Most of the stranger aspects of the Commanders sale have come from current owner Daniel Snyder. Recently, much of it has come from Brian Davis, a former Duke and NBA basketball player who has swooped in seemingly out of nowhere with a supposed $7 billion bid for the team.
In recent days, Davis has taken his case public, via an interview with WUSA on Tuesday and, on Wednesday morning, an extended chat with The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan in D.C.
The most important question is whether Davis personally has $2.1 billion to fund the 30 percent of the team that Davis would have to personally acquire in order to serve as the controlling owner of the team.
Before delving into that, consider what Davis had to say regarding reports that his financial backing traces to Saudi Arabia: “My money comes from white people . . . who are Jewish, Italian, and Sicilian.”
Regardless of where the other 70 percent comes from, Davis must have 30 percent of the purchase price as his own money, not as any investment or money given to him by partners or whoever. He was pressed on that point.
“What I hope to do and what we’re planning on, is to have acceptance from Mr. Snyder, but what I’m going to show Mr. Snyder is that my partners allow me to have ten and a half billion in my account,” Davis said. “Seven billion to give to Mr. Snyder and Mrs. Snyder, two billion for the liquidity requirement, one billion to begin the restoration of the stadium. Our plan for the stadium is to keep the stadium, restore it, add a translucent, retractable roof to give it a 12-month life cycle.”
It was impossible for the hosts to get clarity from Davis on the basic question of whether he personally has the requisite $2.1 billion in his own money to support a $7 billion bid.
“I have 100 percent,” Davis said when it was explained that he’s simply the front man for others. “A hundred percent means you can have other investors. These guys with the Magic Johnson group, they have 20 investors. So they have to go through 20 background checks. Twenty different. I have one investor. That investor is me, right? . . . It’s my money. It’s my money. It’s my money because I sold my intellectual property. . . . They’re my partners, because they want me to be the only partner so I don’t have the issues that these guys are going to have with 20 different partners.”
If -- and it feels like a big if -- there’s truly $10.5 billion in an account somewhere ready for the ownership and operation of the Commanders and the renovation of a stadium that seems beyond the point of salvaging, it’s impossible to know based on his interview with 106.7 The Fan whether Davis truly has amassed the cash to pay for 30 percent of the $7 billion on his own. If there’s $10.5 billion, chances are that most if not all of it comes from others, and chances are that Davis doesn’t nearly have the $2.1 billion he needs to buy the team.
Whatever the truth may be, the vetting process will get to the bottom of it. Davis believes that, within the next couple of days, Bank of America “should be in a position to say that I have the capital,” and that he’ll be sending signed bank confirmation that will confirm that his capital is “clean,” “unencumbered,” and “domestic.”
Even if that’s the case, at least $2.1 billion of the money has to be one more thing.
“His.”