Washington Commanders owner has cleared out of team facility as sale looms: Report

Washington Commanders owner has cleared out of team facility as sale looms: Report
Jack BirleMarch 17, 04:08 PM March 17, 04:08 PM
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Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has reportedly cleared out of the team’s Ashburn, Virginia, facilities as he is poised to sell the NFL franchise.
Snyder and his wife, Tanya Snyder, who serves as the co-owner and co-CEO alongside her husband, have both vacated the premises, per a report from ProFootballTalk.
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The report cites multiple anonymous sources. One of them suggested the two cleared out of the facility in late December.
Snyder purchased the then-Washington Redskins for $800 million in May 1999 from the Cooke family. The team has been unable to reproduce its past success during the Snyders’ time in charge. Since 1999, the team has made the NFL playoffs six times and has won the NFC East four times. The Commanders’ last Super Bowl championship was over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI in January 1992. It was also the last time the team appeared in the big game.

Currently, there is no indication who the leading bidder is for the Commanders, but a reported joint bid between Josh Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, and Mitchell Rales, who co-founded the Danaher Corporation, has made headlines in recent weeks.
Harris was spotted visiting the team’s facilities in Ashburn, Virginia, last month. A report from ProFootballTalk says three different prospective bidders have toured the team’s facilities in Virginia and the team’s stadium in Landover, Maryland.
The team has been publicly exploring a sale since November. The Snyders hired Bank of America to “consider potential transactions” regarding ownership. Dan Snyder has left the option open to walk away from the bidding process and not sell the team, but this report is the latest sign a sale seems more likely than not.

Multiple reports say the Commanders are aiming to get the sale done within the next couple of weeks before the annual league owners’ meeting, which is scheduled for March 26-29 in Phoenix, Arizona. A sale of the team would require three-fourths of teams in the league, 24 of the 32, to approve the selected bid. Getting a winning bid before the meeting would expedite the sale process.
The NFL has increasingly pressured Snyder to make changes to the team in recent years. In 2020, he announced the team would retire the “Redskins” name, opting to be called the “Washington Football Team” for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The team rebranded as the “Commanders” in 2022.