When Jeff Bezos began to circle the Washington Commanders last fall, news dutifully emerged that he had recruited two celebrity sidekicks to add star power to his prospective campaign to replace Dan Snyder in the owner’s box: Jay-Z and Matthew McConaughey, according to Bezos allies, were separately committing their names to his forthcoming offer. The leaks, at the time, were not unusual: Celebrity endorsements, especially from those with ties to the teams or fan bases, are a well-worn part of sports-franchise ownership P.R. campaigns; look no further than Apollo Global co-founder Josh Harris reeling in Magic Johnson, who last week was more than happy to talk publicly about their joint Commanders bid on the Today show, N.D.A. be damned.

But something has never added up to me about the star-chasing. Bezos, after all, has essentially thrown away the typical playbook for purchasing a sports team. He is definitely interested in making an offer, as I reported last week, but has so far refrained from formally committing, perhaps letting Harris and Canadian real estate mogul Steve Apostolopoulos, who each offered $6 billion, serve as stalking horses for what insiders expect would be an easily-financed, conversation-ending bid. Jeff Bezos has the biggest pile of chips at the table. Why would he need Matthew McConnaughey, exactly?