Commanders sale: Special league meeting scheduled for potential vote

Author: Matt Pusatory (WUSA9), Darren Haynes, Associated Press

Published: 11:19 AM EDT June 23, 2023

Updated: 11:19 AM EDT June 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Mark your calendars. The NFL has scheduled a special owners' meeting to consider and potentially vote on the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris. The meeting is scheduled to take place on July 20, according WUSA9 Sports Director Darren Haynes.

The change of ownership will have to be approved by three-quarters of NFL owners, and satisfy other customary closing conditions.

Earlier this year, Dan Snyder agreed sell the team to the Harris group for $6.05 billion. 

The deal is the largest for a North American professional sports franchise, surpassing the $4.55 billion Walmart heir Robert Walton paid for the Denver Broncos last year.

Snyder has owned the team since 1999, when he bought his favorite boyhood team for $750 million. Even as pressure mounted, he repeatedly said he’d never sell. That changed after multiple investigations by the NFL and Congress into the club's workplace misconduct and potential financial improprieties. The congressional investigation found Snyder played a role in a toxic culture.

The Harris group includes Washington-area billionaire Mitchell Rales, National Basketball Hall of Fame member Magic Johnson and others including David Blitzer. Harris and Blitzer have owned the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils since 2013.