Though it’s still unclear whether Dan Snyder intends to sell a part, any or all of his Washington Commanders franchise, there’s a growing sentiment around the league that the entire team will be up for sale.
That’s according to multiple sources around the league who spoke with CBS Sports this week after the Commanders announced Wednesday they’ve hired a bank “to consider potential transactions.”
One source who’s familiar with the bidding process estimated the team would sell for between $5 billion and $6 billion.
It’s possible Snyder is making a cash call here, hoping to sell a fraction of the franchise to someone in order to get an influx of cash that he can then use to fund a badly needed new stadium. But finding people to buy into a franchise with a history of controversy under Snyder’s direction — with no direct line to a controlling ownership stake — would seem difficult.
It’s also possible there would be no sale at all. One source has indicated perhaps Snyder is doing this to buy some time and get folks off his back as controversies and investigations grow.
Still, the news came just two weeks after Snyder said through a spokesperson that he and his wife, Tanya, would not consider selling the franchise. Colts owner Jim Irsay said at the league owners meetings in New York in October that there was merit to consider removing Snyder as owner of the Commanders amid several investigations. A source tells CBS Sports another owner expressed privately recently that they didn’t believe Snyder would be able to emerge from the recent controversies maintaining ownership.
“I just don’t think it’ll be that cut and dried,” one league source who’s known Snyder for years said of a potential full sale of the team.
The NFL has two investigations open on Snyder, both led by former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White. One involves an allegation of sexual assault by a former Washington employee, and the other deals with alleged financial improprieties with the Commanders that date back more than a decade.
Earlier this week, ESPN reported the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia had opened a criminal investigation into financial improprieties allegations. The office declined comment to CBS Sports, but multiple sources said at least one person has been interviewed in relation to the possible investigation.
Roger Goodell and a league spokesman…
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