3 candidates who can challenge Jeff Bezos to buy Commanders

1. Josh Harris

The primary owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, Harris is also the general partner of Premier League soccer club Crystal Palace. Despite those roots, Harris, like any billionaire businessman, looked to expand his investment capital over the summer when he made a serious run at buying the Broncos.

Harris ultimately lost out to the Walton-Penner family ownership group, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported Harris would have paid $5 billion for the Broncos if he knew that would get the deal done. The Commanders will likely go up for up $7 billion, but a $5 billion down payment (just typing that is crazy) with a partnership group coughing up the rest of the cash is more than feasible for Harris.

Check out Florio’s reporting on Harris’ ambition to own an NFL team.

"So why didn’t Harris go to $5 billion and force Walton-Penner to go higher? Harris, we’re told, intends to pursue another NFL franchise. Thus, there was no reason to drive up the price of the Broncos, when that becomes the precedent for the next transaction. The bottom line is that Harris is ready to pay $5 billion to buy an NFL franchise. He didn’t officially offer $5 billion for the Broncos because they couldn’t guaranteed it would have gotten him the team. If another team wants to sell to Harris for $5 billion, now’s the time to give him a call."

If we had to put our money on it — let’s call it a cool $5 — we’d say Harris is the most likely candidate to rival Bezos to buy the Commanders. Having said that, don’t rule out Ishbia or Boehly, or another potential late bloomer

Let the bidding begin!