Byron Nelson
The Washington Commanders aren’t technically on the market yet, but it looks like the bidders are already lining up to buy the team and one of the interested parties appears to be Jeff Bezos.
According to the Washington Post, the founder of Amazon is watching the team to buy if it goes on sale possibly. Jay-Z is also looking at the Commanders, and according to People Magazine, Bezos could consider partnering with the rapper.
Things are leaking now because the present owner of the Commanders, Daniel Snyder, announced on Wednesday that he had hired Bank of America “to consider potential transactions” involving the team. Snyder didn’t specify whether he was looking to sell the entire team or just a small stake, only that he would be “exploring all options.”
If Snyder decides to sell the whole team, the price could end up close to five billion dollars. The last team that went on the market was the Broncos, and they sold $4.65 billion to Walmart heir Rob Walton. The Commanders are worth an estimated $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Per Forbes, Bezos is worth a total of $112.9 billion, and if he bought the commanding officers, he would instantly become the wealthiest owner of the NFL.
Before Bezos could buy the team, he had to undergo an auction process. After that, it would have to be approved by the league’s 32 owners.
“Any potential transaction would have to be presented to the NFL Finance Committee for review and require an affirmative vote by three quarters of the full membership (24 of 32 teams),” league spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement on Wednesday.
Peter King of ProFootballTalk.com, “Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, among others) who’d love to see Jeff Bezos get involved in the ownership of an NFL franchise.”
Earlier this year, we reported that there had been a conversation between Bezos and Bill Gates about who would buy Commanders and the Seattle Seahawks once those teams becomes available for purchase.
“With Bezos and Gates, they are waiting for Seattle and Washington to open up because [The Seattle] Seahawks will be for sale. So, they are just waiting to see what happens with the Denver Broncos,” said the source.
“Denver will get $4.5 to 5 billion; Bezos and Gates have already talked about if you leave Seattle to me; we will let you get the Commanders. Something has already been worked out to see who gets what.”
