Another day, another report of a prospective buyer of the Washington Commanders.
Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reported late Saturday night that Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, is involved in the bidding for the Commanders.
The Post says that Fertitta recently submitted a bid for the historic NFL franchise but is not believed to be the frontrunner. Fertitta joins Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris as known prospective buyers. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly blocked from bidding but did hire an investment banker recently to look into buying the franchise.
While there are mixed reports on Bezos, hiring an investment firm does not mean he will bid on the Commanders. Other NFL owners would prefer Bezos to be involved because, as the wealthiest prospective buyer, he increases the overall value of their respective franchises.
Fertitta’s bid was said to be slightly above $5.5 billion, but the sale was “at a little bit of a standstill.”
Fertitta is alleged to have been one of the prospective buyers who visited Washington’s Ashburn headquarters. Harris has visited the team’s facility previously.
Dan and Tanya Snyder hired Bank of America Securities in November to explore potential transactions for the franchise they’ve owned since 1999.
Fertitta purchased the Rockets in 2017 for $2.2 billion and has a net worth of $8.1 billion, according to Forbes.