Jeff Bezos hints he’s buying the Washington Commanders: ‘We’ll have to wait and see’
CNN
By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business
Jeff Bezos may be adding NFL owner to his resume.
The Amazon founder, along with Jay-Z, is in talks on a potential joint bid on the Washington Commanders, CNN reported earlier this month. However, it is not clear if the two have yet spoken with Dan Snyder and his wife, Tanya, the current owners of the NFL team.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Chloe Melas this weekend, the billionaire businessman was asked if he was seeking to buy the team.
“Yes, I’ve heard that buzz,” Bezos said with a smirk.
Bezos pointed out that he “grew up in Houston, Texas, and I played football growing up as a kid.”
“It is my favorite sport,” he said in the interview. “So we’ll just have to wait and see.”
A House Oversight Committee investigating Snyder accused the current Commanders owner 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.” Snyder has denied the accusations but is considering a sale of the team.
The NFL fined the Commanders $10 million following an internal investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson last year.
Why would Bezos want to own the Commanders? The team is one of the most notable franchises in one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. The Commanders have won three Super Bowls (in 1983, 1988 and 1992) and is located in the giant Washington, DC, market.
The NFL is the biggest ratings powerhouse on American TV and has been a hit for Amazon Prime Video, which is the exclusive home to “Thursday Night Football.”
Jay Marine, Prime Video’s head of sports, wrote in an internal memo in September that the debut “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.”
— CNN’s Chloe Melas and David Close contributed to this report.
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