Nah Nah Nah…Nah Nah Nah…Hey Hey Hey…GOODBYE CLOWNSHOES

[Die Hard]

What’s also interesting to consider… is the new buyers/owner also to have some considerations about the stadium build/move.

 

The NFL will want someone who can close the deal on the land necessary to build the new stadium. Something Dan hasn’t yet procured.

 

So whoever is looking to buy this team… is probably looking at $6B to buy the team and $2B for the new stadium shortly thereafter.

 

I wonder if that precludes some people/groups.

[CobraCommander]

3 minutes ago, Die Hard said:

What’s also interesting to consider… is the new buyers/owner also to have some considerations about the stadium build/move.

 

The NFL will want someone who can close the deal on the land necessary to build the new stadium. Something Dan hasn’t yet procured.

 

So whoever is looking to buy this team… is probably looking at $6B to buy the team and $2B for the new stadium shortly thereafter.

 

I wonder if that precludes some people/groups.

It should, imo. We also need a new practice facility to rival college programs. We need to be able to attract free agent talent, we haven't been able to do that recently.  I'll take the richest guy on the planet please and thank you. 

[redskinss]

This one was for @FootballZombie

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by redskinss

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I was feeling really bold earlier this week when the news came out and it still seems most likely that this is a full sale scenario for a variety of reasons.  It makes a ton more sense for it to be that than it does anything else.

 

However, the more I read and perhaps the more I stress about it- I worry the owners will literally only care about his ability to build a stadium, and should he get his hands on the money, that’s what he’ll do.

 

He’s the type of vindictive, petty and spiteful schmuck that would let the celebration of the news he’s exploring options to sell, be the fuel for his fire to continue his reign of terror.

[Voice_of_Reason]

42 minutes ago, Die Hard said:

What’s also interesting to consider… is the new buyers/owner also to have some considerations about the stadium build/move.

 

The NFL will want someone who can close the deal on the land necessary to build the new stadium. Something Dan hasn’t yet procured.

 

So whoever is looking to buy this team… is probably looking at $6B to buy the team and $2B for the new stadium shortly thereafter.

 

I wonder if that precludes some people/groups.

I don't think it would preclude groups.  But I do think it adds a wrinkle.  However, I'm sure they're looking for people who can work with the local governments to get similar deals for public funding for a stadium.

 

But remember this about stadiums: they take a big outlay of cash, but they make that money back in revenue over time.  You are building a cash-generating asset. And if you're smart like Jerry and the folks in LA, sure, they are massively expensive, but they are used constantly, and make the money back reasonably quickly.  Once the stadium is paid for, it becomes very valuable.  

 

If you get public funding that helps the whole equation.  

 

Now, Bezos is rich enough he can literally do anything he wants without public help, and not really even notice his bank account changed.  Others would probably have to be slightly more careful.  

[Est.1974]

Bezos won’t need to beg for league money to help him out, he won’t need public funding for that matter either. It makes too much sense all on fronts.

[MisterPinstripe]

8 minutes ago, Est.1974 said:

Bezos won’t need to beg for league money to help him out, he won’t need public funding for that matter either. It makes too much sense all on fronts.

Yeah. He could buy the team by himself and build the nicest stadium and facilities in the league without batting an eye. 

[redskinss]

It is kind of screwed up how there are several perspective buyers who would need hundreds of millions of dollars in tax payer money to fund a stadium and nobody would think anything of it but if bezos did that he'd have a p.r. **** storm on his hands.

 

[CobraCommander]

The public funds thing is tricky. I think the Amazon work around is generally getting huge tax breaks so wherever Bezos built that, he would at a minimum do business tax free.

[formerly4skins]

1 hour ago, Die Hard said:

The NFL will want someone who can close the deal on the land necessary to build the new stadium.

 

Pretty funny that Dan wasted his money on that awful patch of land in Dumfries. 

[TheGoodBits]

7 minutes ago, formerly4skins said:

 

Pretty funny that Dan wasted his money on that awful patch of land in Dumfries. 

I could be wrong but I don’t think he actually bought it. IIRC he paid a (likely) much smaller sum of money to give him the option to buy it at some point in the future. 
 

