Commanders sale news: Why Daniel Snyder is selling NFL team & what to know about new owner Josh Harris

By | June 23, 2023
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Daniel Snyder has owned the Washington Commanders for 23 years, but his time in the NFL is coming to an end.

The team announced May 12 that Snyder had finalized an agreement to sell the franchise to an investment group led by Josh Harris, who owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Billionaire Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson are part of the ownership team.

The transaction, which is subject to approval by fellow NFL team owners, will put an end to Snyder’s tumultuous reign following two major scandals over a four-year period. Those scandals reportedly eroded support for him inside the NFL and led to the sale.

Washington fans have long been calling for Snyder to sell. Their pressure — along with a steady decline in attendance at FedEx Field — played a role as well.

POWER RANKINGS: Where do Commanders check in after 2023 free agency? 

Here’s everything to know about the pending sale of the Commanders, including details of why Snyder is effectively being forced out. (All times Eastern.)

Washington Commanders sale news

June 23

9:10 a.m. — Ownership of the Commanders is set to officially change hands a week before the team opens training camp. The Washington Post reported the NFL has scheduled a special owners’ meeting for July 20 for a vote on the sale. A source told the Post “everything is on track” for approval of the deal after a meeting of the owners’ eight-member finance committee. 

May 18

12:20 p.m. — The official changing of the guard in Washington will have to wait a bit. On a conference call with reporters, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said owners will not hold a vote to approve the sale of the franchise during their May 22-24 meetings in Minnesota. That means the handover from Snyder to Harris will have to wait a bit longer. 

May 12

4:20 p.m. —  The parties involved announce that a group led by Josh Harris has “entered into a purchase and sale agreement” with Snyder. The deal must still be approved by the 31 other NFL owners, with a vote likely by the end of May, but that is expected to be a formality. 

April 13

1:17 p.m. — The Commanders have been sold. Sportico reports that Snyder has reached an agreement to sell the team to an investment group led by Josh Harris, Mitchell Rales and Magic Johnson.

The franchise will reportedly be sold for $6 billion, making it the most expensive transaction in the history of professional sports.

March 29

1:15 p.m. — In case anyone is doubting whether Daniel Snyder will actually sell the Commanders, team president Jason Wright clarified that he expects it to happen.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t,” Wright said of a sale, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “I’m so confused by the skepticism. It is a potential transaction until it’s a transaction, but yeah.”

9:48 a.m. — CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones has details on a potential timeline for a Commanders sale. He writes that Synder “could land on who he’s picking within one to three weeks.”

At present, there are two known bidders — Josh Harris and Steve Apostolopoulos — for the team while Tilman Fertitta “remains in the mix.” Jones also reports that there is a fourth, mystery bidder involved in the sweepstakes.

March 28

2:03 p.m. —  And here comes a second bid. This one is coming from Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Brian Windhorst, and also will be a $6 billion offer.

12:01 p.m. — The known first bid on the Commanders has come in. The group led by Josh Harris, which includes within it Magic Johnson, has submitted a bid that meets Dan Snyder’s $6 million asking price, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

March 27

3:28 p.m. — It sounds like Snyder could soon sell the Commanders, at least according to Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

“I believe that something is close to happening,” Kraft said when asked about a sale of the Commanders. “I don’t know that for sure. We’ll wait and see what happens.”

MORE: Why Daniel Snyder may not sell Commanders to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

Who is Josh Harris?

Harris is a 58-year-old businessman and investor who co-founded Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that had $548 billion in assets under management at the end of 2022. He also has ties to the sports world, as he is the co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

That entity, which Harris formed alongside David S. Blitzer, manages the professional sports teams in which both have stakes. They own the NBA’s 76ers, NHL’s Devils, G-League’s Delaware Blue Coats and AHL’s Utica Comets and also purchased a 5 percent stake in the Steelers in 2020.

It’s no surprise that Harris is making a bid for the Commanders alongside Mitchell Rales, the founder of the Danaher Corporation, and NBA legend Magic Johnson, among others. Harris showed an interest in buying the Broncos when they were sold for $4.65 billion to the Walton-Penner group — headlined by Walmart heir Rob Walton — in 2022.

Now, he will get a chance to be part owner of sports teams in three of the four biggest American sports.

(Getty Images)

Why did Daniel Snyder sell the Commanders?

Snyder sold the Commanders amid two massive scandals that rocked the team and the NFL over the last couple of seasons.

Washington Redskins sexual harassment scandal

The first was a sexual harassment scandal that was revealed by a series of Washington Post articles in 2020. The articles alleged that Snyder and several male executives had created a hostile workplace culture within the organization and had been sexually harassing and discriminating against women within it since 2006.

The Post described that the sexual harassment of office employees largely came in two forms: “unwelcome overtures or comments of a sexual nature, and exhortations to wear revealing clothing and flirt with clients to close sales deals.”

Additionally, Washington cheerleaders detailed that the team had made a lewd video stemming from their “Beauties on the Beach” calendar shoot and documentary in 2008. Per The Post, “the 10-minute unofficial video featured moments when nipples were inadvertently exposed as the women shifted positions or adjusted props.”

The report said Larry Michael, who was then the team’s lead broadcaster and a senior vice president, had instructed his staff to make the video for Snyder.

That wasn’t the only complaint in which Snyder was named. It was also revealed that he had signed non-disclosure agreements with several women who had previously worked for the team. That included one that saw him pay $1.9 million to an employee to settle a sexual misconduct allegation in 2009, per ESPN.

Beth Wilkinson, a Washington D.C. lawyer, was brought in to perform an independent investigation of the workplace culture. Her investigation concluded after a 10-month-long review, and The Post reported that she had found that Washington had created “a workplace culture where sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation were commonplace throughout most of Daniel Snyder’s ownership.”

