Jay-Z and Jeff Bezos are interested in buying the Washington Commanders together
By Chloe Melas, CNN
Billionaire businessmen Jay-Z and Jeff Bezos are in talks on a possible joint venture.
The Roc Nation founder and Amazon founder are exploring a potential joint bid on the Washington Commanders, two sources with knowledge of the talks told CNN.
It is not clear if the two have yet spoken with Dan Snyder and his wife, Tanya, the current owners of the NFL team, about the possibility.
Earlier on Thursday, a source with inside knowledge of the matter confirmed to CNN that Bezos was considering buying the team.
On Wednesday, the Snyders said they were exploring a sale of the team and hired Bank of America Securities “to consider potential transactions.”
When asked for a comment on the Amazon founder’s interest in the team, a spokesperson for the Commanders said, “we are not commenting on who has or has not expressed interest.”
CNN has reached out to Roc Nation for comment.
The NFL declined to comment when reached by CNN on Thursday.
Both Bezos and Jay-Z’s sports ties run deep.
Jay-Z was formerly part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and his company, Roc Nation Sports, represents several NFL athletes.
Back in 2019, as Colin Kaepernick’s activism was creating waves in the sport, Jay-Z and the NFL also partnered up for a social justice initiative that aimed to bring awareness to key issues, like criminal justice reform and education and economic advancement.
Amazon, meanwhile, entered into a lucrative streaming partnership with the NFL this year that has been a win for the company and the league.
Jay Marine, Prime Video’s head of sports, wrote in an internal memo back in September that the team-up “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.”
It’s unclear how those business relationships would be handled in the case of a possible purchase.
The potential sale of the Commanders comes months after a House Oversight Committee investigating the Commanders owner accused him of fostering a “toxic workplace” and conducting “a shadow investigation to target his accusers, pin the blame on others, and influence the NFL’s own internal review.”
An internal investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson last year resulted in the NFL fining the Commanders $10 million and Snyder handing control of the franchise’s daily operations to his wife. Snyder has denied the accusations.
Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former employees accusing Snyder of workplace improprieties, in a statement called the possible sale “a good development for the team, its former and current employees, and its many fans.”
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke, David Close and Lev Jacob contributed to this report