I was thinking about the Dumfries land earlier though. Wondering if it transferred and hoping the new ownership doesn’t just go ahead with whatever plans Dan had. Better for them to go back to the drawing board with *everything*. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by TheGoodBits

[Est.1974]

Dan knows the game is up. He needs to commit enormous financial resource to move the franchise forward over the next 3/4 years and it’s very evident to him that he has pretty much no backing from the league and fanbase to support him on that journey.

 

Combined with all the dirt on the table. Time to cash in. I’m sure there will be a twist or two along the way though.

[Riggo#44]

1 hour ago, CobraCommander said:

We need to be able to attract free agent talent, we haven't been able to do that recently. 

I'd think Jay Z would help with that immensely 

[formerly4skins]

6 minutes ago, TheGoodBits said:

I could be wrong but I don’t think he actually bought it. IIRC he paid a (likely) much smaller sum of money to give him the option to buy it at some point in the future. 

 

You're correct...but i think even the "smaller" sum to option the land was like $100 mil.

[TheGoodBits]

4 minutes ago, formerly4skins said:

 

You're correct...but i think even the "smaller" sum to option the land was like $100 mil.

That was the (optional) purchase price. He probably paid a few mil for the option but I don’t think it was disclosed. 

[SpacePenguin]

I can't bring myself to think anything aside from, "I'll believe it when it happens." when it comes to this topic. I still hope it does, though.

[skinfan2k]

The NFL knows this franchise is a marquee franchise that is in the dumps.  Any new owner knows they have a new stadium deal coming and the richest fan base in the NFL.  This team is a sleeping giant and people are ready to spend money for a good product that is not associated with danny boy 

[skinfan2k]

People are ready and talking behind the scenes because it's been floated out there to drive interest.  The broncos got 5.5B.  This team is getting $8B because the location of this team and 400 acres owned by danny 

[88Comrade2000]

2 hours ago, Zim489 said:

I fully expect bezos to be owner by years end 

It depends.

 

There aren’t too many billionaires who can just cut a check for 5-7 Billion with ease but if Jeff does have competition from billionaires who can; then the sale isn’t happening until next year.

 

Honestly, I don’t think this process is done before Spring meetings.

[Skinsinparadise]

Another example below why everything being equal the richer the owner the better.  The Rams under Kroencke can build the best sports stadium in the country completely out of pocket.  Can add guaranteed money and prorate contracts without breaking a sweat.

 

A new owner with major cash can likely get that killer stadium, upgrade the faciities and change this Motel 6 (relative to other football teams) operation into something more state of the art fast.

 

In retrospect, i love that Dan leveraged himself with that 450 million loan while alienating enough people that he had almost no shot at getting public financing for a stadium.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[NoVaSkins21]

9 minutes ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

It depends.

 

There aren’t too many billionaires who can just cut a check for 5-7 Billion with ease but if Jeff does have competition from billionaires who can; then the sale isn’t happening until next year.

 

Honestly, I don’t think this process is done before Spring meetings.

Agreed.  This is a lengthy process that requires a lot of approvals from the league.  Here's hoping it's Bezos and Jay-Z, but it will definitely take some time for the sale to go through.  

[Skinsinparadise]

 

New ownership could re-open the door to a new Commanders stadium

By Liz Clarke

, 

Sam Fortier

, 

Mark Maske

 and 

Nicki Jhabvala

 

November 5, 2022 at 11:12 a.m. EDT

 

From the moment Daniel Snyder confirmed he was exploring options to sell the Washington Commanders, the names of various billionaire investors surfaced as prospective buyers.

A parallel conversation is expected soon about rebooting efforts to build a new NFL stadium to replace aging FedEx Field, which is a top-line priority for the league and will be to any future owner.

 

 

Snyder long has sought without success to drum up the requisite political and corporate support to build a roughly $2 billion NFL stadium and commercial complex in the District, Maryland or Virginia.

A new team owner, however, could revive those stalled efforts quickly.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) confirmed as much following Snyder’s statement last week that he had hired BofA Securities, a division of Bank of America, to “consider potential transactions.”

 

“It sounds like a positive move for the team,” Bowser told reporters Wednesday. “There have been a lot of objections raised about the team coming back to RFK, where it played for many years, and the ownership was one. The name was one. So, I think a number of the obstacles of that people have raised as criticisms [are going away].”

