It’s signed, sealed, and delivered! Daniel and Tanya Snyder announced Friday they entered a finalized agreement to sell the Washington Commanders to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers majority owner Josh Harris. Harris also is the managing owner of the New Jersey Devils.
Harris agreed to buy the Commanders for an NFL record $6.05 billion. The previous record was the sale of the Denver Broncos last year for $4.65 billion.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement for the sale of the Commanders franchise with Josh Harris, an area native, and his impressive group of partners. Dan and Tanya Snyder said in a joint statement. “We look forward to the prompt completion of this transaction and to rooting for Jos and the team in the coming years.”
While the deal is agreed upon, there are steps to follow before the sale completes officially. The sale will go through the NFL’s approval process, starting with the league’s finance committee, consisting of eight NFL owners.
The finance committee discussed the sale during its meeting on Wednesday in New York. The committee did not conduct a vote. Instead, there were some concerns raised that included the liquidity of Harris.
The committee will start vetting Harris and each investor in his group, including fellow billionaire Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson.
According to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, the NFL owners will get details about the sale at the owners’ next meeting on May 22-23 in Minneapolis. An owners’ vote is unlikely then. However, expectations are a vote will occur in the coming months “well ahead” of the start of the regular season in September.
Per NFL rules, 24 of the league’s 32 owners must vote to approve of the sale to be final.
Initially, the agreement was non-exclusive, allowing other suitors to place a bid. However, after signing the deal Friday, Harris’ group enters an exclusive window. Harris will get charged an unspecified breakup fee if the sale falls through.
Still, it’s Christmas in May. Commanders fans have yearned for Dan Snyder to sell the franchise after 24 years of futility. Snyder purchased the Washington franchise in 1999 for a then-NFL record $800 million.
One of the league’s most storied franchises, Washington won just two playoff games under Snyder’s ownership. The team went through a host of head coaches, 27 starting quarterbacks, and countless off-the-field headlines in a negative light.
In fact, the negative headlines boiled over in recent years. Since 2020, multiple reports surfaced with allegations of sexual harassment, workplace misconduct, and financial improprieties against the franchise. The allegations sparked several investigations, including two overseen by the NFL.
The first, led by high-powered attorney Beth Wilkinson resulted in the team getting fined $10 million and Snyder handing over the day-to-day operations to his wife, Tanya.
The results of Wilkinson’s investigation were not released to the public, prompting the U.S. Congress to open a probe into Snyder, the team, and the league. That led to more allegations against the organization, including a former team employee testifying Snyder touched her inappropriately and tried to force her into a limousine.
The NFL opened a second investigation led by attorney Mary Jo White. The results are pending, but the league has vowed the findings will be publicly released. Meanwhile, pressure mounted on Snyder to consider selling the team, including other NFL owners.
Colts owner Jim Irsay was one of the most vocal against Snyder, saying “there was merit” to remove Snyder from ownership. In November, Snyder hired Bank of America to explore options for selling the team.
Harris’ group beat out Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos. Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta placed a $5.6 billion bid on the team, the same amount that Forbes valued the franchise to be worth. Fertitta vowed not to go over his initial offer.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, had an interest in the team. However, Snyder reportedly refused to sell the team to Bezos stemming from the Post’s reporting that sparked the investigations into the team. Bezos chose not to offer a bid.
Josh Harris intends to be the next majority owner of the Washington Commanders. The finance committee will now formally review the agreement, and the process can officially begin. Barring an unexpected hurdle, Dan Snyder’s reign as owner of the Washington franchise will finally end.
