Jeff Bezos’ bid for the Washington Commanders just got a lot cooler.

Matthew McConaughey is joining the potential ownership group led by Bezos and Jay-Z to buy the NFL team from beleaguered owner Dan Snyder, according to multiple reports.

Snyder could be unwilling to sell to Bezos due to their skirmishes in the past — despite the Amazon founder’s $114.4 billion net worth — so adding McConaughey to the bid could make it more palatable due to his strong ties to the franchise and his experience in the sports world.

• The 53-year-old actor has been a longtime fan of the franchise and is supposedly good friends with Snyder.
• The pair reportedly watched the Super Bowl together aboard Snyder’s yacht last year.
• McConaughey has been a minority owner of MLS franchise Austin FC since 2019 and is the “Minister of Culture” at his alma mater, the University of Texas.

Despite being from deep in rival Dallas Cowboys country, McConaughey has said he’s been a fan of the Washington franchise since he was 4 years old.

Bids Piling Up

Bezos, Jay-Z, and McConaughey are not the only ones vying for a piece — or all — of the Commanders.

Entertainment Studios founder Byron Allen is reportedly preparing a bid — which, if successful, would make him the first Black majority owner in NFL history.

Washington, D.C., native Kevin Durant has also expressed interest in being part of the Commanders’ next ownership group.

As the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaches, more fans are being banned.

The Buenos Aires city government listed 6,000 Argentines who will not be allowed to enter tournament stadiums, around half of whom are not allowed to attend local league matches.

“They were included for belonging to the ‘barres’ [violent fans], for participating in violent acts, for illicit associations such as ‘trapitos’ [banned street businesses] and for owing maintenance payments [from divorced parents],” the city’s justice and security minister Marcelo D’Alessandro said.

The country will send “delegates of different police bodies” to work with Qatar’s security authorities for the event, which starts on Nov. 20. 

• More than 1,300 fans from England and Wales are also banned from the tournament due to past issues with soccer-related violence.
• The U.K.’s home office has warned of a possible six months in prison for defying the band.

World Cup Critics

FIFA continues to receive criticism for awarding Qatar — which has a history of alleged human rights abuses — the World Cup. 

More concerns came after World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman, who is a former national team player, called homosexuality “damage in the mind” and “haram,” or forbidden, in an interview shown on Monday.

Sepp Blatter, who was FIFA president when Qatar was chosen in 2010, said the decision to award Qatar was a “mistake,” adding that after the country was given the tournament, criteria for host countries changed.

“Since then, social considerations and human rights are taken into account,” he said.

Anheuser-Busch has been synonymous with big-time sports for decades.

Whether it’s paying to be the Super Bowl’s largest advertiser or owning Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals (1953-1995), the brewer’s Budweiser and Bud Light brands are ubiquitous in the sports world. 

Now A-B is investing in the country’s fastest-growing sport: pickleball. It announced Tuesday plans to buy a Major League Pickleball franchise, starting in the 2023 season.

The giant brewer is the first Fortune 500 company to purchase an MLP team and it joins a growing list of high-powered MLP owners.

• NBA superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant
• The NFL’s Tom Brady and former New Orleans Saints great Drew Brees
• Tennis legend Kim Clijsters

The agreement gives A-B control over one of MLP’s new expansion teams. The brewer will call the shots on everything from player drafts to team sponsors. 

Still Expanding

During the 2023 season, MLP will expand from 12 to 16 teams. The new league will double its number of events to six, and player prize money to more than $2 million.

“Anheuser-Busch is one of the most impactful professional sport sponsors in the US, to have them join as an ownership partner is an incredible opportunity for Major League Pickleball,” said Steve Kuhn, MLP’s founder and CEO.