Mortgage executive Mat Ishbia expresses interest in exploring Commanders bid

Jack Evans, who as former finance chair of the D.C. Council spent years trying to pave the way for a new NFL stadium at RFK, said he remained optimistic that a deal could be struck despite Snyder’s lack of political allies and unpopularity with fans. That changed, in Evans’ view, the moment Congress started investigating allegations of widespread workplace sexual harassment under Snyder’s watch.

“It just became impossible with Dan there — not only for us, but for Virginia and Maryland,” said Evans, who was instrumental in structuring deals that brought Capital One Arena and Nationals Park to the District. “I think it became a game-breaker. As long as he owns the team, there will not be a new stadium. Period. That’s just not going to happen — unless he builds on land he already owns at FedEx Field, which would be a disaster, and did that with his own money.”

 

If Snyder sells the team in full rather than takes on a co-investor, it could revive efforts to drum up competition for a new stadium among the three jurisdictions, despite arguments over the wisdom of public subsidies.

 

Political football

Snyder’s unveiled plans for a glitzy stadium surrounded by a moat, at a site to be determined, in a nationally televised segment on “60 Minutes” in March 2016.

More than six years later, the team has no site, no suitors, and no plan for financing the roughly 60,000-seat, open-air facility that Snyder envisions anchoring a vast commercial and residential complex. The team is contractually obligated to play at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., until 2027. Without a new stadium, it can continue playing there indefinitely, as Snyder owns the land and the aging stadium, which opened in 1997.

 

Until June, Virginia had been the most aggressive jurisdiction expressing interest in offering Snyder public funds for the project. But lawmakers failed to pass stadium-authority legislation earlier this year due to the team’s scandals.

Legislators could try again in early 2023, although there’s no sign of a push to do so.

“I think [a full sale of the Commanders] alleviates a lot of the question marks and clouds,” Virginia state senator Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William) said in an interview with WUSA9 last week, citing the pending investigations and “other noise” surrounding the organization. “Frankly, hopefully, they focus on winning the games like they did on [Sunday].”

The dizzying events that led Daniel Snyder to consider selling Commanders

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) responded to news of a potential Commanders sale by telling reporters, “We'll let them make that decision, and then we'll react.”

 

He added: “I'll repeat what I've said for a long time: Virginia should be the best place to live, work and raise a family. And it'd be a great place to have a professional football team.”

In Maryland, state legislators in April authorized $400 million in bonds to develop Metro’s Blue Line corridor that includes FedEx Field and the site of a potential new stadium. Repeated failed efforts to secure a new stadium have frustrated outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who last month told reporters, “We’ve been trying to work with them for eight years.”

Wes Moore, the Democratic candidate to replace Hogan as governor, said in a statement through a spokesman that, while he hopes the team stays in Maryland, he would not “support leveraging hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to do it.”

 

In a statement, Republican candidate Del. Dan Cox did not comment on how the sale might impact the state’s negotiation with the team over any future stadium deals.

It’s unclear whether the state would offer more convince the team to stay in Prince George’s County, regardless of its owner. But County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) issued a statement last week stressing the merits of remaining.

“We continue to believe that Largo is the best suited location for the Washington Commanders,” Alsobrooks’ statement read. “A new Commanders stadium would be in the heart of downtown Largo and our Blue Line Corridor.”

Even with a new owner, Bowser likely would face opposition from the D.C. Council in seeking to bring the team back to the city.

 

D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who represents neighborhoods near RFK Stadium, wrote a letter to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) in June on behalf of seven of the 13-member Council saying that an NFL stadium on the site is a nonstarter.

 

The 190-acre RFK site is owned by the federal government via the National Park Service. Norton has introduced legislation that would enable District officials to buy the land and, in turn, decide what to do with it. Norton’s position is that if D.C. wants its NFL team to return and buys the land, it would be free to negotiate a deal to do just that.

Last week, Allen welcomed the prospect of an ownership change via social media but reiterated his opposition to a stadium.

 

“[Snyder] finally making a good decision here for the team & what it means to so many in the DC area,” Allen wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Still … finding a better billionaire to own the team won’t make building a massive & rarely used NFL stadium at RFK a good idea. Let’s focus on more housing, jobs, & parks instead.”

