NFL owners are set to meet Thursday in Minneapolis and vote to approve the sale of the Washington Commanders to the group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris.
LISTEN LIVE: WTOP has live coverage of the historic sale of the Commanders.
NFL owners are set to meet on Thursday in Minneapolis and vote to approve the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris.
The vote will be the final nail in Dan Snyder’s tenure as owner of the franchise.
Speculation about the team’s sale reached a fever pitch last April, when it was reported that the Harris group, which includes Magic Johnson, had reached an agreement with Snyder to buy the team in a $6 billion deal — an NFL record.
At that time, Snyder and his wife Tanya, who is the team’s co-owner and co-CEO, said in a statement that they were pleased to have reached an agreement for the sale of the franchise.
“We look forward to the prompt completion of this transaction and to rooting for Josh and the team in the coming years,” the Snyders said.
The sale must be approved by at least 24 of the 32 owners.
The Commanders sale would be the largest for a North American professional sports franchise since Walmart heir Robert Walton paid $4.55 billion for the Denver Broncos in 2022.
News that the sale was nearing completion circulated earlier this week, when The Washington Post reported that the NFL’s finance committee had voted to unofficially recommend that the league’s owners approve the team’s sale to the Harris group.
The Dan Snyder era
Snyder, a Maryland native, bought his childhood team in 1999 for $750 million, and swore he would never sell the team despite mounting criticism throughout his years of ownership. He also said that the team would never change its name.
“We will never change the name of the team,” Snyder said back in 2013. “We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.”
But pressure from sponsors, including FedEx, PepsiCo and Nike, forced Snyder to change the team’s name in 2020. The team’s former name had been the subject of criticism and protest from Native American advocates and experts who said that the old name is defined as a racial slur.
For almost two years, the team was called the Washington Football Team until 2022, when it became the Washington Commanders.
Then, there was the team’s sale.
After multiple investigations by the league and Congress into Washington’s workplace misconduct and potential financial improprieties, the investigation found that Snyder played a role in a toxic culture, The Associated Press reported. These allegations included sexual harassment, a reported “tip sheet” used to put together an “enemies list” and investigation interference, among others.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that findings of the investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White would still be released even when the team is sold, according to The Associated Press. White was tasked to look into various aspects of the organization.
In July 2021, the NFL fined the team $10 million after a misconduct investigation. This was followed by a team announcement that Snyder would step down from day-to-day operations for several months. Two weeks later, Snyder and wife, Tanya, took their first step toward selling the team and hired Bank of America Securities to explore a possible sale.
Another crack in Snyder’s hold over team ownership came up last October, when Indiana Colts owner Jim Irsay became the first to suggest that there was “merit to remove” Snyder as owner.
Who is Josh Harris?
Like Snyder, Harris grew up in Maryland. In addition to Magic Johnson, Harris’ group for the Commanders sale includes Washington-area billionaire Mitchell Rales and David Blitzer. Harris and Blitzer have owned the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils since 2013.
“We look forward to running a world-class organization and making significant investments on and off the field to achieve excellence and have a lasting and positive impact on the community,” Harris said last May.
One of the new owners’ first challenges is the development of a new stadium to replace FedEx Field, which was ranked as the worst stadium in the league, located in Prince George’s County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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