There’s a juicy story coming out of the National Football League (NFL) today. The league has been trying to force Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to sell the team, but it turns out they don’t have enough votes to make it happen.
According to The Post, NFL owners were hoping to reach a resolution on the matter by their annual meeting on March 26th, but they haven’t been able to reach the 75% threshold needed to force Snyder to sell.
Amid reports of a sale, Commanders coach just wants to “focus on football”
One source close to an NFL owner said that at least a quarter of the owners would not vote to oust Snyder. “They want a higher bar so there is no precedent for them to be forced to sell their own teams,” the source speculated.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Snyder‘s nemesis, recently signed a confidentiality agreement, signaling he may finally be allowed to enter the bidding process. Sources close to Bezos told that it was not clear whether Bezos signed the agreement with Snyder or the NFL.
Snyder is asking for an astronomical 6 billion to sell
Snyder has been asking for a record-breaking $6 billion for the Commanders, but so far, the highest bid in a private auction has only come in at $5.5 billion from Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.
The other known bidder is Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris, whose attempts to buy the Commanders may have been bolstered by the recent addition of Danaher Corp. co-founder Mitchell Rales.
However, both Fertitta and Harris believe Snyder’s price for the team is astronomical, especially considering the Denver Broncos, a more stable and profitable franchise, sold for a record $4.65 billion last August.
At informal NFL meetings held last Tuesday, owners put off making a decision about a possible vote to remove Snyder if he refuses to sell the franchise. One major sticking point in the sale of the team, aside from the asking price, is Snyder’s demand to be indemnified from any future litigation against him by the league.
