David Villafranca
Los Angeles (USA) (EFE).- A record acquisition of 6,050 million dollars. Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson in the buyers group. A franchise adrift in the offices and the field. The NFL’s Washington Commanders face a new stage with the intention of leaving behind Dan Snyder, whose era has been marked by controversy and poor results.
Last week, and with the entire NFL focused on the draft (April 27-29) and the predictions about the next promises of American football, Snyder, the highly controversial owner of the Commanders, and a group of investors headed by Josh Harris reached an agreement for the transfer of the Washington franchise.
Never before has so much money been paid for a team in the US in any sport (the previous record in the NFL was held by Rob Walton, Walmart heir who shelled out $4.65 billion in 2022 for the Denver Broncos).
But Harris and company have gone much further to win a team that is failing but, despite everything, occupies the eighth position in Forbes magazine’s list of the most valuable teams in the world tied with none other than the Golden State Warriors. by Stephen Curry.
5,600 million dollars is the estimate made by Forbes of a franchise that, for example, appears just ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers who are tenth with 5,500 million valuation.
Harris is not a novice in the world of sports since he owns the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils (NHL) and also has a stake in Crystal Palace (Premier League).
Also ‘Magic’ Johnson, after becoming a universal basketball icon, has tried to make his mark in sports offices and is an investor in Los Angeles FC (MLS), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) and Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA).
Despite having the necessary experience and millions, the group headed by Harris had to prevail in a battle for the Commanders in which Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, even sounded like a possible buyer.
They’ll have their work cut out for Harris and company as the former Redskins, who changed their name to the Commanders to drop an offensive term for Native American communities, have been a miserable franchise under Snyder.
Snyder -along with his wife Tanya- bought this franchise in 1999 for 750 million dollars and since then the experience in the postseason of the Commanders is quickly summed up: they only qualified for two divisional rounds (1999 and 2005) and were defeated in four occasions in the ‘wild card game’ (2007, 2012, 2015 and 2020).
The last course was no exception and, despite interesting green shoots, the capital team was last in the East of the Nacional with a balance of 8-8-1.
To further poke the wound, Washington was the only team in its division not to make the playoffs (the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants did).
In any case, the sale opens up an ideal opportunity for the Commanders to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch leaving Snyder as far away as possible.
An example of the aura he carried? The sports portal The Athletic, which now belongs to The New York Times, recently defined him as “the worst owner in professional sports (in the US and Canada)”.
The numbers don’t lie either: under Snyder’s ‘reign’ the Commanders only won 43% of their games.
But above all, probably the most damaging for the franchise were the investigations opened to Snyder by the NFL and the Justice for issues that include accusations of sexual harassment, toxic work environment or alleged financial irregularities.
Pending final NFL approval, Snyder, still awaiting resolution of those investigations, looks set to be a thing of the Commanders’ past soon, but the new owners now face a herculean task to resurrect a three-time Super Bowl team. in their showcases that are increasingly distant (1983, 1988, 1992).