Evans, who started working on plans for a new NFL stadium at RFK just a few years after former owner Jack Kent Cooke abandoned the site for Prince George’s County in 1997, argues that the District is by far the best location not only for fans, given its easy access and storied tradition, but also for the league.

 

“I believe the NFL wants to be in the District of Columbia, at the RFK site. Why? Because the NFL spends, I believe, $2 million a year lobbying Congress,” said Evans, who resigned after 28 years on the Council amid ethics violations and now serves as a D.C.-based consultant. “They know the value of the federal government and its support of the league.”

 

Snyder, 57, who bought Washington’s NFL team with two former business partners for $800 million in 1999, has not said what precipitated his sudden interest in soliciting a buyer, whether in part or in full, after battling for years in court, in the media, and via private investigators to tighten his grip on the franchise.

 

Forbes magazine in August estimated the present-day value of the franchise as $5.6 billion.

Snyder remains the focus of four investigations — by former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White on behalf of the NFL, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the attorneys general in the District and Virginia. In addition, investigators for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia have interviewed witnesses regarding allegations of financial improprieties involving the team, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

 

As recently as Oct. 18, in response to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay’s unprecedented public remarks that he believed the idea of NFL owners removing Snyder from their ranks had merit, Snyder said through a team spokesperson that he would never sell the team

Irsay’s comments followed a privately expressed sentiment of multiple NFL owners who told The Post they believed the league and owners should consider removing Snyder or convincing him to sell.

During his weekly radio appearance on Audacy’s 105.3 The Fan, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pointed to Snyder’s finances as a reason.

 

While Snyder and his family own 100 percent of the franchise, he is carrying a heavy debt burden. In March 2021, the NFL granted him a waiver to borrow an additional $450 million so he could buy out the 40 percent collective stake of his three limited partners Dwight Schar, Fred Smith and Robert Rothman, with whom he was embroiled in a legal dispute, for $875 million. That loan must be repaid by 2028 for Snyder to remain in the league

 

Added to Snyder’s unretired debt on the stadium, that would appear to make borrowing further to finance a $2 billion stadium untenable. If Snyder could find an investor interested in buying a minority share in the team, that could provide the cash to build a stadium himself in Maryland with the state contributing public funds only toward infrastructure.

Jones suggested that’s why he was unsurprised that Snyder was exploring options.

 

“He recently acquired a very significant portion of the team by 40% from his other partners and, at the same time, he’s entertaining the building of a new stadium. … It’s going to require huge economic resources,” Jones said. “This doesn’t surprise me that he’s in a time of real planning and thinking about how to manage the economic resources it takes that we want Washington to be.”

 

Snyder’s failure to show progress on delivering a new NFL stadium — with no site selected and no evidence of political or public support for helping him finance the project — does not sit well with several NFL owners who were once impressed by Snyder’s business acumen.

Within years of buying the team, Snyder expanded FedEx Field to seat nearly 92,000 and led the NFL in average attendance. After two decades of losing seasons that also have included front-office turmoil, roster churn and workplace controversy, the stadium has been downsized at least three times. Washington currently ranks last among the 32 NFL teams in game-day attendance, drawing just 58,720.

 

For the Commanders, a new stadium would represent the best chance of rebooting enthusiasm for a team that for decades united the region but has posted just six winning seasons in 23 years under Snyder.

If done properly, a new stadium also would be a boon for the team’s bottom line, as well as the NFL.

“A stadium is an engine for local revenue,” said former NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman, who was instrumental in helping numerous teams develop new stadiums from financing through construction during his 2004-2018 tenure as the league’s senior manager of business operations — including the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium and others.

“Any club that has a poorly run engine has a difficult if not impossible time keeping up with the rest of the clubs in revenue generation. You need that engine for growth.”

Grubman, who left the NFL in 2018 and now works with the publicly traded gaming company Supergroup and DroneUp, declined to comment on any aspect of a potential Commanders sale but addressed why new and newly refurbished stadiums are so important to the league.

All NFL owners share equally in the league’s multibillion-dollar national broadcast deals, which account for the bulk of their revenue. What makes one team worth more than another, in large part, is the additional local revenue that NFL owners generate via luxury-suite sales, stadium naming rights deals, corporate sponsorships, personal-seat licenses and other stadium-related revenue.

