With Jeff Bezos possibly interested in purchasing the Washington Commanders, you'd think that current owner Daniel Snyder would open his arms in an effort to get the world's third-richest person to buy the team, but apparently that's not the case.
When Snyder is involved in something, things almost always seem to get a little crazy (and not in a good way), and you can now add the sale of the Commanders to that list. There have been multiple developments in the possible sale of the team over the past 72 hours and we're going to cover them all here.
- Jeff Bezos might be banned from buying the team. The Amazon founder was recently exploring the idea of buying the team -- he even hired an investment firm -- but he might have to put those plans on hold because, apparently, Snyder doesn't want to sell the team to Bezos. According to both the New York Post and The Athletic, Snyder has banned Bezos from bidding because he's not happy with how the Washington Post has treated the Commanders. Bezos owns the Washington Post and under his watch, the paper has written multiple stories that didn't paint the team in a good light.
- Is Jeff Bezos actually banned from buying the team? This is where things get confusing. Although there were multiple reports suggesting that Snyder wouldn't let Bezos buy the team, Front Office Sports is reporting that Bezos "remains in the mix" to buy the Commanders. According to that report, the Bezos ban was only leaked so that the Amazon founder would bid more money for the team in hopes of driving up the price that the final buyer will end up paying.
- Snyder apparently might not even sell the team. The Commanders owner is hoping to get at least $6 billion for the team, and apparently, no one offered that much during the first round of bidding that closed in December (FOS is reporting that he wants $7 billion). If Snyder can't get his asking price, there's a chance he might just hold on to the team, according to the New York Post. If Snyder is truly looking to sell the team for $6 billion or $7 billion, then it makes no sense to ban the third-richest guy in the world from the bidding process.
- Rockets owners interested in buying the Commanders. One new name that popped up over the weekend as a possible candidate to buy the Commanders is Tilman Fertitta, who owns the Houston Rockets. According to the Washington Post, Fertitta submitted a bid that was believed to be slightly above $5.5 billion, but not the $6 billion that Snyder is hoping to get. Fertitta has a net worth of $8.1 billion and he'll have to pay at least 30% of the purchase price to buy the Commanders, which means it would cost him at least $1.8 billion out of pocket if Snyder wants $6 billion (Fertitta could then get the rest of the money from investors willing purchase a minority ownership in the team). According to FOS, Snyder was "disappointed" with the first-round of bids, which didn't reach his asking price. It's possible that Snyder is hoping that Bezos will come over the top with a monster bid of $6.5 billion or $7 billion, but it's also possible that Snyder doesn't want to sell to Bezos at all because he's holding a grudge against the Amazon founder for the unflattering stories in the Washington Post. As you can probably tell at this point, this is all confusing.
For every step forward the Commanders sale takes, it seems to also take three steps back. In January, it was reported that a sale could be done as soon as March and although that's still technically possible, Snyder seems to be dragging his feet here, which could drag out the process for several months and that's if he even ends up selling the team and there's no currently no guarantee that's going to happen.
