On Thursday, news broke that Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders are nearing a deal that would sell the team for a record $6 billion. After multiple decades, it appears that the Snyder ownership era in Washington is nearing an end.
From NFL.com:
"Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and Josh Harris of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment are nearing a deal to complete the sale of the team to Harris’ group for just under $6 billion, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Thursday, per sources.Rapoport added that the sale is not final and no agreement has been sent to the league for approval."
The potential new buyer group is led by Josh Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, and a minority of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s now likely going to add the Commanders to his ownership arsenal.
How the selling of teams works is that two thirds of owners must approve of the sale (24) and the sale must be approved by the NFL’s finance committee.
I’d assume with great certainty that both of those things would happen, which would mean the scarred and controversial Dan Snyder ownership era would come to an end.
Here’s more from NFL.com on the latest drama from Dan Snyder:
"Snyder and the Commanders remain the subject an internal league investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, concerning allegations of workplace misconduct and potential unlawful financial conduct. In addition, the franchise recently settled lawsuits with Maryland and the District of Columbia over fans’ season-ticket deposit money."
This type of drama has happened for years, and the vibe that a lot of us got from the Commanders’ sect of the NFL is that Snyder needed to sell the team and move on, and it looks like it’ll finally happen.
Now, new ownership doesn’t mean that the team side of things won’t change. New owners might want to form their own plan of action to net some success, so other people high up in the organization like the head coach and general manager could be on the hotseat.
Ron Rivera is likely already on the hotseat, and he seems to be `banking on the coalition of Eric Bieniemy and Sam Howell to turn things around.
Either way, a sale of the Washington Commanders appears likely.