Josh Harris’ meeting Wednesday with the NFL finance committee went well and his deal to purchase the Washington Commanders appears on track for a vote as soon as next month, according to multiple reports.
Harris, Maryland billionaire Mitchell Rales and other officials met with the eight-owner finance committee for two-and-a-half hours to further work out details of the group’s agreement to buy the Commanders, The Washington Post reported.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, a member of the finance committee, told ESPN that Harris and Rales were committed to having their bid be “in compliance” with league rules and that they’re “making progress” toward receiving approval from the league.
For the Commanders’ sale to become official, Harris and Co. must receive at least 24 votes from the league’s 32 owners.
“It’s going well,” Irsay said. “I’m hopeful because of their inspired aspect and their enthusiasm and their track record that they’re really committing, saying, ‘Well if that doesn’t work then I’ll make it right. Either way, we’re going to make it right.’ So we’re just trying to work through those final details. And I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to. I would imagine something in mid to late July would be the earliest we’d call it league meeting.”
The Post cited an anonymous source who characterized the meeting as “very positive,” telling the outlet Harris’ deal is set to get approved “unless something crazy happens.”
NFL owners aren’t scheduled to meet again until October. Still, the league can call a special meeting — as was the case last year when owners gathered to approve Rob Walton’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Denver Broncos.
Harris reached a tentative agreement to buy the Commanders from owner Dan Snyder for $6.05 billion in April. A month later, the parties signed the contracts to make the deal official, leaving it up to the NFL to ultimately approve the deal.
The league’s finance committee initially raised several issues about the structure of Harris’ deal, according to reports. The concerns, the Post reported, centered around the size of Harris’ group — which has 20 limited partners — and the debt that the group was seeking to take on. League rules prevent buyers from taking on more than $1.1 billion in debt to purchase a club.
At meetings last month in Minnesota, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that the league was working “full speed” to review the deal.
“I think we’ll get it to a place where it’ll be approved,” Goodell said, acknowledging there were “compliance issues.”
Irsay told ESPN on Wednesday that Harris and Rales were fine with the league’s demand to comply with the debt acquisition figure, but asked owners to work with them, “particularly from a taxation standpoint.” Irsay said the league would “of course” work with the group, but made clear it wasn’t going to bend rules.
“They know it can’t be smoke and mirrors,” Irsay said. “They’ve committed to make it. That’s reasonable. I’m optimistic that can get done. It’s a complicated deal. I’ve just seen these things fall apart when you’re just trying to dot an I and cross a T. I mean it’s unusual, but if you stay in business long enough, unfortunately, one thing’s for sure: No deal is done until it’s done. And I think in this case, there’s every reason to believe compliance will be there because they know that’s a must. They know we would say, ‘Hey, sorry, no deal.’”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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