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Mat Ishbia No Longer Pursuing Purchase of Commanders After Suns Agreement
December 23, 2022
UWM Holdings Corporation Chairman and CEO Mat Ishbia is "no longer pursuing" a purchase of the Washington Commanders.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post relayed the news Friday from a spokesperson representing Ishbia, who recently agreed to buy controlling interest in the Phoenix Suns and Mercury for $4 billion.
Ishbia told the Post's Maske and Nicki Jhabvala in early November that he was "interested in exploring this opportunity [to buy the Commanders] further in the very near future."
That was after team owners Dan and Tanya Snyder announced Nov. 2 that they retained the services of Bank of America to "consider potential transactions" for the franchise.
Per the Post, Ishbia was among the bidders for ownership of the Denver Broncos, but a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton ended up buying the team.
Ishbia's purchase of the Suns and Mercury marks the most expensive sale of an NBA team all-time, breaking Joe Tsai's previous record of $3.3 billion for the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.
As far as the Commanders go, the Post reported this month that "a full sale is the most likely outcome."
The team is worth an estimated $5.6 billion, but bids have come in "well north" of $7 billion, per Michael Ozanian of Forbes. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also expected to make a bid for the team.