NFL: Dan Snyder should have at least 6G for Commanders

The Josh Harris/Mitchell Rales Group, which now includes Magic Johnson, has officially submitted an offer for the Washington Commanders that matches Dan Snyder’s $6 billion asking price, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos has also submitted a $6 billion bid for Commanders, other sources told Schefter and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

If either offer is accepted, the deal will break the previous record sale for a franchise, set last August when a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton bought the Broncos from Denver for $4.65 billion.

Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, is also interested in buying the Commanders. There is another anonymous group that has also visited the facilities, multiple sources involved in the process said.

Once Snyder accepts a bid, he must submit the bidder’s name to the NFL for approval. Three quarters of the owners will have to approve the sale.

Apostolopoulos is the Managing Partner of Triple Group of Companies, a Toronto-based property management company. He also founded Six Ventures Inc., a private venture capital fund. Apostolopoulos co-founded Caary Capital with his business partner Jason Sawyer.

The Toronto native, who attended Harvard University, had also considered buying the Charlotte Hornets from the NBA, before focusing solely on the Commanders.

His father, Andreas, died two years ago at the age of 69. His family has a net worth of $3.9 billion, according to The Globe and Mail. Andreas immigrated to Canada from Greece in 1969. He later started his own businesses – one that did office maintenance and later a business that made plastic bags. Eventually, he got involved in real estate, starting Triple Group and building the family’s wealth.

Snyder led a group that bought the team in 1999 for $800 million.

Last fall, after multiple investigations into workplace culture and team finances, Snyder and his wife, Tanya, hired a company to explore selling some or all of the crew. It came two weeks after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said Snyder deserved to have his franchise stripped, which would require the approval of 24 of the NFL’s 31 owners.

The Washington Post reported in July 2020 that 40 former employees had been sexually harassed by Snyder and others at the club. Charges confirmed by an independent investigation, which concluded in July 2021 that bullying and intimidation were also commonplace in the Commanders’ workplace.

Subsequently, the NFL fined $10 million and Dan Snyder, who in the past vowed never to sell the team, had to hand over day-to-day operational control of the team to his wife.