Dan Snyder has reached an agreement in principle to sell the Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Harris group includes billionaire Mitchell Rales, as well as former NBA star Magic Johnson.
While the sale is not signed, it will be the most expensive purchase of a team in NFL history.
It has been expected that Dan Snyder would complete a sale of the Commanders for a while. There was a lot of speculation about whether Jeff Bezos would place a bid on the franchise, but he eventually came out and announced that he would not, and that $6 billion was too far for him.
Now, we know who was willing to go to that $6.05 billion number that Dan Snyder was targeting. That number would be the largest buying price for a sports team ever. Philadelphia 76ers co-owner is the head of the group. As mentioned above, billionaire Mitchell Rales is in the group. NBA legend Magic Johnson is in the group as well. It will be worth monitoring how involved each of these prominent names will be. Despite not being the head of the group, it would not be surprising to see Magic Johnson make public appearances on behalf of the team.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that nothing is final, agreed to or submitted to the league, but the Harris group appears to be the choice.
The clarity of who will be the owner should please Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, who has had decisions put on hold because of the potential sale. The Commanders have structured contracts with free agents that signaled an incoming sale. Rivera specifically mentioned that he was waiting on clarity from an ownership perspective when it came to the decision on Chase Young's fifth-year option.
Now, the Commanders have clarity with the sale to the Harris group.
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