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When Dan Snyder announced that he was interested in selling the NFL’s Washington Commanders last fall, a who’s who of celebrities, sports stars and business giants expressed interest.
He hired Bank of America to find interested buyers, and names bandied about included Jay Z, Jeff Bezos and Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos.
However, Snyder has reportedly reached an agreement to sell his team to a consortium led by Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, for $6 billion, a record amount for any sports team, according to the New York Times.
The National Football League must approve the deal and is currently in a fact-finding mission, which could last a month, according to league sources.
The new ownership group would also include Mitchell Rales, founder of the Danaher Corporation; NBA legend Magic Johnson; Colombian billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo; property investor Mitchell Morgan; and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, according to Sportico.
Schmidt, who was added to the ownership team in May, left his position at the tech giant in 2011, but remains one of the company’s largest shareholders. Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists his net worth at $21.7 billion.
Harris is no stranger to the world of professional sports, as he already owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
One of the first things any new owner must decide is what to do about the football team’s stadium. The team is committed to playing at FedEx Field in Landover until its lease is up in 2027, but there is plenty of interest around the region to bring the team somewhere else. For instance, the team has a $100 million option-to-purchase agreement to acquire approximately 200 acres of land in Woodbridge, Va., as a potential stadium site.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
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