Washington Commanders sale reportedly delayed by unusual issue at federal level

Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder seems more committed than ever to selling the franchise for a record-setting total. However, the next sale of an NFL team is reportedly being held up in part due to an issue at the federal level.

Snyder is believed to be evaluating offers from two groups, with both submitting bids in the range of $6 billion. If a deal went through, it would be the largest sale price ever for an American sports franchise, surpassing the Denver Broncos’ sale ($4.65 billion) in 2022 by upwards of $1.5 billion.

The group including NBA legend Magic Johnson and billionaire Josh Harris are believed to be in the bix to buy the NFL franchise. Regarding Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder has reportedly been largely out of the mix due to the personal history between him and Snyder.

As many around the league wait for the bidding process to ramp up and a deal to go through, though, it appears there is another issue that is standing in the way of Snyder selling his team.

According to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, the Federal Reserve is having a significant impact on the sale process. With the Fed attempting to address inflation with rate hikes, the cost of borrowing money has skyrocketed. As one banker familiar with the process told FOS, the Fed’s rate hikes have a real impact on the process of buying a professional team.

“It’s a very big deal. I don’t have that kind of cash, and I don’t want to move my assets out of where I have them.’ It’s not like billionaires keep piles of cash around.”
Banker on The Fed’s rate hikes increase impacting the Washington Commanders sale

As noted by FOS, the current prime rate of 8 percent is at its highest point since 2007. It’s having an even bigger impact on the buying process for the Commanders because of specific NFL rules regarding the percentage of the exact percentage of a bid that is required to be cash.

Previous reporting by Front Office Sports indicated that only one potential ownership group is viewed as a viable contender. Because of that, Snyder loses leverage in negotiations because he can’t use multiple bids against one another because of the lack of liquid financing by the second bidder.

While a sale of the Commanders is expected to eventually happen, much like the upcoming Washington Nationals sale, multiple issues have delayed a record-setting deal and a historic day for the Washington franchise.