I already did a timeline of the sale of the last 3 teams to change hands
here.
With the talk of the sale now turning more seriously to when and what that means for the on-the-field pieces, I thought I'd go deeper.
I won't bore you with all the specifics but some things did jump out.
1. While 6 months or so has been the average of the last 3 sales, the sales before that range from quick to almost glacial in pace.
- Haslam appears to have come to an agreement with Lerner over the Browns in less than 2 months with no other parties involved - an insider deal with Haslam a minority owner in the Steelers at the time
- Weaver had been rumored to be trying to sell the Jags for years before the sudden and surprising announcement Shad Khan was buying the team in late Nov of 2011. Khan would be approved by the owners in less than 2 weeks.
- Kroenke and Ross took years to acquire their majority stakes in the Dolphins and Rams respectively, first starting as minority owners
- It is noteworthy that the last 3 sales have been more auction-like while prior to that, sales were fairly private matters, often going to someone already known to be interested in being a majority owner
2. I can't find a single example of the owner's voting on a sale other than in person at a regularly scheduled Owner's Meeting. If this holds for the Commanders we are looking at either the Special Meeting on Dec 13-14 this year or the League meeting on March 26-29 - assuming a purchase is agreed to by either of these dates.
3. There have been 11 clubs sold since Dan bought the Redskins from the Cooke estate in 1999. That is roughly 1 club every 25 months or so.
4. There are a number of other clubs expected to sell soon-ish. All of these would likely be cheaper than Washington.
- New Orleans Saints - owner Olivia Benson has said the club will be sold upon her death with the proceeds going to NOLA area charities
- Seattle Seahawks - owned by the Allen trust which is required to divest itself of the pro sports holding per the instructions in Paul Allen's will
- Chicago Bears - owner Virginia McCaskey is 99 years old and there are real questions about the desire of the family to keep the club after she passes
- San Diego Chargers - owner Dean Spanos is embroiled in a legal battle with his sister over the use of money in the family trust which might necessitate the sale of the team
