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Reports surfaced Thursday that Washington Commanders Owner Dan Snyder is closing in on a deal to sell the team.
There have been rumors swirling for months that this was coming and reports of groups that were in the mix to purchase the team. As of writing, nothing is signed but it appears that a deal is imminent.
Current owner of the New Jersey Devils NHL team and co-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, Josh Harris, is leading the group to purchase the Commanders from Snyder for an estimated $6.05 billion.
Harris’ group includes D.C. businessman Mitchel Rales and former NBA superstar Magic Johnson.
Snyder purchased the Commanders in May 1999 for roughly $800 million. At the time, it was the most expensive purchase of a franchise in sports history.
Since becoming owner, the team has won just two playoff games in six postseason appearances, never advancing past the Divisional Round.
They have not had a winning season since 2016 and have a total of six seasons over .500 in 24 years.
And those are just the football issues.
The off-the-field issues with Snyder have dramatically outweighed any problems that have occurred on the field.
The workplace culture within the organization is notoriously toxic, the team plays in Landover, MD which is incredibly inaccessible for fans, and has gone after multiple media outlets for defamation.
The team has been likely the least successful and most poorly-run organization since Snyder took over / Photo: NYT
His most recent controversies include a workplace culture issue that was uncovered by the Washington Post in 2020, which released a series of articles alleging that over 40 women within the organization were sexually harassed or discriminated against by Snyder and other high-ranking organization officials.
In the Fall of 2022, The D.C. Attorney General filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Snyder, the Commanders and the NFL. The process began with a House of Representatives Oversight Committee sending a letter to the Federal Trade Commission which highlighted the workplace culture and business practices within the organization.
This was the beginning of the end.
In the months following the report from the House Oversight Committee, Snyder threatened several NFL owners, claiming he had ‘dirt’ on them and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Look, we could go on and on and on about the 24 years of Snyder’s ownership and how far the franchise has fallen in that span, but this is a day worth celebrating.
Most fans of the Commanders have boycotted attending games until Snyder sold the team. Every Sunday, FedEx Field is filled with opposing fans and is known as the worst stadium in the NFL.
Josh Harris purchasing the team should lead to the organization turning a corner in every positive way.
He has experience in sports ownership and a proven resume and way of doing things that has been successful with multiple franchises across multiple sports.
Again, nothing is official, but we’ve known that this was coming for months.
Every NFL fan should be happy with this news. One of the league’s most storied organizations gets a fresh start and hopefully a chance to flourish once again.
Can we start by moving the team back to D.C? I hear the old RFK Stadium site is available.
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