Outside of the military, nowhere in professional society is hierarchy more rigid than in sports.
While board members and shareholders can shuffle C-suite executives in and out as they please, NFL teams and their fan bases are, for the most part, stuck with the person who owns the team in perpetuity.
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Owning an NFL franchise is one of the most secure investments a wealthy person can make. The average NFL franchise more than doubled in value between 2018 and 2024.
The average value of the NFL’s 32 franchises is now $6.5 billion, according to CNBC, thanks to lucrative television and sponsorship deals and a level of popularity the league has never experienced.
Unfortunately for the ultra-wealthy, there are only 32 opportunities to get a majority stake in an NFL franchise. Plus, every single owner knows exactly the type of cash cow the NFL is and would never voluntarily sell.
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Not only that, but the process for gaining entry as one of the 32 is also extremely arduous.
Washington’s new ownership is making big changes
Barriers to entry are high because acceptance into the ownership group is basically a lifetime appointment. It takes something scandalously egregious to oust an NFL owner, and the league often closes ranks when one of its own is in trouble.
Despite all of these protections, the Washington Commanders (formerly Washington Redskins) were finally able to oust their owner, Daniel Snyder. Nearly 30 years of embarrassing futility had dropped to the middle of the pack a franchise that was once top-3 in terms of valuation.
When Washington-area native Josh Harris purchased the Washington Commanders from Dan Snyder and his associates for $6 billion in 2023, most fans were ready to say sayonara to Snyder as he sailed away on his megayacht.
Many felt that the new ownership group could finally turn around the moribund franchise that was the NFL’s gold standard during its heyday in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Harris’ group has done just that, putting together a front office full of young executives like Adam Peters that is turning into the envy of the league.
The neighborhood around RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. is about to get a $3 billion upgrade.
Image source: Tom Brenner/Getty Images
The team has also upgraded facilities at its headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, and its nearly 30-year-old stadium in Landover, Maryland. Fans have certainly noticed the difference, and so have the players on the field.
Every year, the NFL Players Union produces a report card. It’s a survey ranking each team based on how players in the locker room feel about their franchises.
After finishing dead last for two years, the Commanders jumped to 11th in 2024, with players pointing to new head coach Dan Quinn as the key to the turnaround in sentiment.
His leadership and team building led the Commanders to 12 regular-season wins (the most the team has had this century) and a trip to the NFC Conference Championship game.
However, the players also pointed to upgrades in the team’s food program, increases in family events, daycare provisions during home games, and improvements in team travel.
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Players say the team lacks in one area, however: the facilities. Northwest Stadium opened in 1997 and is one of the older buildings in the league, but bombshell news just revealed that the Harris group is planning to address this issue in a big way as well.
The Washington Commanders are moving back to D.C.
The Washingon Redskins moved to Northwest Stadium in Maryland after playing their final game at RFK Memorial Stadium (less than 10 miles away in Southeast Washington D.C.) in 1996. RFK Stadium opened in 1961.
Nearly 30 years later, the team announced plans to return to their old stomping grounds.
After months of negotiations, the Harris group and the DC government finally have an agreement on what to do with the 174-acre site on the banks of the Anacostia River.
“We have 180 acres of opportunity on the banks of the Anacostia River, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, sandwiched between Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at a press conference on Monday.
Oakland has lost three major sports franchises over the past few years: the Raiders, Athletics, and Warriors. Citizens and their elected officials there do not want to subsidize municipal works for billionaires who can afford to finance them independently.
Mayor Bowser has a different take, often touting the power of the sports economy to transform her city. In a post on X, she said, “In 2006, D.C. made a bold investment of $611M to build a new stadium on a vacant lot. Today, that neighborhood has over 85 restaurants, 6,500 residences, and five hotels. That’s what we mean when we talk about a sports economy.”
D.C. will pay $500 million for horizontal stadium construction, Events D.C. will pay $181 million, and the city will pay $175 million to build event parking garages that will be under the city’s control once they’re finished.
The team will pay the rest of the $2.7 billion freight, bringing the project’s total cost to nearly $3.6 billion.
The stadium itself will only be 15% of the total project, with the site also featuring food, entertainment, and housing.
Harris announced that the team would be making the largest private investment in Washington, D.C. history, with a target to open the new stadium by 2030.
She called Josh Harris the right partner at the right time after saying she’s been working on bringing the Washington team back to D.C. for 10 years.
Goodell said the new stadium would dramatically increase Washington, D.C.’s chances of hosting the Super Bowl someday.
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