Steve Apostolopoulos, who was one of the potential bidders for the Commanders, was on CNBC’s Squawk Box program Monday morning, and wouldn’t comment on the sale process but would say that he’s apparently “still in the hunt.”
That may be news to many who think, even if it’s non-exclusive, that the $6.05 billion bid of the Josh Harris group is going to be the winner…but not for one Junkie.
“We kind of knew that other players were in the hint because it was a non-exclusive deal with Harris,” Bish said on Monday’s show, “so we knew that because there hasn’t been an official sale yet. It’s an unofficial agreement.”
“I’ll be honest, I pretty much thought it was Harris,” JP said, with Cakes agreeing that said group is “still the leader, but Steve is making it sound like he’s right in the mix.”
Bish was confused by Apostolopoulos saying he couldn’t talk about the process because it’s a live process…which is still talking about the process? He later said he knows only what’s reported in the news, so that’s all he knows about Jeff Bezos’ involvement, and that there’s a “tremendous opportunity available” with the Commanders sale.
“It jumped out at me that he said it’s head-to-head,” Cakes said. “Bezos is out and you can’t take the Brian Davis thing seriously, so I’m gleaning it’s down to two groups, and Snyder is sitting back having discussions with Apostolopoulos saying that if you want it, you have to go up in price!”
“Since it’s a non-exclusive deal, it’ll be interesting to see if Snyder comes out and says there’s an agreement with Apostolopoulos,” Bish said.
JP then mentioned that he was surprised the Harris group had so many minority investors, but as Cakes noted, Harris himself has stakes in three other pro sports teams, so that shouldn’t be such a surprise.
What about the Apostolopoulos bid, then?
“I would guess, strictly a guess, that he has probably a handful if not more of minority owners,” Cakes said. “His net worth isn’t $50 billion like the Waltons, so he’d have to bring in more partners.”
JP surmised maybe Steve’s real estate prowess might help with the Commanders’ stadium search, as well, and all three Junkies on the air Monday agreed that all this interview does is confirm that the Commanders’ sale is going to take a LOT longer than anyone wants or thinks.
“He’s going to take as long as he wants,” Cakes said of Dan Snyder. “Unless behind closed doors he’s getting pressured by Goodell and other owners to do it, but he can say screw you, this is my team, I’m going to take as long as I want to get the deal I want.”
“He can get pressured all they want but he doesn’t have to give in,” Bish added.
Related
One thing we do know, thanks to producer Drab (not a Harris group fan), is that at least Apostolopoulos is real and his bid (or rumored bid) is a lot more legitimate than Brian Davis’ bid.
And, yes, even as much as the Harris “minimum buy-in” is an issue, well, that may be the way we’re headed for every sports ownership change going forward.
“Unless you’re a top 10 person in the world wealth-wise, like if your name is Bezos or Walton,” Cakes said, “you can’t go it alone because these franchises are valued so high.”
Follow The Sports Junkies on Twitter: @moneymetalcakes, @ebjunkies, @lurchbish, @glassjoejp, @drabtshirt, & @JunksRadio
Keep up with 106.7 The Fan via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Keep up with 980 The Team via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram