Washington Commanders New Owner: Dan Snyder Would be Over the Moon as Josh Harris’ Group Sets Out to Buy His Team For a Whopping $6 Billion

After months of speculation, the Washington Commanders finally get their new owners in Magic Johnson and billionaire Josh Harris. The deal was finalized between Dan Snyder and the Harris group, which consists of other partners holding minority stakes in the organization. This marks the end of a controversial era of 24 years led by Snyder at the helm.

NFL ownership happens to be a billionaire’s playground, and getting a team up for sale is something that happens once in a while, at least every 25 years or so. Interestingly, the deal has broken all the existing records and surpassed last year’s sale of the Denver Broncos to the Walton-Penner family.

Washington Commanders off the boards

For the last couple of months, Snyder has been catching headlines for his desperate attempts to look out for a potential replacement. Even Jeff Bezos was under the radar, and now it seems they couldn’t reach a deal, and fate was eventually setting the platform for 76ers owner Josh Harris and his associates to take over this sinking ship.

NEWS: Dan Snyder has agreed to sell the Washington Commanders.

The group includes billionaire Mitchell Rales and Magic Johnson pic.twitter.com/zN5XqgAEmW

— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) April 13, 2023

According to the reports shared by the Associated Press, the deal is worth $6 billion, which is quite a hefty sum compared to the recent deals. The value of franchises increases with the rising popularity of the NFL and its reach across the globe.

In the last couple of years, the football league has gained unreal traction because of its plans to expand the current network to European countries and distribute its streaming rights to various other platforms.

 YouTube recently paid a lucrative amount to acquire the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, something that was solely dominated by DirecTV for years. Last year, the Broncos got sold for a massive price of $4.65 billion to the Walmart heir, and now the Commanders’ deal has wreaked havoc.

Magic Johnson orchestrates another assist in his business portfolio

The Hall of Fame MBA legend has been an investment mogul ever since he left the basketball arena. He has minority ownership stakes in plenty of sports teams, like baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

His net worth is estimated at around $620 million, and has been looking for opportunities to increase his reach. The latest deal will mark a new beginning, as getting a chair in the executive committee of an NFL team is already an achievement.

The 63-year-old joined the Harris group last month, and it appears the Commanders deal was his first high-profile assignment. Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers and the Ice Hockey team New Jersey Devils, has partnered with billionaire Mitchell Rales (President of the National Gallery of Art). The official statement about this deal hasn’t been released yet. As this is a developing story, readers can stay tuned for more updates.