The first round of bidding for the Washington Commanders ends this week. It’s unclear which day the bidding ends since this is a holiday week, but one thing is certain: the Commanders will cost someone a lot of money.
Mike Ozanian of Forbes reported Thursday that Washington owner Daniel Snyder had received bids “well north” of $7 billion for the franchise and real-estate assets associated with the team. Earlier this year, Washington was listed as the sixth-most valuable NFL franchise at $5.6 billion.
The Denver Broncos were sold this year for $4.65 billion, a record for a North American sports franchise. Washington was always going to top that number, and with the first round of bids already over $7 billion, could the Commanders be sold for double of the Walton family paid for the Broncos?
The Dallas Cowboys are ranked the most-valuable franchise at $8 billion.
Snyder hired Bank of America this fall to explore potential team transactions, including possibly selling the entire team.
Considering everything the Washington franchise has gone through, the consistent losing, and a terrible stadium, it’s remarkable that opening bids are already over $7 billion. Interested buyers likely know of Washington’s potential value and that a new owner will have plenty of options for a new stadium, which wasn’t going to happen under Snyder.
Albert Breer brought up an interesting point about Thursday’s news.
If this is correct, and bids on the @Commanders are going "well north of $7 billion", then Dan Snyder would almost have to sell. Allows him to save face walking away too, which is key to this whole thing. https://t.co/GB1Q0L8dki
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 22, 2022
It’s been a good couple of months for Washington fans with a potential team sale and the Commanders winning on the field.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the favorite to win the bidding — if he’s genuinely interested.
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