approved, Harris would own controlling interests in teams in three of the four major North American professional sports leagues. He and David Blitzer have owned the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils since 2013.
Harris owned a piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers that he must sell before he can get the Commanders.
The price for the Commanders beats the previous record of $4.65 billion set by Walmart heir Rob Walton’s group bought the Denver Broncos last year. Johnson, the Basketball Hall of Famer who also owns part of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, was also part of Harris’ bid for the Broncos.
Rales, co-founder of Danaher Corp. and Maryland residents, and Johnson were relatively late in the group. Rales and Harris grew up in Bethesda in the Washington suburbs, bringing local ownership roots to the team.
The commanders’ sale is still subject to the signing of a contract and subsequent approval by the rest of the league’s owners, which could happen as early as their next meeting in Minnesota in May, but could take longer. It would take 24 out of 32 votes to pass, which shouldn’t be a problem after the Broncos sale was unanimously approved and Snyder began to fall out of favor with the group.
Snyder bought his childhood favorite team for $750 million in 1999 and, despite mounting criticism, has repeatedly said he would never sell. That changed after multiple league and congressional investigations into Washington’s workplace misconduct and possible inappropriateness. The Congressional Investigation found out that Snyder played a role in a toxic culture.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay in October was the first to suggest it was a “credit” to remove Snyder, an almost unprecedented move that would have done the same approved by a three-quarters majority. Instead, two weeks later, Snyder and wife Tanya leased Bank of America Securities to explore a possible sale of the team.
It quickly became apparent that the Snyders, who bought out the previous minority owners in 2021, weren’t looking to retain a majority stake. Canadian investor Steve Apostolopoulos and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta were among the other bidders after early interest from Washington-area businessman Todd Boehly and mortgage manager Mat Ishbia, who instead paid $4 billion for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and Mercury of the WNBA.
Apostolopoulos’ group was the only other to submit a fully funded bid.
Lawyers representing more than 40 former members of the team welcomed the news of a settlement in principle, saying it marked “the end of a long, difficult chapter” for their clients and fans. Lisa Banks and Debra Katz welcomed the new owners, saying they “hope a new chapter can really begin” within the organization.
Harris and Rales will soon take control of a once storied franchise that’s a far cry from its glory days in the 1980s and early ’90s when Washington won the Super Bowl three times. Under Snyder’s leadership, the team made the playoffs just six times in 24 seasons, won just two postseason games, and went 166-226-2 overall.
The new owners will inherit coach Ron Rivera, who has overseen Washington’s football operations for three seasons. none with a winning recordincluding a 7-9 NFC East title in 2020 followed by a first-round loss.
Their biggest immediate challenge to the organization’s long-term future is a new stadium to replace FedEx Field, the team’s fast-completed home since 1997 in Landover, Maryland, which hasn’t aged well. With the many off-field controversies swirling around the team, Virginia gave up a stadium bill last spring.
Getting fans back is a top priority after Washington finished bottom in the league in 2022 and finished second-bottom in 2021. The team was renamed the Commanders last year to drop the Redskins name in the summer of 2020 and for two seasons with the Washington Football Team.
It wasn’t immediately clear what leeway Harris and Rales might have to make their own changes to the team name, logo, or other aspects of the design, or whether they have an interest in changing course if they take over.
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