Dan Snyder is blocking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos from buying the Washington Commanders as other bids for the team came up short of the asking price.
This is according to the New York Post, which reported that all bids for the Commanders fell below the $6 billion minimum Snyder set to kick off the selling process. Bids were due this week.
Meanwhile, the Post said that Dan Snyder wouldn’t allow Jeff Bezos to place a bid in the private auction. The top bid was $5.5 billion. The Post said the bidder was unidentified. But the proposal also was similar to what was offered by Josh Harris, who is the majority owner of both the NBA’s 76ers and Devils of the NHL.
It’s well known in NFL circles that Dan Snyder doesn’t like Jeff Bezos. In fact, Snyder blames Bezos for being pressured by other NFL owners to sell the team. Bezos also owns the Washington Post. He bought the paper a decade ago. And the Washington Post did some key reporting about a toxic business culture within Snyder’s football team. Some sources have told the New York Post that Snyder believes that Bezos encouraged the reporting at his own paper so that Snyder would have to put the team up for sale. That would allow Bezos the chance to buy the team.
Jeff Bezos Thinking of Selling Newspaper to Appease Dan Snyder
Last month, there were reports that Bezos is looking to sell his newspaper as a gesture of goodwill so that Snyder would allow him to purchase the Commanders.
The Washington Post reported this week that Bezos hired Allen & Company to help him with a potential purchase of the Commanders. The company is based in New York. And it often is involved with transactions involving sports franchises. In fact, the Allen firm handled the last two sales — the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers — in the NFL.
We should know more about what will happen with the Commanders late next month after the NFL owners meeting. Jeff Bezos could be Dan Snyder’s only option if he wants to meet his $6 billion asking price. Snyder may even decide to keep the team.
Bezos is worth more than $100 billion. NFL rules state that an owner must hold 30 percent in equity of the team.
“Snyder wants at least $6 billion. That means to meet the league equity, you need $2 billion in cash,” one unidentified sports executive told Fox Business. “Who has that type of dough laying around but Jeff Bezos?”
