The owners of 31 other NFL teams unanimously approved the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris, the private equity billionaire, who agreed to pay a record $6.05 billion. to Daniel Snyder, the scandal-ridden owner of the team.
The figure surpasses the previous highest price paid for an American sports team, the $4.65 billion paid by a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton last year for the Denver Broncos. The Commanders transaction is expected to formally close as early as Friday. Snyder bought the team in 1999 for $800 million.
“Josh will be a great addition to the NFL,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement announcing the vote, adding, “I know he has a commitment to winning on the field, but also to running a organization that everyone can be proud of. — and to make a positive contribution to the community.”
The vote, taken at an ad hoc, one-day meeting in Minneapolis, will allow Harris and his team to take control of one of the league’s cornerstone franchises, which under Snyder has suffered several setbacks. defeat in the field and riot fights from it. . Harris has a track record of improving the standings of other professional teams he owns, the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA and the New Jersey Devils in the NHL.
Harris and his team will focus on improving the team’s tarnished image and exploring options for renovating or replacing FedEx Field, the team’s home since 1997. The franchise owns land in Maryland and Virginia , the location of its training facility. But many NFL team owners want the Commanders to build a new stadium in the District of Columbia, where the team has played for most of its history.
“This franchise is part of who I am and who I am as a person,” Harris said, noting that he grew up rooting for the team in nearby Chevy Chase, Md. “A new era of Washington football is here.”
Harris and his investment group, which includes businessman and philanthropist Mitchell Rales and Magic Johnson, the retired NBA star, will have their hands full. During Snyder’s 24-year tenure, the team made the postseason just six times, winning two playoff games. The once-dominant franchise, which won three Super Bowl titles in the 1980s and ’90s, has seen attendance drop across the league as losses mount, its stadium falls into disrepair and its owner alienates fans and sponsors because of his anger.
Almost from the moment he bought the Washington franchise in 1999, Snyder clashed with the league and his co-owners over his refusal to pay the salary cap and his insistence that the team keep its original name. and logo that was on the franchise when it moved to Washington, although many Native American groups consider it racist. The team changed its name to Commanders in 2020.
In 2020, the NFL also began an investigation into reports of widespread sexual harassment in team offices. After investigating the claims, Goodell fined the team $10 million, but, under pressure from Snyder, did not release the results to the league. The decision prompted members of Congress to launch their own inquiry, which uncovered numerous allegations of harassment and financial fraud.
In a 79-page report, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform said Snyder, with the help of the NFL and Goodell, withheld evidence that he and other team executives sexually harassed women who worked at team for two decades.
The committee said Snyder went to extraordinary lengths to stop investigations into him and his team. The efforts, the report said, included his attempt to pay former employees “hush money” to avoid discussing their experiences, refusing to release a woman from her nondisclosure agreement after she settled. a sexual misconduct claim against Snyder worth $1.6 million and the use of private investigators and leaked emails to intimidate former employees into refusing interview requests.
The league hired Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor, to look into the allegations the committee received. White’s report was released following the league’s approval of the sale.
In his 17-month investigation into the team, White found that Snyder had had sex with a female former cheerleader and marketing employee for the team, and confirmed claims that the team intentionally suppressed the about $11 million in revenue that should be shared. of the 32 teams in the league.
The investigation did not conclude or rule that Snyder directed or participated in this revenue protection, but that “at the very least, he was aware of some efforts to reduce revenue sharing.”
The league fined Snyder a record $60 million.
Snyder has asked the NFL to indemnify him from liability in extraordinary and potential future legal disputes, but has received no such protection.
Over the years, Snyder controlled a majority stake with a small group of relatives and friends, as well as three limited partners, including Fred Smith, the chairman of FedEx, who jointly owned the remaining 40 percent of the club. In 2020, teammates accused Snyder of mismanaging the team’s finances. Snyder accused them of leaking damaging information about him and the toxic work culture in the team’s office as a way to force a sale of the club.
The owners of other NFL teams, hoping to bury the messy dispute, gave Snyder a waiver to take out hundreds of millions of dollars in additional debt to buy out his partners for $875 million. .
With the team’s founder and Snyder riddled with scandals, the owners began to think of ways to force him out. In October, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay became the first owner to say publicly that Snyder should leave the league. Two weeks later, Snyder said he hired bankers to look into selling the club.
Snyder was eager to find a buyer willing to pay $7 billion, but he ultimately settled on Harris, who brought in more than a dozen investors to join the bid. The league’s finance committee, which reviews applications for teams, was uncomfortable with the amount of debt Harris used to finance the purchase. But Harris put up more of his personal fortune to guarantee some of that debt.
The finance committee voted informally on Monday to approve the purchase plan, paving the way for a full ownership vote on the transaction on Thursday.
While Snyder no longer owns the team, an investigation into allegations of financial impropriety by the Commanders continues in the Eastern District of Virginia. Harris also had to overcome Snyder’s rocky relationship with local politicians, many of whom resented his reluctance to abandon the team’s longtime name. For years, lawmakers in the District, and on Capitol Hill, would not consider allowing Snyder to build on the site of RFK Stadium.
With Snyder gone, that resistance may soften. In December, Goodell spoke with Mayor Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia, who needed the support of the federal government because the National Park Service controls the 190-acre site.