The possible sale of the Washington Commanders felt too neat and tidy for a Dan Snyder business deal. There’s now reportedly a bizarre $7 billion ALL CASH offer for the team that came out of nowhere, three days after an agreement had been reached in principle for Snyder to sell the team to a group made up of Josh Harris, Mitchell Rales, and Magic Johnson.
The Commanders sale has taken a bizarre turn
Nothing about this makes sense.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
News emerged over the weekend that former Duke basketball player Brian Davis slid under the wire to deliver a $7B offer to Snyder, almost a full billion more than the Harris-led bid. Having a new bidder jump into the ring isn’t what makes this situation bizarre, but rather the nature of the bid’s construction — paired with the fact nobody can really work out where this money is coming from.
What makes the Davis bid so bizarre?
There’s a few factors converging here. First is the money. As it stood the highest bid for the Commanders was sitting at $6.05B from the Harris group, and getting to that figure took extensive time in negotiations. Every step of the potential Commanders’ sale was well known, as were all the principal players in the sale — including the Harris group and Jeff Bezos. Sweeping in and offering 15 percent more, when Davis was never on the radar, is more than a little strange.
That $7B figure is also curious. It comes two days after the Washington Post reported that some sources inside the NFL were disappointed the Commanders were only selling for a shade over $6B, with the expectation they were worth closer to $7B. Then suddenly a deal comes along that matches the expectations of WaPo’s sources.
In addition, the new offer is unimaginably Dan Snyder-friendly. Not only does it offer more than any other bidder, but stunningly gives Snyder indemnity against any future lawsuits stemming from his team ownership. This means that Davis is willing to take on any legal risk for Snyder’s current improprieties, or any that could be revealed in the future. This is something no prospective owner had, or would offer.
There is very much a chance this is simply a bad business decision. Billionaires make bad decisions all the time. In isolation, both the money and indemnity could have simply been deal sweeteners, with Davis assuming he had to over-offer in order to put the brakes on the Josh Harris deal. However, there’s a little more to this story.
Nobody really knows how Davis got this money
We should preface this by acknowledging that there are astoundingly wealthy people in the United States most people don’t know exist. When someone’s net worth is tied to a variety of businesses it can become convoluted to the point where it’s difficult to track, especially when the companies they’re involved in aren’t publicly traded.
Still, Davis is an enigma when it comes to where this money is coming from. Darren M. Haynes, a sports anchor for WUSA9 in the DC area did some digging and was told Davis had $50B in assets from his company “Urban Echo Energy,” which is purported to be “the first LEED green developer in America.”
Davis reportedly leveraged his assets from Urban Echo Energy, to secure private investment, which would then be used to purchase the Commanders. We need to keep stressing that this is possible, but there are some issues, too.
There is no mention of Urban Echo Energy ... anywhere. Outside of news related to this potential Commanders sale there’s zero evidence this company has had a significant hand in any green development in the United States. A custom Google search running from 3/1/13 to 3/1/23 doesn’t surface a single mention of Urban Echo Energy, outside of a Bizapedia listing that shows the company has existed for barely over a year.
In addition, the United States Green Building Council, which tracks all LEED certified construction, has no record of Urban Echo Energy as a LEED certified organization, no mention of Brian Davis as a LEED construction affiliated individual, or record of Dan McNair — who is the CEO of Urban Echo Energy, according to his LinkedIn.
McNair also lists himself as the CEO of “Hopkins Development Group,” however once again this company does not appear in any LEED listings or Google search results. The address listed on Urban Echo’s business application is a condo in Alexandria, Virginia — while the listed address for “Hopkins Development Group” is a private residence in Washington DC.
What’s happening with all this?
If we ignore the mammoth red flags about where this money is coming from, on paper this seems great. The NFL is in dire need of a Black owner, and Davis promising to make the team sustainable and green, while injecting money into the local economy seems incredible.
The issue is that nothing about this adds up. Shawne Merriman spoke out against Davis on Sunday night, alleging that Davis owes “a lot of athletes money,” while adding that he took Davis to court.
The Commanders aren’t publicly acknowledging this $7B offer. The team declined to comment when asked. However, people need to know where this money is coming from, and how this $7B deal surfaced if it moves forward in any fashion. If only to clear up some of the bizarre details here, because right now it’s just not adding up.
See More:
