Advertisement

Jeff Bezos has no plans to bid on Commanders after being blocked by Dan Snyder, per report

Jeff Bezos will not be the next team owner of the Washington Commanders, according to his own publication.

The Washington Post's Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala reported Wednesday that Bezos, the Amazon billionaire who also owns the Post, has no plans to enter the bidding for the Commanders, seemingly clearing the way for a pair of bids, one from billionaire Josh Harris.

(Disclosure: Josh Harris is a co-founder and managing partner at Apollo Global Management, which owns Yahoo, Inc.)

Bezos refraining from bidding on the Commanders isn't much of a surprise given it was previously reported he had been barred from bidding on the franchise by Dan Snyder. The Post itself reported the constantly embattled Commanders owner had blocked Bezos from purchasing his team due to "his disdain for The Post and its coverage of him and his team."

Despite that ban, Bezos had hired investment firm Allen & Company to explore a bid, but the third-richest man in the world is now seemingly out of the running.

Jeff Bezos is out of the running for the Commanders, though he was reportedly never really in it. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Jeff Bezos is out of the running for the Commanders, though he was reportedly never really in it. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Josh Harris' group reportedly the frontrunner for Commanders

With no offers coming from Bezos, there are still reportedly two bids that meet Snyder's asking price of $6 billion for the Commanders.

The first to be reported was Harris' group, which also features NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and another billionaire in Mitchell Rales. The other bid came from Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos.

Per the Post, Harris' group is the favorite to complete the deal with Snyder if Bezos does not bid, though it is unclear if the prospective buyer and seller are anywhere close to an agreement. If the $6 billion bid does go through, it will shatter the record for a franchise sale price, breaking the $4.65 billion mark set by the Walton Family's purchase of the Denver Broncos.