Bids to purchase the Washington Commanders are due by the end of this week — and owner Dan Snyder could get a lot more for the franchise than initially expected.
Snyder has received offers “well north” of $7 billion, Forbes reported Thursday.
That tops even some of the higher-end projections — Fox Sports reported last month the embattled billionaire hoped to get $7 billion for the club — and is significantly greater than the $5.6 billion valuation Forbes estimated the Commanders were worth in the fall.
News of the offers comes as billionaire Mat Ishbia recently agreed to purchase the NBA’s Phoenix Suns for $4 billion from Robert Sarver.
The Commanders announced in November that Snyder — steeped in controversy over multiple investigations related to the team’s workplace misconduct scandal — hired an investment bank to explore a potential sale of the team. In August, Walmart heir Rob Walton and a group of investors purchased the Denver Broncos for a record $4.65 billion.
CBS Sports reported Monday that the first round of bidding for the Commanders will close by the end of the week.
NBC Sports reported Thursday that Snyder already has five offers and is expected to receive as many as seven. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, media mogul Byron Allen, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris and investor Todd Boehly have each been rumored as prospective buyers — though it’s unclear if any of them have formally submitted a bid.
The Commanders said Snyder was exploring “all options” for the franchise, declining to specify whether he was willing to sell the whole franchise or just a portion of the team. Snyder and his family control 100% of the franchise after buying out his minority partners last year.
Fox Sports reported last month that there was hope the franchise would be sold by the league’s owners meetings in March.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that he doesn’t have “any expectations” the Commanders would be sold, adding owners did not discuss a possible sale at their most recent quarterly meeting.
“Dan’s statement that he put out was that he was exploring that and we’ll continue to work with him on that,” Goodell told reporters.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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