 

According to Forbes.com, the Cowboys’ revenue increased 50 percent, from $280 million to $420 million, in 2009, the year AT&T Stadium opened.

New stadiums increase a franchise’s value, in turn. In the case of the Commanders, a potential buyer might push for a discounted price because FedEx Field is aging and underperforming financially. Conversely, the team’s value would increase considerably with the assurance of a stadium deal in a prime location under favorable terms.

 

The Los Angeles Rams’ SoFi Stadium, anchor of a $5-6 billion commercial complex largely financed by team owner and billionaire developer Stan Kroenke, reset the value of the franchise after it opened in September 2020.

Forbes estimated the Rams were worth at $3.8 billion in 2019 and were worth $6.2 billion in August.

SoFi Stadium, also the leased home of the Los Angeles Chargers, proved a boon for the NFL as well in setting revenue records as host of last season’s Super Bowl. It will also host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup — an opportunity denied Washington because of the shortcomings of FedEx Field.

“When you have a declining or decrepit stadium, it affects the enthusiasm of people coming to visit,” Grubman said. “If things are shabby or there are leaks, it’s not a premium experience. Or for players, if the visiting locker room doesn’t look anywhere near like what it looks like at other stadiums — these things all have an effect on branding, marketing and morale.

“A stadium is also a monument that can be a magnetic attraction for a city or a region to bring people in. You build a beautiful stadium, and it’s going to be marketed to the entire planet by NFL TV. A city doesn’t have to do anything for people to know it’s there: Hundreds of millions of eyeballs and ears will see and hear it courtesy of television.”

Laura Vozzella, Erin Cox, Meagan Flynn and Michael Brice-Saddler contributed to this report.

 

[redskinss]

I'm sure this is a complicated question with a complicated answer but let's say bezos buys the majority of this franchise and it's say 70 percent while Jay z has the other 30.

What happens when bezos wants to build a new stadium and all new facilities and start front loading contracts or whatever and it all starts to cost more than Jay z could handle from a capital standpoint to cover his 30 percent?

Is that something that could be a factor?

Would we be better off with daddy Warbucks as the sole owner so he can throw massive sums of cash towards capital expenditures without needing outside investors to be able to keep up with him?

 

[88Comrade2000]

The new owner has to be someone who can literally cut a check for the 5-7 Billion dollar sale price.

 

An owner who can only pay the 30% minimum won’t be flush with cash required to rebuild this franchise.

 

The new owner has to rebuild the franchise that Dan destroyed. That will take money. A shiney new stadium; likely a domed stadium with a removable top. They are going to want to use that facility 365 days a year; especially since it will cost 1-3 Billion to build. So, it will be domed but have a removable top. 
 

They will have build new training facilities.

 

If you are going to spend that much money on the team; you aren’t going to want it to suck. So will spend money to get the top gms , coaches and scouts.

Washington will become a destination for free agents again but it won’t be because we pay the most but because we have a top class organization.

 

As soon as the new owner can clean house; they do it.  If this can be fast track and a new owner approved by Christmas; fire everyone in January. More than likely the change won’t happen until later in the spring.  In that case, 2023 is the last year for the coaching staff; regardless of how they finish. You can fire Jason immediately. Fire the Gm team after the draft. Will be stuck with Ron or stopgap coach for 2023. Then in 24, let your Gm hire the new coach.

 

Dan’s biggest early mistake was gauranteeing Norv a job if he made the playoffs in 99. He never should of done that and we could’ve traded Norv to Dallas for picks.

 

So, the new owner  absolutely needs to move on from Ron; as soon as he can. Likely, during or after 23 season. I don’t care how well Ron does in 23. You need to have your own guy in there. 

 

[Est.1974]

7 minutes ago, NoVaSkins21 said:

Agreed.  This is a lengthy process that requires a lot of approvals from the league.  Here's hoping it's Bezos and Jay-Z, but it will definitely take some time for the sale to go through.  

I think in reality the league approval process isn’t as complex as we think. The NFL Finance Committee review is simply a financial review. A check to see the money is there, nothing more. Then 24 votes minimum from the owners. That seems a foregone conclusion on the grounds they apparently have that many people wanting Snyder out right now.

 

The key part of the process is Dan picking the prospective buyer.