“The culture of the club was very toxic and fell far short of the NFL’s values,” Lisa Friel, the league’s special counsel for investigations, said.

As such, the team was fined $10 million while Snyder was instructed to stay away from the team short-term. His wife Tanya took over the day-to-day ownership responsibilities as a result.

MORE: Commanders workplace investigation by Congress, explained

Washington Football Team financial improprieties

The sexual harassment allegations were a major blow to Snyder, but what seemed to put the NFL over the edge was the alleged financial improprieties committed by the Washington owner. These were revealed in a congressional investigation of the sexual harassment claims made against Snyder.

Jason Friedman, a 24-year employee of the organization who was fired in 2020, claimed that Washington underreported ticket revenue during his time there, per ESPN. He further detailed that the team “maintained two books — one that was shared with the NFL with the underreported ticket revenue — and another that included the accurate revenue and was shown to owner Dan Snyder.”

One way that Washington did this was by taking security deposits from its customers, or making it very difficult for those ticket buyers to get them back. The team would then convert those security deposits into nonshareable revenue that would serve only to benefit Snyder’s bottom line.

How did they do this? It was all about finding customers who were unlikely to be aware that the returnable deposits existed, per ESPN.

Friedman said he was told by Snyder and his former chief operating officer, Mitch Gershman, to find dormant accounts where the likelihood of the customer coming forward and asking for the deposit refund is ‘as close to zero as possible.’ They would then convert the credit on the customer’s account that reflected the security deposit into what they termed ‘juice; — or revenue gained by the team through this practice.

Friedman explained that this had been a long-term practice of Washington, having started around 2006 when attendance declined and “things started to get a little tougher for the team financially.” It continued through 2017 before it was stopped by Snyder.

This revelation helped to further erode Snyder’s reputation, as he had effectively taken action against the NFL and its 31 other clubs by undermining its revenue-sharing rules.

It also may have forced Snyder’s hand into a sale, as the other owners had more than enough reason to force him out of the league like former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.

MORE: Daniel Snyder reportedly used team funds for himself, per investigation

Daniel Snyder net worth

According to Forbes, Daniel Snyder has a net worth of $4.9 billion. That makes him one of 2,668 billionaires in the world.

Among NFL owners, Forbes lists Snyder as the 14th-richest as of September 2022. Below is a look at the NFL’s 15 richest owners.

Rank Owner Team Net worth
1 Rob Walton Broncos $56.7 billion
2 David Tepper Panthers $18.5 billion
3 Jerry Jones Cowboys $16 billion
4 Stan Kroenke Rams $12.9 billion
5 Stephen Ross Dolphins $11.6 billion
6 Shahid Khan Jaguars $11.2 billion
7 Robert Kraft Patriots $10.6 billion
8 Arthur Blank Falcons $7.6 billion
9 Terry Pegula Bills $6.7 billion
10 Stephen Bisciotti Ravens $6.4 billion
11 Denise York (& family) 49ers $5.1 billion
12 Jimmy Haslam Browns $5 billion
13 Janice McNair Texans $5 billion
14 Daniel Snyder Commanders $4.9 billion
15 Gayle Benson Saints $4.7 billion

How did Daniel Snyder make his money?

Snyder made his fortune via Snyder Communications, a marketing company he founded in 1989 thanks to some family investments. The company began to succeed by creating wallboard advertising and distributing samples to doctor’s offices and colleges, per the Washingtonian.

Eventually, the company distributed samples to maternity wards and moved into telemarketing, which proved to be a boon. The company’s revenue went from $2.7 million in 1991 to $9 million in 1993 thanks to the reach it had in telemarketing.

In 1996, Snyder opted to take the company public. He then proceeded to buy up smaller companies to expand the business. By 1998, Snyder Communications had an annual revenue of nearly $1 billion.

Eventually, the value of the company began to diminish, according to The Washington Post. That occurred around the time that Snyder looked into purchasing the Commanders. He eventually did in 1999.

Not long after that, Snyder sold his company to France-based Havas Advertising for about $2.1 billion in stock. The sale was announced in February of 2000.

How much did Daniel Snyder pay for the Commanders?

Snyder paid a sum of $800 million to buy the Washington football team in 1999. Adjusting for inflation, that would mean the team cost roughly $1.45 billion to purchase in today’s money.

The Commanders are worth far more than that to date, so Snyder’s investment was a good one.

MORE: Meet the Commanders’ new mascot, Major Tuddy

How much are the Commanders worth?

According to Forbes’ most recent valuations of the NFL’s 32 clubs, the Commanders are worth $5.6 billion. That makes them the sixth-most-valuable franchise in the NFL. However, the Harris group reportedly paid $6 billion in the transaction, inching that value a bit higher on the list. 

The Commanders saw their value stagnate a bit after their name changes from “Redskins” to “Washington Football Team” to “Commanders.” However, they saw a year-over-year value change of 33 percent last year, tied for the sixth-largest in the NFL.

So, it would seem that the team’s new brand is starting to stick. And with a new owner, the D.C.-area fervor around the team could be restored and allow them to make an even larger jump in 2023.

Below is a look at where Washington ranks among the NFL’s 10 most valuable franchises, per numbers from Forbes.

Rank Team Value
1 Dallas Cowboys $8 billion
2 New England Patriots $6.4 billion
3 Los Angeles Rams $6.2 billion
4 New York Giants $6 billion
5 Chicago Bears $5.8 billion
6 Washington Commanders $5.6 billion
7 New York Jets $5.4 billion
8 San Francisco 49ers $5.2 billion
9 Las Vegas Raiders $5.1 billion
10 Philadelphia Eagles $4.9 billion

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