The Pariah is at last getting banished from the NFL! Daniel Synder has finally agreed to sell the Washington Commanders to 76ers and Devils owner Josh Harris for a whopping $6B, officially ending the disastrous reign of the Pariah.
I was starting to think I’d never see this day.
After nearly a quarter-century (24 years to be exact) owning the Washington Commanders franchise, Daniel Synder is finally getting bought out as he’s agreed to sell the Commanders to the bidding consortium of Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris, NBA legend Magic Johnson (who is also a part owner in the Los Angeles Dodgers), and billionaire Michael Rales for an unprecedented $6B.
Before I get into the price and logistics of such a deal, let me just congratulate the Washington Commanders fanbase for winning the most important prize in all of the NFL: removing the worst owner in league history from their franchise.
There really hasn’t been a more poorly managed team in the NFL since the turn of the millennium than the Commanders as the franchise not only has degraded on the field, but its reputation and off-field facilities have been allowed to erode too. And it’s all because Daniel Snyder is the single worst NFL owner of all time!
Prior to the 1999 season, Washington was one of the premier franchises in all of the NFL as they not only had won 3 Super Bowls, 5 NFL championships (two were before the Super Bowl era), made 5 Super Bowl appearances, won 11 division titles, and 19 playoff games, but the team also had a state-of-the-art stadium (FedEx Field was built in 1997) and a 30+ year record of selling out the stadium on the home opener (this record was broken in 2018 at 51 years).
Simply put, this was one of the most respected and valuable franchises in the NFL…until Daniel Snyder reared his ugly face.
Under Synder’s horrific management, the team has failed to make the playoffs 16/24 times (67% of the time) he’s been in charge, it has won just two playoff games (and one of those came in Snyder’s first season in charge), the stadium has been neglected so badly its now the worst in the NFL, and the team has undergone so many scandals due to Snyder’s involvement.
As I said in a previous article, Synder is the opposite of King Midas of Greek Mythology as everything Snyder touched turned into crap.
Nevertheless, this can now be put behind us as Daniel Synder is no longer the owner of the Commanders!
That greedy bastard clawed and scraped for every last cent he could pry from the various consortium bids, but he managed to get his world-record fee of $6B from the Josh Harris/Michael Rales/Magic Johnson group. Eclipsing the sale of the Denver Broncos to the Walton Family (the heirs of Walmart) for $4.65B back in 2022, this sale sets a pretty clear precedent as to the value any future sale of an NFL team will cost a prospective buyer.
I said that Manchester United, an English Premier League team with more history, success, and global appeal than the Commander, was not worth the $6B the Glazer Family has been asking for the team, so I’ll be consistent and say the same about the Commanders. Despite the history and brand value, its’ not worth $6B.
I get market desire for a product determines its value, but I still find it amazing that a sole team can cost someone/a group of people the price of two Virginia Class submarines ($3.4B to build one).
However, that’s a story for another day as the only thing that should matter to Commanders fans is how quickly a new stadium can be built, and how successful the franchise can become under the new ownership model.
I can’t speak for the stadium, but seeing how the 76ers, Dodgers, and Devils all are having great seasons, I’d say the future is bright for the Commanders under the watchful eyes of Josh Harris, Magic Johnson, and Michael Rales.
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