Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has agreed in principle to a deal to sell the team to an ownership group that includes Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, Magic Johnson and Mitchell Rales, NBC4 reporter JP Finlay has learned.
The $6.05 billion purchase price is fully funded, Finlay confirmed. The deal is not signed, but an agreement is in place. The deal could still fall apart if a higher bid comes in.
A Commanders spokesperson declined to comment early Thursday afternoon.
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Harris is a billionaire from the private equity world and owns the 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. He is general partner of Crystal Palace, an English soccer club, and has an estimated net worth of $6 billion, according to Forbes. Harris also owns a piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which he needs to sell before getting the Commanders, the Associated Press reported.
Harris has ties to the D.C. area. He grew up in Chevy Chase and attended The Field School in the District. He made a serious run at buying the Denver Broncos but ultimately refused to enter a bidding war against the Walton family, of the Walmart fortune.
He brought on Rales, a billionaire who was raised in Bethesda, earlier this year. Johnson, who has ownership experience with Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and others, later joined the group.
Snyder bought the team in 1999 and took full control before the 2000 season. Since 2000, Snyder's Washington teams have registered a terrible 154-214-2 record, losing 60 games more than they've won, while earning just one playoff victory in 23 seasons.
In the 20 years prior to Snyder's ownership, Washington was one of the best teams in the NFL, with three Super Bowl wins and four appearances.
The extended losses only tell one part of Snyder's troubled history with the organization. There were also numerous allegations that ranged from sexual harassment to financial fraud, and the number of lawsuits and investigations has almost grown too large to count.
“I think what it tells me and what it tells my clients and I think what it should tell the community is that sexual harassment will not be tolerated no matter how big your organization is, no matter how rich and powerful you are,” said Lisa Banks, one of the attorneys who represented team employees through those investigations. “There will be accountability.”
While Snyder had few fans in the D.C. area, the terms of his ownership changed dramatically after a series of investigative articles from The Washington Post in summer 2020. Those stories effectively brought about momentous change for the organization, including dropping the team's previous name and installing Tanya Snyder, Dan's wife, as CEO. The NFL also fined the organization $10 million.
Still, Dan Snyder remained defiant.
That was, until a federal investigation into a secret $55 million personal loan became news. ESPN broke that story, and in the days and weeks after that allegation, news of a sale came fast and furious.
The team announced in November that Snyder had hired Bank of America to explore "potential transactions." The team hired the bank to help facilitate a potential sale, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Last summer, Forbes valued the team at $5.6 billion in its annual team valuations list, making the franchise the sixth most valuable in the NFL.
“The news today is amazing for this market because it means Dan Snyder is no longer going to be involved with the NFL, and I mean that sincerely,” said John Ourand, media reporter with “Sports Business Journal.” “He was a pariah at the NFL. There’s a reason that the NFL Draft and some of the big events that the NFL has, they don’t come to Washington, and it’s because the stadium isn’t good, it’s because the owner has no friends with the other ownership committees, and they want to go to other markets. So, this is – any type of change at the top, regardless of who comes in – is going to be a benefit for the business behind this team.”
Former Washington all-pro Brian Mitchell, a Super Bowl winner, said he's encouraged by the makeup of the potential ownership group.
“You look at Harris; he’s already involved with professional football and also soccer and basketball,” he said.
“Magic understands the landscape of professional sports,” Mitchell said. “He can be the face; he knows how to shake hands and kiss babies.”
“I think Josh and Mitchell Rales have more than enough money to own this team and probably do the things that needs to be done,” he said.
Mitchell was a player when Snyder bought the team in 1999.
“I think he was a young, brash guy who came in and thought he had all the answers, and I think right now with this group, I think when you look at what they did with the 76ers, you look at how successful the Steelers have been over the years,” he said. “Josh has been around enough to be like, ‘Yeah, I might have some experience, I may have some knowledge, but I need to also listen.’”
In reaction to the potential sale, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted "Let's win!" and a "Sports Illustrated" cover of Super Bowl-winning quarterback and current team executive Doug Williams.
“I’m with my team if we’re winning of losing,” a fan named William told News4’s Tommy McFLY Thursday afternoon. “That’s what you call a fan, a die-hard fan.”
He said if he was the owner, he’d bring the team back to D.C.
“Can’t wait for new blood, new action, new activity down here,” another fan said.
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