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Home / frontnfl / Overview Of The Four Known Potential New Owners Of The Washington Commanders
AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.

Overview Of The Four Known Potential New Owners Of The Washington Commanders


Amidst months of rumors and speculation, Dan Snyder’s sale of the Washington Commanders franchise—set to break a record among sports team sales—nears a conclusion. Some believe the new owner will be known by next week’s NFL Annual League Meeting, but there’s a chance we have months to go in this process. In a situation like this, with highly exclusive parties and legal agreements, there might be totally unknown bidders that come out of nowhere. But to the public, it appears there are four known potential ownership groups in the mix to purchase the Commanders.

 

Josh Harris/Mitchell Rales

Josh Harris helps run Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, so he has experience in sports ownership that could be valuable to perhaps hit the ground running with an NFL team. Harris was a runner-up in the bidding for the Denver Broncos last year. This time around, Harris has enlisted lowkey DC billionaire Mitchell Rales, who sort of lurks in the background and is seen as a private person, to give the potential ownership group more muscle—as well as basketball legend Magic Johnson, who is a co-owner in a few sports teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, and Los Angeles FC. Harris is the co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and he seems to be someone that looks to find value and will utilize analytics and data to guide decision-making when building a successful team. Harris and Johnson have the sports ownership experience while Rales is thought of as someone that can help with getting a new stadium built, so this looks like a strong all-around ownership group.

 

Steve Apostolopoulos

ESPN also reported that Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos toured the Commanders’ facility, showing that there’s legitimate interest in making a serious bid on the team. Apostolopoulos is the most unknown of the four potential finalists for the Commanders—he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page—and his net worth arguably has not been accurately pinpointed but has been reported at around $4 billion. His father was a highly successful businessman originally from Greece, and Apostolopoulos, who went to Harvard, has had success managing Triple Group of Companies, a massive real estate firm. Apostolopoulos was interested in purchasing the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan (who himself is also mysteriously rumored to perhaps be part of an ownership group interested in the Commanders) but is said to have shifted his focus on getting the Commanders. Apostolopoulos also “liked” the tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting his interest. Maybe he’s confident?

 

Tilman Fertitta

Currently seen as a bit of a longshot, Tilman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets, Landry’s Inc., and the star of Billion Dollar Buyer. There’s been speculation that he’s vibed well with Dan Snyder while looking to purchase the franchise; however, it’s unclear whether he’s toured the Commanders facility—or if that is even necessary for him to want to purchase the franchise. Overall, while the Harris/Rales group is seen as the favorite and Harris might be driven a little more after already losing an NFL bid, Fertitta shouldn’t be counted out entirely.

 

Jeff Bezos

And finally, we have Jeff Bezos, who is one of the wealthiest people in the world. The problem is, we are not 100% sure that he wants to bid on the Commanders (keeping in mind that the Seahawks might be available in the next few years). However, based on his actions, including hiring an investment firm while considering a bid, there’s been at least some level of interest from the Amazon founder. The bigger issue might be whether Dan Snyder allows Bezos to even make a bid, as just about every outlet including the Washington Post (which Bezos owns and is said to be the reason Snyder might not sell to him given the paper hasn’t taken it easy on him) has reported that Bezos has been barred from the bidding process. But in the end, would Bezos be willing to say “I’ll give 500 million or a billion dollars more than the winning bid” to secure Washington’s NFL franchise? If this process does drag out into April and May, it feels more likely Bezos might be able to swoop in with an offer that can’t be refused. Bezos would also have the funds and connections to get a new stadium done and to drive a name change that many fans want.