Anyone and everyone involved in DC sports or the business of the NFL has weighed in on the Commanders sale – and we have a new wrinkle: Michael Ozanian of Forbes wrote a story Tuesday night that mentioned Joe Gibbs may have an ownership stake in the Josh Harris group?
Indeed, and Ozanian joined BMitch & Finlay to explain on Wednesday, saying that it's a fact that Harris is in for 30 percent, Mitchell Rales 12, and Magic Johnson getting four – but Gibbs may have some of the other 54 percent up for grabs.
"A couple of people have told me that another limited partner is Joe Gibbs," Ozanian said. "I have not verified that, but I have been told it."
When it comes to the sale as a whole, Ozanian agreed with the synopsis of many that this is certainly no ordinary purchase.
"Well, as many things with Dan Snyder, they're kind of unusual. My feeling on this is exactly as you described: it's a non-binding agreement, and usually, that has an expiration date," Ozanian said. "It's unusual that the deal was put forward to the NFL by the buyer and not the seller, and at this stage of the game, the NFL's decision tends to be binding, because you don't want to have the NFL owners' vote be more than a formality. My feeling is it's non-binding because Dan is still thinking it's possible to get a higher offer."
Later reports cast doubt on Gibbs' involvement.
Ozanian also believed the Harris group was "in a hurry" to get the deal in front of the NFL, hence the financing structure, but there are "still a lot of moving parts" because of so many partners involved, in this case a total of 17.
"Typically, when you get a lot of limited partners, they tend to come on board after the fact, subsequent to the purchase, and that tends to happen because at that point, they have a clear picture on how the managing partner is running the team," Ozanian said. "When the Broncos were sold, we did not have that many limited partners. We know the managing partner in this case would be Josh Harris, who is looking to expand his sports empire."
Ozanian talked more about limited partnerships and Harris' other ventures, and also joined Kevin Sheehan on The Team 980 as well to discuss the situation – you can listen to both full interviews above!
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