Tag: Front Office Sports

Who is potential new Commanders owner Steve Apostolopoulos?

Apostolopoulos reportedly confident in his bid for the Commanders.

Commanders fans want to know, “Who is Steve Apostolopoulos?”

A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports did a fine job of introducing us to Apostolopoulos. What follows here is only the short-hand version.

One of Canada’s wealthiest families, Apostolopoulos is a Toronto native. Reports surfaced this week that his bid of $6 billion for the Commanders was fully-funded.

Though the Josh Harris group has also bid nearly $6 billion, Apostolopoulos is confident in his finances and position related to his bid.

Bloomberg reported Apostolopoulos is a Harvard graduate, which was found to be inaccurate, and has since corrected its inaccurate report.

When his father Andreas Apostolopoulos died in 2021, his son Steve was said to be worth $3 billion at the time. Andreas made his money founding a real estate conglomerate, while Steve founded Caary, a business credit card company.

Bank of America, leading the process of the sale of the Commanders, has reportedly vetted Apostolopoulos’ bid.

Jeff Bezos, who has been discussed more than Apostolopoulos and Harris combined, for the record, has yet to submit an official bid for the Commanders.

Apostolopoulos has also been linked to being a potential purchaser of not only the Commanders but also the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.

Surprise, bids for Commanders lower than anticipated

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos hasn’t formally submitted a bid for the Commanders.

Sunday, we learned there were actually no $7 billion bids for the Washington Commanders.

Though Forbes had reported there have been multiple bids exceeding the $7B mark, Front Office Sports Sunday disputed the earlier Forbes numbers, stating that there are no bids higher than $6.3 billion.

What had been a foregone conclusion for many was that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would be bidding. Surprisingly perhaps that may not be the case after all, as Bezos has yet to place a bid on the Commanders.

It has certainly been no secret that Bezos owns the Washington Post and the Post has been a leader in reporting on a toxic workplace culture under Daniel Snyder’s reign of the then-Washington Redskins.

Secondly, there has also been speculation (not actually reported) that Commanders owner Daniel Snyder would determine that he would never sell to Bezos, but would be willing to sell to other bidders, even if it were a bid less than the bid by Bezos.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we must keep in mind that, as of now, it has yet to be confirmed officially who has actually submitted bids to Bank of America. It was confirmed, however, that Bezos did not officially place a bid.

FedEx Field is a stadium that is not in good condition, and its location is one where traffic is terribly congested. Snyder attempted feverishly in 2022 to get support for a new stadium but could not garner support from elected officials.

All we can confirm at this point is virtually every Washington Commanders fan is now holding their breadth, fearing that Daniel Snyder might not actually sell.

However, though the price may not be as high as Snyder had hoped, Snyder did choose not to attend Sonny Jurgensen’s jersey retirement. This pretty much communicated to Washington fans that Snyder has checked out and did not want to make an appearance, be seen on camera, be asked questions, etc.

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When will the NFL say, ‘Enough of Daniel Snyder?’

When will the NFL say, “enough is enough” with Washington owner Dan Snyder?

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Daniel Snyder could indeed again be in big trouble.

On Saturday night, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported Congress is not only looking into the accusations of inappropriate behavior by Snyder toward Tiffani Johnston but also digging into a new accusation that the Commanders withheld funds the NFL had arranged to be surrendered to the visiting-team pool.

Washington fans have experienced several times over the last few years where bad news was reported on Snyder, their hopes spiked that he would be removed as owner, only to be disappointed yet again.

But this time, it looks as if other NFL owners “MIGHT” have been shorted ticket receipts the NFL arrangement says is rightfully theirs. “Might” because this is so early in this story’s path, Washington Wire doesn’t want to be premature.

However, “if” this is the case, has Dan Snyder lost enough of the trust of his fellow NFL owners? Might that be the beginning of the end of their working relationship?

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk was rather direct Sunday posting, “His (Snyder) partners have protected him when it comes to the investigation regarding workplace misconduct because, indirectly, they are protecting themselves from having similar allegations threaten the hold on their franchises. If it can be proven that he has been picking his partners’ pockets, his partners quite likely will be kicking his ass out of the house.”

A major concern for me at this point is Snyder, having built a reputation for being litigious, might NFL owners determine it appropriate to punish the Commanders via salary cap reductions, lost draft choices and who knows what else?

That would permit owners to keep Snyder, avoiding a litigious mess on their hands, yet be the worst possible news for current business and football staff, coaches, players, and yes, true fans. It would serve to punish many others innocent in this, while also leaving Snyder as the owner.

I can already envision the other three NFC East owners voting for such a proposal for competitive reasons. Personally, I am already dreading that possibility, as it would be most unfair to most of us.

After completing this story, I see my friend Mark Tyler of “Hogs Haven” had also tweeted the same concern a couple of hours earlier.

Notre Dame football could be in cards if Maria Taylor heads to NBC

Could NBC’s Irish coverage look a little different in 2021?

Maria Taylor recently found herself in the middle of a controversy involving ESPN colleague Rachel Nichols. Consequently, she took over for Nichols as host of “NBA Countdown” for this year’s NBA Finals coverage. However, Taylor’s days with the four-letter network appear to be numbered. A report from Front Office Sports indicates that Taylor is extremely close to a deal with NBC.

The reported deal, which the source says is “at the half-yard line”, would offer Taylor a variety of opportunities. One possibility is said to be NBC’s Notre Dame football coverage. It doesn’t specify what role she would have as that obviously can’t be determined as of yet, but it does open up the discussion of who on the current broadcast team she could replace.

Kathryn Tappen has been the sideline reporter since she joined NBC in 2014. Jac Collinsworth only has one season as the pregame/halftime host under his belt. It will be worth keeping an eye on what NBC does as the 2021 season gets closer to kickoff.