Bids hit $7 billion at deadline for offers to buy Commanders

Friday is the deadline for bidders to present final offers to buy the Washington Commanders. NBC Sports Washington reported five -- and as many as seven -- bids are expected. Forbes reported bids exceed $7 billion, which would include the team, FedEx Field and surrounding acreage, and 150 acres at the team's headquarters in Ashburn, Va. In August, Forbes valued the Commanders at $5.6 billion, without the real estate. Owners Daniel and Tanya Snyder hired Bank of America Securities last month to explore the possibilities for the sale of all, or part, of the Commanders last month. Facing federal scrutiny into the operation of the team, as well as the wrath of some fellow owners, the Snyders have not come out and expressed their intention with the franchise. In May 1999, Daniel Snyder-led ownership group bought the Washington football team and what then was known as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium for $800 million, which the Washington Post reported at the time was a record price for a U.S. sports franchise. A sale of the Commanders is expected to set another record price. The Snyders, should they sell, would receive well over the record $4.65 billion Walmart heir Rob Walton paid for the Denver Broncos this summer. NBC Sports Washington said Friday that the pending sale this week of the Phoenix Suns by another embattled owner, Robert Sarver, to mortgage lender Mat Ishbia for $4 billion -- a record price for an NBA franchise -- will drive up the Commanders price. That sale includes the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. --Field Level Media