To many fans’ appeasement, notorious Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder has sold the team to an investment group led by Josh Harris
Josh Harris has always been a Commanders fan. Growing up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he wasn’t far removed from the Washington sports scene as it was just developing. As the then-Redskins won their first Super Bowl in 1982, the 18-year old Harris was a freshman at UPenn’s Wharton School of Business.
Fast forward over 40 years later, Harris bought out the infamy-struck Commanders from notorious owner Dan Snyder for a record-setting $6 billion. While things seem to have come full circle for Harris and his investment team by setting the world record for most expensive sports franchise acquisition in history, Josh Harris thinks things are just getting started.
The Commanders have been marred for years under a raging storm of allegations and accusations for over a decade, dating back to Daniel Snyder’s purchase of the team in 1999. Ever since then fans have been treated to a maelstrom of bizarreness that’d be too much to fit in one article. The issue of selling the team first arose back in 2018 when a group of five Redskins cheerleaders contributed to an expose in The New York Times speaking about sexual assault allegations against Snyder in 2013 during a photoshoot in Costa Rica.
Ever since then, the team has witnessed an ugly downfall of their head honcho, who for over five years has been battling litigation, punishment, and a power struggle that can only be described as unscrupulous and a terrible look for a franchise that hasn’t performed under Snyder’s leadership.
Enter Harris, 58, who spearheaded the campaign to acquire the team earlier in 2023. Harris was a member of the coalition which included NBA star Magic Johnson to all get a stake in the purchase of the Commanders, and finished out the deal for a record setting $6 billion– making the Commanders sale the most expensive sports franchise purchase in history.
Since his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, Harris’ resume has been all but embellished. Sporting a MBA from Harvard, Harris made his fortune in the finance world on Wall Street. Straight out of college, Harris began his career working mergers and acquisitions at Drexel Burnham Lambert, a investment bank that stood until 1990. When it fell, he created Apollo Global Management, where the firm was credited with one of the biggest deals in Wall Street history following their position in LyondellBasell– where Harris built the majority of his $5.8 billion net worth.
Harris isn’t new to sports by any means, with his ownership portfolio including two American Big Five sports teams in the Northeast. In 2011, Harris along with Blackstone Inc. purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA for $280 million. Harris’ tenure as the 76ers owner has been interesting to say the least. In over a decade as the top c-suite executive on the team, he’s overseen the decision to begin “The Process”, a complete teardown of the 76ers roster and starting from scratch. An initiative which rendered little to no results and the aftermath of which can still be seen today with the 76ers’ constant turnover within management as well as with the coaching staff.
In 2013, Harris bought out the New Jersey Devils of the NHL for $320 million– a deal which included the Devils’ home in the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Since then, he has also acquired a 18% stake in the Premier League’s Crystal FC, a soccer franchise in Europe in which he is a board member and part of the ownership group which runs the team.
Harris’ purview over the Devils has spoke volumes about his leadership style, following a similar decision path as the 76ers. However, while the Devils completely rehauled their roster under Harris– the results have been much more fruitful. One could argue that the Devils have one of the best agglomerations of young talent in the NHL today, a process which took years to bring to fruition and ultimately pay off.
This new persona brings a breath of fresh air to a murky Washington team who has survived a barrage of infamy under over twenty years under Dan Snyder. Since 2013, when the allegations have seemed to have originated, the Washington team has been anything but memorable. with their best season being 9-7 in 2015. During that time, the team has seen a plethora of pitfalls, ranging from no Divisional Round appearances since 2005, reports of a crumbling home stadium, and sexual harassment allegations from 17 different women– painting a grim picture for a Commanders team that had to rebrand in 2020 after the ‘Redskins’ moniker was deemed offensive to Native American cultures across the United States.
At the forefront was Dan Snyder– the owner of the Commanders and the man who refused to take responsibility for any of it. When Snyder brought on Bank of America Securities to help search for suitors and facilitate a sale in late 2022, Harris wanted to add the hometown team to his ever growing list of sports franchises in his asset box. The ball is in the NFL’s court now, with the league having the final say in any transactions regarding its 32 franchises.
But the league has made it clear that they want to distance themselves from the Snyder cast as soon as possible. In a statement made by NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, the league stated that it, “is committed to ensuring that all employees of the NFL and the 32 clubs work in a professional and supportive environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, or other forms of illegal or unprofessional conduct. The NFL and the 32 clubs have implemented substantial and effective programs to advance this commitment at all of our facilities.”
