Dan Snyder, the majority shareholder in the Washington Football Team franchise got the green light to buy out minority investors in the organization. According to Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com, the NFL cleared the way for Snyder to buy out other owners by approving his application for a $450 million debt waiver.
40.5% of the Washington Football Team Shares Are in Play
If Dan Snyder manages to buy out Washington Football Team minority investors he will gain full control of the NFL franchise.
However, before that happens, Snyder will have to wait for other team owners to vote in favor of the deal. They will do this during the NFL’s annual meeting scheduled to take place next week. Snyder will need 24 of the 32 team owners to support the deal for it to go through.
Snyder needs to buy 40.5% of Washington Football Team shares to gain complete control over the franchise. These shares are owned by minority owners Robert Rothman, Fred Smith, and Dwight Schar who bought their shares in 2003.
Dan Snyder owns 40.59% of the shares and the remaining 19.05% are owned by his mother and sister. His mother, Arlette, owns 6.5% and his sister Michele, has 12.55% of the total number of shares.
A Rival Group of Investors and a Blocked Deal
Snyder’s buy-out deal of the remaining 40.5% might go as high as $875 million. According to The New York Times, he will have until 2028 to repay the debt the NFL has deemed legal.
In November, The Washington Post broke the news that a rival group of investors promised to pay $900 million to minority shareholders for the remaining 40.5%, but as the newspaper reported then, Snyder blocked the deal.
The share dealings between Snyder and the franchise’s minority investors weren’t done in good faith and, over the summer, they continuously accused each other of trying to get a better deal by resorting to lies and misinformation. There were a lot of court filings too.At the moment, Washington Football Team is rebranding itself and will come out with a new name and logo for the 2022 season. However, the team will still play its games as Washington Football Team during the entire 2021 season.
