Who bought the Washington Commanders? Breaking down new owner’s history of sports franchise ownership

American businessman Josh Harris and an ownership group agreed to purchase the Washington Commanders in March 2023, a move that was voted through on July 20. The group decided to pay a record $6.05 billion for the franchise.

Harris is a keen investor in sports teams and has an ownership portfolio that will make Jerry Jones blush.

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Who is the Washington Commanders' new owner?

Josh Harris is an American private equity investor, sports team owner and philanthropist. He hails from Washington and bagged a degree in economics from the Wharton School in 1986.

Harris is a versatile business mind and co-founded the private equity company Apollo Global Management in 1990 alongside Leon Black and Leon Rowan. He built the company from the ground up and eventually resigned from his role as COO to go full-time into sports management.

Josh Harris has a keen eye for investment and regularly explores undervalued franchises that he can purchase and flip for profit.

According to Forbes magazine, he has an estimated net worth of $5.8 billion.

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Josh Harris' history of sports franchise ownership

Speaking of investments, Josh Harris is a serial investor in sports teams and one of the most popular sports team owners around.

Harris dipped his feet into sports franchise ownership in 2011 when he and senior Blackstone Inc. executive David Blitzer led an investment group that purchased NBA team Philadelphia 76ers for $280 million.

Josh Harris purchased the 76ers when they were amid the worst spell in their storied history. Over a decade later, the 76ers are a perennial postseason threat in the NBA and are home to the reigning NFL MVP Joel Embiid. The franchise is valued at $3.15 billion by Forbes in 2023.

In 2013, the dynamic duo of Josh Harris and David Blitzer struck again, as they purchased the NHL franchise, the New Jersey Devils, for $320 million. The deal included the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, from Jeff Vanderbeek.

In 2015, Harris turned his attention to soccer (European football), as he purchased an 18% stake in the English football club Crystal Palace 2015, which is run as a general partnership consisting of himself, Blitzer, club chairman Steve Parish and John Textor.

He entered the billionaire's club of NFL owners before he bought a 5% stake worth $140 million in the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020. That was a wise investment move that would slowly show him the complexities of owning a franchise in the NFL before he made the big jump.

That big jump came in 2023, as he and an ownership group agreed to purchase the NFL's Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion. On league approval, the deal to take over the Commanders would be a sports franchise's most significant sales transaction. All things considered, it's fair to say that Harris loves a good sports deal.