In fact, the toxic stigma that enveloped the Commanders wasn’t immune to government intervention. In 2022, the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform delved deep into the saga unfolding in Landover, with the final verdict stating that Snyder fostered the work environment in the Commanders organization.
Harris will now attempt to pull a massive U-turn on a ship that has gone three sheets to the wind. Sure his imminent arrival in our nation’s capital won’t be met with fanfare and a royal entrance at FedEx Field, but it will be much appreciated after the fanbase had to endure Snyder’s tyrannical reign over the franchise for the better part of two decades. The fans in DC grew a cold shoulder towards Snyder, and it wasn’t just due to the streaks of losing that the team had gone through.
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One good look at the Browns faithful shows that going through strenuous times doesn’t necessarily mean losing fans’ interest. But for the Redskins and Commanders– the cause was simple to pinpoint. Dan Snyder’s stake in the team led to a clear downhill path for the program, especially as he sat idly at times and allowed the toxic work culture to flourish underneath him.
A snapshot of the numbers tells you enough about how pathetic the franchise was under Snyder’s purview. Since 1999, the team has ran through 10 different head coaches, 28 starting quarterbacks and like aforementioned– not a single divisional round appearance. In fact, their best record has been 9-7-1, a testament to how miserable the performance of the Commanders has been. In fact, the number of misconduct allegations outnumbers the amount of winning seasons they have had.
Harris means business, and he comes with an impressive repertoire of skill and past success to show for it. Harris already has had some NFL experience, with a 5% ownership stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with numerous other sports ventures under his self-built company in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
Who knows if Harris will bring the same tear-down and restart mantra he has utilized in the past to Landover, but one thing is for sure– things are looking up for the better.
“It’s going to be a substantial lift,” team president Jason Wright told The Athletic last month of what a sale would mean for the franchise. “Better projection, I know that. It’s a substantial lift, and Dan and Tanya (Snyder) know that. That’s not something that they’re unaware of.”
Harris will have to check off a laundry list of to-do items in order to revert the ship that Snyder commandeered, starting with a revamping of the front office and instilling someone who can better handle player operations. For now, under Snyder, it had been head coach Ron Rivera. Rivera had no prior experience handling player logistics or personnel, instead he would much rather focus on being a coach. Rivera’s wild-card approach when it comes to player acquisitions and retention has been a stage of limbo at best.
With rookie players being for the most part a hit— with the likes of Jahan Dotson from Penn State and Brian Robinson. However when going to the free agency and trade block, Rivera’s track record is severely tarred by swings and misses like in the case of veteran quarterback Carson Wentz.
Building back Rome also consists of investing in the stadium if not replacing it altogether. FedEx Field has been a point of contention for a while now, with fans reporting that it’s falling apart at the seams.
“How quickly new ownership aligns around our vision. If the vision is similar to where we’ve been, we can rock and roll,” Wright said. “(Or), if they want to pause to think about it, see which aspects of the vision they keep, what they might change, it might take longer.”
Team officials have been working with Maryland and Virginia legislators as part of a plan to ditch the old stadium in Landover and start building a mini-city similar to what Dallas has done in Frisco, Texas. While certainly a big venture which would require a lot of time and investment– it’s imperative that this becomes one of the top priorities on Harris’ and the Commanders’ list. Reimplanting a proper home stadium will help mitigate the effects of the Snyder era, especially as FedEx Field has shrunk over the years.
At its peak, the stadium seated around 92,000 fans. The newest stadium renovation plans had the number of seats at around 55,000, which is on par with the team’s dead last ranking in average attendance. A new home for the Commanders will certainly be on Harris’ long scroll of deliverables to the city and the fans of DC.
Now, Harris will attempt to deliver a new beginning for the team and the city that surrounds it. Josh Harris has taken on the responsibility of ridding the organization’s dastardly reputation. Lucky for him, he’s gotten a head start. Not because he’s been in the sports industry longer than than one can count. Not because he’s a local, growing up in the DC metro area and being a fanatic of the Northeast. Not because he graduated from one of the top business schools in the country. Instead, he’s someone different.
Snyder left the bar so low that anyone with a heartbeat and a soul is deemed to be an upgrade, thus already winning over the fans in DC. Sure it’s not the utopian, idealistic ownership that Commanders fans have begged for since Snyder took over, but it is a start. And we must remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
