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Jeff Bezos Punts on the Washington Commanders

Jeff Bezos’s pursuit of the Commanders NFL franchise seems to have ended.
Jeff Bezos’s pursuit of the Commanders NFL franchise seems to have ended. Photo: Dave J Hogan/Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images
Theodore Schleifer
April 12, 2023

For months, Jeff Bezos has hovered over the ownership battle for the Washington Commanders—maintaining his so-called “optionality” to buy the franchise, but without committing to it formally. Rumors have swirled wildly in NFL circles as Bezos has remained strategically quiet, cultivating a sense of mystery for Dan Snyder’s bankers and advisers, to say nothing of the trepidation he has triggered in rival bidders. Anything can happen in the heat of a deal, and Bezos has the capital to go from silent to dominant with a single check.

But today I learned, from a source with direct knowledge of the matter, that Bezos is not in the bidding process and is not currently planning to make a bid for the team. That reporting should theoretically put an end to the rampant speculation that Bezos, along with his bankers at Allen & Co., are actively working to steal the team away from Josh Harris, the Apollo co-founder seen as the leader in the Commanders auction, or from Steve Apostolopoulos, the Canadian entrepreneur who has been working to put together his own $6 billion bid. They can both breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now.