Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos might be considering selling off the popular American newspaper, the Washington Post, to purchase NFL’s Washington Commanders, which has been up for sale for the last few months.
According to The New York Post, investors have hinted that the business mogul is looking to put the paper up for sale. Jeff Bezos, however, has denied the claims. In a report by Entrepreneur, the billionaire visited the Post last week to debunk the rumours and reassured the team that he had no plans to sell the newspaper.
The billionaire bought the Washington Post in 2013 from the Graham family, who have owned the newspaper company for 80 years, for $250 million.
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Why is Jeff Bezos looking to acquire the NFL sports team?
Well, Jeff Bezos has always expressed interest in owning an NFL franchise and joining the league of NFL owners as he has been a lover of the sport. Following the announcement of the Washington Commanders in the sale, it seemed like a pretty good deal.
Also, with the downturn and the economic recession, the business mogul might just be looking for more investment opportunities to generate more profit. The NFL Washington Commander is a good catch.
The team is one of the most notable franchises in one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. It has an enthusiastic fan base. It is located in the capital of the USA and has won three Super Bowls.
In October 2022, the Facebook page of the Washington Commanders football team had about 1.81 million fans. Its Twitter page currently has over 1.4 million fans. In 2021, the revenue of the Washington Commanders totalled 544 million U.S. dollars, a little under the $800 million Daniel Snyder purchased in 1999. It is also valued at $5,6 billion.
But that is not all; the NFL is currently one of the biggest rating powerhouses on American TV and an exclusive for Amazon Prime Video with the “Thursday Night Football” show, which is the branding used for National Football League games broadcast.
According to a post by CNN, Jay Marine, Prime Video’s head of sports, wrote in an internal memo in September that the debut of the Thursday Night Football show “exceeded all of our expectations for viewership” and led to “the biggest three hours for US Prime sign-ups ever in the history of Amazon.”
This shows how profitable the NFL is, a good reason for Jeff Bezos to invest his money. A big win for Amazon.
But why won’t Daniel Snyder sell it off to Jeff Bezos?
Despite looking at the bright side of this investment, it might as well not happen as reports have said Snyder, the owner of the NFL’s Washington Commander, might not sell to Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post.
The NFL team owner, Dan Snyder, has been accused several times of fostering a toxic workplace in the NFL franchise. It has made headlines for a while, and fans’ reactions have not been the best. According to a post by Commanders Wire, many Washington fans have clamoured for Snyder to sell the team for years, with some withdrawing their support.
However, the rumours have lingered around that Snyder preferred not to sell to Bezos, who is more or less the best bid contender as he is one of the richest men in the world. This might be because of the report coverage of sexual harassment and abuse of the team owner that the Washington Post reported in 2020.
Nevertheless, It will be interesting to see what happens next in this saga and observe how the sell-off will be.
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