Bezos to Pass on Purchasing the Washington Commanders

Bezos to Pass on Purchasing the Washington Commanders

12 April, 2023

Jeff Bezos had previously expressed interest in purchasing the Washington Commanders but now appears to be withdrawing from the bidding process. According to The Washington Post, Amazon founder Bezos has no plans to place a bid on the team. This may pave the way for an investment group led by Josh Harris, co-owner of the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia 76ers, to acquire the team.

Bezos reportedly recruited Allen & Company, an investment consultancy, earlier this year to assess a possible bid for the Commanders, as reported by the post. During an appearance on CNN last autumn, Bezos, 59, hinted about perhaps buying the Commanders. Bezos mentioned that he played football as a young man in Houston over the course of the conversation. During Bezos’s formative years as a football fan, the Bum Phillips-coached Oilers were consistently atop the NFL’s power rankings.

While Bezos hasn’t and likely won’t, three other billionaire-led consortia have offered $6 billion to purchase the Commanders from current owner Daniel Snyder. Canadian millionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, who has been attempting to buy a sports team, has joined Harris’ group in submitting a fully funded bid, according ESPN. The second offer was from Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets.

According to The Post, Harris’s company is in the lead to buy the Commanders. NBA Hall of Fame point player Magic Johnson is a current stakeholder of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer.

Johnson just confirmed the proposal submission on NBC’s “The Today Show.””We’re submitting our bid,” Johnson declared. We certainly hope so. The future holds no guarantees for us. We’ll have to wait and watch what happens now that Mr. Snyder has made that choice. But we couldn’t be more thrilled.