John Kent Cooke acknowledges being an interested “bystander” as the imminent sale of the Washington Commanders unfolds nearly 25 years after he was last associated with the franchise.
Speaking by phone from his vacation home in Maine, Mr. Cooke, 81, made it clear that he wished Josh Harris nothing but the best. Mr. Harris is about to become the owner of what was once the Cooke family’s team.
“It’s going to be a very good new era,” Mr. Cooke said. “And the interim era between the Cooke family and the Harris family was not a good era.”
The chapter begins Thursday when NFL owners formally approve Mr. Harris’ $6.05 billion purchase of the Commanders from Dan Snyder. Mr. Harris, who made his fortune in private equity and is the managing owner of two other professional sports teams, will be tasked with revitalizing a downtrodden franchise in a region desperate for a winner.
Mr. Cooke well understands the opportunity that awaits Mr. Harris. A son of Jack Kent Cooke, Mr. Cooke was a longtime Washington executive who assumed temporary control of the franchise upon his father’s death in 1997. Mr. Cooke could not keep the club in his family. His father’s will demanded that the team be sold to the highest bidder, which turned out to be Mr. Snyder in 1999.
Mr. Cooke still holds a fondness for the franchise, which he says vastly differs from the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, the NBA and NHL teams that Mr. Harris owns.
“My father was in the [Los Angeles] Lakers, owned the [NBA’s] Lakers and the Kings of the National Hockey League,” Mr. Cooke said. “And this is different. The 76ers are popular, or they were popular in Philadelphia, but the popularity is not as great as the Washington Redskins were.”
When Mr. Snyder bought the team in 1999 for $800 million, 50,000 people were on a waiting list to buy season tickets, Mr. Cooke said. By 2018, team officials acknowledged that they no longer had a waiting list to buy tickets. The Commanders had the worst home attendance in the league this past season.
Mr. Cooke said Mr. Harris is capable of turning around the franchise. One of the areas he would like to see changed is the name.
Three years ago, amid renewed societal and corporate backlash, Mr. Snyder announced that the Redskins moniker and logo would be retired. Mr. Cooke said the change was “one more detriment” to Mr. Snyder’s legacy. The rebrand, he said, was made “precipitously” and he would have preferred Mr. Snyder to be more patient.
The team rebranded to the Commanders in February 2022.
“The Commanders is a poor name, and I think it’s unpopular, so they should change the name,” Mr. Cooke said. “I can tell you right now, I would never have changed the name for the Washington Redskins if I had continued to control that team.”
A source familiar with the situation said this year that Mr. Harris and his group had not discussed embracing another rebrand.
Team President Jason Wright said in March that a name change was unnecessary and ownership groups hadn’t brought up the subject. “I would focus on the things that can fuel a championship,” he told The Washington Times.
Mr. Harris reportedly plans to retain Mr. Wright.
Another area that Mr. Harris will undoubtedly address is the team’s stadium. The contract at FedEx Field is set to expire in 2027.
Mr. Cooke, who helped oversee Washington’s move to Landover, Maryland, and the building of the team’s headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, said navigating the political waters of local jurisdictions can be a challenge. Mr. Harris encountered resistance to building a new 76ers arena in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
Despite helping Washington move to Landover from RFK Stadium in the District of Columbia, Mr. Cooke said the “ideal situation” would be moving the team back to the District and building a new stadium at the site of RFK Stadium.
A House Oversight and Accountability Committee spokesman confirmed this month that Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, is planning to introduce legislation allowing the District to develop at the RFK site, which sits on federally owned land. Still, various obstacles remain. “Who’s going to pay for it?” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson asked reporters.
Mr. Cooke said he would like Mr. Harris and his group to pay for Washington’s next stadium so “it’s not a burden to the people living in the community.” The Cooke family privately financed the construction of the $250 million Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in 1997, though $70 million in public funds were used to acquire the land. Mr. Snyder sold the naming rights to FedEx in 1999.
“I wish Mr. Harris and his partners well,” Mr. Cooke said. “I think they have a great opportunity because they can’t get any worse than it’s been for the past 20 years.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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