Magic Johnson makes staggering $6b purchase for an NFL team

Earvin “Magic” Johnson is continuing to make a splash in the sporting world with the NBA icon going all out on a new venture.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 30: NBA player Russell Westbrook and Magic Johnson attend a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees on July 30, 2013 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Caifornia. (Photo by Jon Soohoo/Los Angeles Dodgers via Getty Images)

Dan Snyder’s beleaguered tenure owning the Washington Commanders appears to be nearing the finish line.

An agreement has been reached for a $6 billion sale from Snyder to a group including Wall Street titan Josh Harris, billionaire Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson, according to multiple reports, though a deal is not yet finalised, the NY Post reports.

Watch an average of 9 LIVE NBA Regular Season games per week on ESPN on Kayo Sports on ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

ESPN, meanwhile, is saying not so fast, reporting that Canadian billionaire Steve Apostopolous is still embroiled in a “head-to-head race” with the Harris group.

Nonetheless, the ESPN report also indicated a sale from Snyder is near and that the Harris group is “optimistic” it will take over the team.

Six billion dollars would be a record for the highest price paid for a North American sports team, far surpassing the $4.65 billion the Denver Broncos sold for last year.

Harris, 58, also owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.

Harris co-founded the private equity firm Apollo Capital Management but left the group in 2022. His net worth is estimated at $7.63 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Dan Snyder is out. (Photo by Rob Carr / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was on Wednesday to not be mounting a bid for the franchise.

There have been reports that Snyder, upset about the Washington Post’s coverage of both his own conduct and general scandals within the franchise over the years, froze Bezos, the paper’s owner, out of the bidding process.

There has been speculation that Bezos would be interested in purchasing the Seahawks, based in Seattle, also the home of Amazon, should they come up for sale from a charitable trust of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen that is now controlled by his sister, Jody.

Snyder’s Commanders did not excite on the field.

During the 58-year-old’s tenure as owner, which began in 1999, they went 164-220-2 in the regular season and 2-6 in the playoffs.

There have also been a litany of scandals involving Snyder and the Commanders over the years.

Things haven’t been great for the Commanders. Rob Carr/Getty Images/AFP.

It emerged in March that Snyder took a $55 million loan under the team’s name, without telling Commanders minority owners about it, and billed the franchise $4.5 million to put its logo on his own private jet, and $10 million to lease it.

Last December, the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform published a report that accused the Commanders of having a “toxic work culture” for over 20 years and that Snyder played a direct role in it.

The report claimed that Snyder inappropriately touched a former employee at a dinner, instructed staffers to produce “sexually suggestive footage of cheerleaders,” and decreed that women who were auditioning to be cheerleaders had to walk on the field “while he and his friends gawked from his suite through binoculars.”

He was also accused of interfering with House and NFL investigations.

Nevertheless, Snyder appears to be executing the sale of his own volition as opposed to being outright forced out.

The Post reported in March that the coalition that wanted to force Snyder to sell the team did not have the required three-quarters of the NFL ownership ranks on board.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.