The NFL’s finance committee raised concerns about the $6.05 billion agreement between Josh Harris and Dan Snyder to sell the Washington Commanders following their review of the sale Wednesday.
According to The Washington Post, the committee consisting of eight NFL owners is concerned about the number of limited partners in Harris’ group and his liquid assets that could complicate his ability to be the Commanders’ principal owner. The committee’s concerns could keep the sale from going to vote in time for the league’s meetings on May 22-23 in Minneapolis.
“Everyone wants it to get done,” sources said to the Post. “I’m not saying it can’t get done. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
Snyder put the Commanders up for sale in November, hiring the Bank of America Securities to help facilitate a potential sale. After Snyder blocked Amazon founder Jeff Bezos from the process, Harris emerged as the frontrunner, reaching an agreement last month.
However, the deal has not been signed and is non-exclusive, allowing a different suitor to place a bid.
The Harris group has ballooned to 17 limited partners, including fellow DC billionaire Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson. Last week, reports revealed that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and South American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo were also part of the group.
The NFL is so desperate to rid Snyder that it could consider breaking from its traditional process for an unprecedented conditional approval for the sale.
NFL rules limit an ownership group to borrowing $1.1 billion against a team. According to Dan Kaplan of The Athletic, Harris plans to also borrow against his other businesses, including the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and his NHL franchise, the New Jersey Devils.
Harris is worth $5.9 billion, per Forbes, leading to concerns that he would have the cash flow to support the Commanders after the purchase. Hence, the large growing number of limited partners.
Some NFL pundits believe the league may have to rethink the process for buying a franchise given the rising cost of teams.
David Teppler bought the Carolina Panthers for nearly $2.3 billion in 2018. Last year, The Walter-Penner family purchased the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion. The agreement between Josh Harris and Dan Snyder for the Commanders is nearly $1.5 billion more than the Broncos. Snyder reportedly sought $7 billion.
It may be harder to find investors with enough wealth to buy an NFL franchise nowadays without a large group of limited partners. Then again, there’s the thought had Snyder allowed Bezos to bid on the Commanders, Snyder would have landed at a sale price of $7 billion. Also, Bezos is worth over $135 billion. His finances wouldn’t have presented the same obstacle as the Harris group.
