Roup has signed exclusive deal with Snyder

Rris-led investors now have dow to gain NFL approval

Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala Washington Post

ASHINGTON — A group of investors y Josh Harris completed a signed agreet Friday to purchase the Washington manders from Daniel Snyder. he agreement gives Harris and his partan exclusivity window to attempt to the $6.05 billion deal approved by the finance committee and ratified by the ue’s team owners. e look forward to the formal approval r ownership by the NFL in the months d and to having the honor to serve as onsible and accountable stewards of the manders franchise moving forward,” is said in a statement. he two sides jointly announced they “entered into a purchase and sale ement.” Three people familiar with the confirmed the agreement is signed and usive. e are very pleased to have reached an ement for the sale of the Commanders chise with Josh Harris, an area native, his impressive group of partners,” er and wife Tanya, the team’s co-CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to the pt completion of this transaction and to ing for Josh and the team in the coming s.” he sale ultimately must be approved t least 24 of the 32 NFL team owners, wing a recommendation by the eighter finance committee. The prospective ratification vote of the owners would ken “in the coming months,” a person liar with the league’s inner workings Friday. The owners are expected to be ated on the Commanders’ sale at their ting scheduled for May 22 and 23 in neapolis, according to that person. eague staff and the finance committee review details of the proposed Washingransaction,” the NFL said in a statement. he Harris group’s deal with Snyder iously had been unsigned and nonexive, leaving the process open to other ntial bidders. That tentative deal still been sent to the NFL for an informal w, a departure from the league’s normal oval process. ter reviewing the deal Wednesday ng a meeting at the NFL’s offices in New , members of the finance committee d issues that could keep the sale from g put to a ratification vote at the meeting inneapolis, according to three people liar with the league’s inner workings the owners’ views. arris’s group apparently would have to a “breakup fee” if the deal is not final. The amount of the fee and the length e exclusivity period were not immediclear. The agreement was signed Friday noon, according to a person familiar the sales process. n behalf of our entire ownership group ant to express how excited we are to be idered by the NFL to be the next owners e Washington Commanders and how mitted we are to delivering a championship-caliber franchise for this city and its fan base,” Harris said in his statement.

“Growing up in Chevy Chase, I experienced firsthand the excitement around the team, including its three Super Bowl victories and long-term winning culture.”

Because of the agreement, other bidders are barred from the process for the specified period. At least one other bidder, Canadian commercial real estate developer and private equity executive Steve Apostolopoulos, remained active in the process after Harris and Snyder reached the unsigned, nonexclusive deal that was submitted to the NFL.

Apostolopoulos called the bidding process “very open, transparent and enjoyable” and said in a statement Friday: “I could not have been more impressed with the opportunity and people involved, and I know the Commanders will continue to be a foundational franchise in the NFL. This process has strengthened our resolve to acquire a professional sports franchise and I look forward to finding the opportunity that is right for me and my family.”

Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, said in a televised interview with CNBC last month that he submitted a $5.6 billion bid for the Commanders but would not raise his offer. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, used a New York investment firm, Allen & Company, to evaluate a potential bid on the Commanders, two people with knowledge of that relationship have said. But a person familiar with the process said last month that Bezos did not plan to submit a bid.

Harris, a private equity and sports investor, owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils. He co-founded Apollo Global Management and has an estimated net worth of $5.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Harris’ group includes Potomac billionaire businessman and philanthropist Mitchell Rales and NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Rales is the co-founder of the Danaher Corporation. Other investors who have been identified more recently include

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google; Alejandro Santo Domingo, the billionaire heir to a family beer fortune; and Mitchell Morgan, the founder and CEO of Pennsylvania-based Morgan Properties.

“I could not be more excited to be a partner in the proposed new ownership group for the Washington Commanders,” Johnson wrote Friday on Twitter. “Josh Harris has assembled an amazing group who share a commitment to not only doing great things on the field but to making a real impact in the DMV community. I’m so excited to get to work on executing our vision for the Commanders and our loyal fan base!”

Harris said in his statement Friday that the group’s investors also include Mark Ein, a venture capitalist and Washington-area native who is a longtime friend of Harris and assumed management and operation of D.C.’s Citi Open tennis tournament in 2019; David Blitzer, Harris’s partner in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment; Lee Ainslie, an investor and hedge fund manager who founded Maverick Capital; Eric Holoman, the operating partner of Magic Johnson Enterprises and the managing partner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks; Michael Li, the owner of Range Group; Michael Sapir, the co-founder and CEO of ProShares; and Andy Snyder, the CEO of the investment firm Cambridge Information Group and the chairman of the analytics company Clarivate.

“Together these individuals and families have the collective resources and shared commitment to support our vision for the Commanders,” Harris said. “We look forward to running a world-class organization and making significant investments on and off the field to achieve excellence and have a lasting and positive impact on the community.”

Ein wrote on Twitter: “Can’t wait to help make the team as beloved throughout our DMV community as it was when [I] had my best childhood memories going to games with my dad as a little boy.”

Joe Gibbs, the franchise’s former threetime Super Bowl-winning coach, is not an investor in the group but served as an unofficial adviser to Harris during the process.

“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Josh Harris and the leadership team during this process and fully support his efforts to lead the new ownership group of the Commanders,” Gibbs said in a statement Friday. “The NFL has grown a great deal since my time as a coach in this League, but what hasn’t changed is my belief that with great leadership from the top, the drive to win on the field and a commitment to culture — championship teams are created.

“Josh and his team share these values and I am committed to doing what I can to reconnect this great franchise to the community, fan base, and alumni.”

Forbes estimated the value of the Commanders at $5.6 billion last year. The record sale price for an NFL franchise is the $4.65 billion that a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton paid last year to buy the Denver Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust.

The members of the finance committee discussed the Commanders deal when they met for about 2 hours Wednesday afternoon as part of two days of regularly scheduled committee meetings at the NFL’s offices in Manhattan.

According to one person familiar with the deliberations, questions were raised during the committee’s meeting about some financial aspects of the deal. That person said the deal is complex and includes an unusually large number of limited partners.

The finance committee generally vets any proposed sale and makes a recommendation to the owners, who usually follow the committee’s recommendation.

Some connected to the process remained confident after Wednesday’s finance committee meeting that the deal eventually would go through while conceding that the timing of approval by the league and the owners had become more uncertain. The major obstacles to completion of the deal, in their view, remained the NFL’s dealings with Snyder, not with Harris.

It is not known to what extent the Harris group might indemnify Snyder against legal liability and costs as part of the sale agreement. Since late February multiple people with direct knowledge of the league’s inner workings have said that Snyder was seeking such indemnification from a buyer or from the league and other owners.

The Commanders said in February that such depictions were inaccurate.

The NFL is conducting its second investigation of Snyder and the Commanders; this one is being led by attorney Mary Jo White.

Snyder has declined to be interviewed by White for the investigation, three people with direct knowledge of the league’s inner workings said in March. White was expected to make at least one more attempt before completing her investigation, according to one of those people.

The Post reported in February that Snyder was seeking for the NFL to keep confidential the findings of White’s investigation. ESPN reported Friday that Snyder and his attorneys are lobbying the NFL to limit the release of White’s report.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league will release White’s findings publicly, even if Snyder sells the team.