Not a Prime candidate: Jeff Bezos denied bid to buy Commanders from Dan Snyder

The Washington Commanders are for sale, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has reportedly been told that he is no longer in the running.

Back on Nov. 2, 2022, Washington Commanders owners Dan and Tanya Snyder released a statement, revealing that they were exploring a sale of the franchise. At the time of that announcement, they hired Bank of America Securities to explore a potential sale. It’s been over a couple of months, and there is now an update as to who will not be purchasing the Commanders, and it is a rather big name.

According to The Athletic’s Ben Standig and Daniel Kaplan on Saturday (subscription required), Bank of America has told Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that he is not allowed to bid for the Commanders. The person familiar with the sale process told The Athletic that this “has been a reality for months.”

The New York Post first reported on Friday that Bezos was “forced to the sidelines” in the bidding for the Commanders.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly barred from bidding on Commanders

The Athletic report also brought up that Bezos owns the Washington Post, the very newspaper that brought the Commanders’ toxic workplace and sexual harassment allegations to light. Per Standig and Kaplan, those close to Dan Snyder have said that he feels the Washington Post “endeavored to oust him from the NFL.”

This past week, the Washington Post reported (subscription required) that Bezos had hired investment firm Allen & Company about potentially putting in a bid to buy the Commanders. Allen & Company oversaw the sales of both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

According to FOX Business, Snyder has told NFL officials that he is looking to sell the team for $6 billion.

Additionally, the New York Post report linked above notes that the top bids for the Commanders have fallen “far short” of the $6 billion asking price set by Snyder. That same report noted that an “unidentified bidder” submitted an offer around $5.5 billion.

While Bezos was set to explore making a bid, he has reportedly been told that he was barred from doing so. Now, the questions continue as to if there will be a bid that Snyder will accept to sell the NFL franchise.