The Washington Post is not for sale, the newspaper’s and its owner Jeff Bezos’ spokespersons told CNN on Monday. The comment came as the spokespersons rejected a New York Post, a New York-based daily newspaper, report that stated, not revealing the source, that the billionaire could sell the newspaper to aid in funding a potential purchase of Washington Commanders, an American National Football League (NFL) team.
CNN reported that a source said Bezos visited the Post newsroom last week and participated in editorial meetings, sat with staff and told the senior staff in a private meeting that he has no plans to sell the paper.
Amazon founder along with rapper Jay-Z are in talks on a potential joint bid on the Commanders, it was previously reported. In an exclusive interview with CNN in November 2022, Bezos was asked if he was seeking to buy the team and he said, “Yes, I’ve heard that buzz.”
He pointed out that “he grew up in Houston, Texas, and I played football growing up as a kid.”
“It is my favourite sport,” he said in the interview. “So we’ll just have to wait and see.”
The current owner of the NFL team, Dan Synder, is accused of a toxic workplace and targeting accusers. He denied the accusations but said that he is seeking to sell the team.
The Washington Commanders are one of the most known franchises in one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. The Commander backed three Super Bowls in 1983, 1988 and 1992. The team is located in the giant Washington, DC, market.
The NFL has the biggest ratings on American TV and is a hit on Amazon Prime Video, which is home to “Thursday Night Football”.
Jay Marine, Prime Video’s head of sports, wrote in an internal memo that the release “exceeded all of our expectations for viewership” and became “the biggest three hours for US Prime sign-ups ever in the history of Amazon.”
The Washington Post sale rumors
The New York Post had earlier reported that Jeff Bezos was likely to sell the American newspaper Washington Post to aid the purchase of Washington Commanders.
According to a primary source, the Washington Post is up for sale by one logical suitor, who tends to put forth a proposal. The source denied divulging details of the suitor. A second newspaper buyer and seller said to have heard rumors that the publications might be for sale.
But Jeff Bezos and the spokesperson of the newspaper have denied all the rumors. Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. The New York Post reported that Bezos is ‘looking to clear the way’ to buy the Commanders from besetting Dan Synder.
As per the report, Bezos is in trouble due to the owner of the Commanders, Dan Synder, being enraged about the series of newspaper illustrations exposing the poisonous management culture in the team, where bosses including Synder are accused of engaging in sexual harassment.
According to a New York Post report, Front Office Sports, a multiplatform media brand that covers the impact of sports on business and culture, reported that the Bank of America, hired by Synder to auction the Commanders, “continues to court Bezos – even if there are indications that Synder doesn’t want to sell” it to him.
While the Commanders accepted first-round bids from potential buyers last week, Bezos, who was in partnership with rapper Jay-Z, was not one of them.
Bezos has said publicly that owning a newspaper was not his goal. But to ensure financial stability and spur online expansion, Bezos bought the Washington Post from its former owner Donald Graham in 2013.
Though Bezos has often pointed out that football is his favourite sport but has not expressed it clearly in purchasing an NFL team to his owning.
The Washington Post expanded quickly under Bezos, but the newspaper supposedly planned to lose money in 2022 after years of profit circulation reduced as Trump’s administration ended. If the Amazon founder does make his bid on the team, it will be an interesting test for Synder given his purchasing power and tremendous wealth.
With billions of dollars, Jeff Bezos plans to donate the majority of his wealth to charitable causes within his lifetime.
