• Loading stock data...
Thursday, July 3, 2025

Washington Validates $6B Josh Harris Bet With Rapid Turnaround

A dream-like season for the Commanders continues, showing the power of what a new owner can quickly do in the right circumstances. 

Imagn Images

The dream that fans of struggling sports teams often have but typically don’t experience—a new owner buys the franchise and quickly turns it around—is improbably coming true for the Commanders, putting the long-forgotten organization back in the national limelight. 

Washington shocked top-seed Detroit 45-31 in the NFC divisional playoffs Saturday night, marking by far the biggest NFL win for second-year Commanders owner Josh Harris. With that upset victory at the Lions’ Ford Field, the Commanders have achieved key milestones:

  • The team’s first appearance in the NFC title game since the 1991 season, when just five current Commanders had even been born. Washington will face Philadelphia on Sunday for a trip to the Super Bowl.
  • The second playoff victory of the Harris era, equaling the number of postseason wins in the embattled, 24-year tenure of former team owner Dan Snyder. Both of those Snyder-era wins were in the wild-card round.
  • An “it” factor drawing a celebrity fanbase that includes NBA superstar and Washington-area native Kevin Durant, actor Matthew McConaughey, and racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others. 

There are many key figures involved in the resurgence of the Commanders, including the stellar play of star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the first-year football leadership of head coach Dan Quinn and GM Adam Peters. Harris, however, has helped instill an entirely different tenor to the organization since his record-breaking $6.05 billion purchase of the team in July 2023—departing significantly from the near-constant turbulence and friction that marked the Snyder era. 

“For everybody to put this together, this team, in really a year, it’s phenomenal,” said former Washington coach Joe Gibbs, who led the franchise to all three of its Super Bowl wins in the 1980s and early 1990s, and then had a less successful comeback effort more than a decade later under Snyder. “To get a win like that on the road, it’s really hard, [but] gives you great confidence. [It’s] just fantastic for everybody.”

The Commanders are a 5.5-point underdog to the Eagles in the upcoming conference title game at Lincoln Financial Field, part of a South Philadelphia sports complex being remade, in part through the NBA’s 76ers and Harris, also the lead owner of that team. Ticket demand on the resale markets for the NFC clash, however, is robust, with low-end, get-in pricing beginning at around $600 per seat—roughly twice the comparable figure for the AFC championship game between the Bills and Chiefs.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

exclusive

WNBA Players Reject League’s First CBA Offer

Players felt the initial proposal wasn’t “entirely responsive” to their request.

NHL to Rejoin Olympic Ice in Milan—and NBC Set to Cash In

NHL players last competed in the Olympics in 2014.

Commanders’ $3.8B Stadium Deal in Jeopardy? Mayor Sounds the Alarm

Political tensions rise about delays in stadium funding approval.

Featured Today

Geoffrey Esper Can’t Catch a Break at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

“Hot dogs is not one of my favorite competitions of the year.”
June 29, 2025

The Battle Over Wimbledon’s Ambitious Expansion Plan

A classic NIMBY standoff on one of the most hallowed grounds in sports.
Seattle Rough & Tumble
June 28, 2025

Women’s Sports Bars Are on the Rise. Survival Isn’t Guaranteed

Some women’s sports bars are cashing in. Others are clawing for funding.
June 27, 2025

Shitposters Have Taken the Reins of Pro Sports’ Official Voices

Meet the social media pros turning sports teams into internet trolls.

Rogers Takes Control of Canada’s Top Teams in MLSE Buyout

The Canadian media giant now has an arguably unrivaled sports portfolio.
Manchester City
July 1, 2025

Manchester City Pockets $50 Million for Early Club World Cup Elimination

Saudi side Al-Hilal will bank at least $35 million in its quarterfinal run.
Myles Turner
July 1, 2025

Pacers Sour on Paying Luxury Tax and Let Myles Turner Walk

The team had seemed willing to cross the threshold for their center.
Sponsored

Hottest Matchups Following NFL Schedule Release

The NFL released the 2025 regular-season schedule, and anticipation is already building in the ticket marketplace with four months to go.
July 1, 2025

Bucks Shock NBA World By Waiving Lillard’s $113M Deal, Signing Turner

Damian Lillard had two years left on his deal.
Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) hoists the Stanley Cup after winning game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena
July 1, 2025

Panthers Lock Up Stanley Cup–Winning Core With Long-Term Deals

Hours before free agency, Florida cemented terms with their essential players.
June 30, 2025

Nuggets, Rockets Make Aggressive Moves to Challenge Thunder

Denver took the Thunder to seven games in the conference semifinals.
June 30, 2025

Cohen’s $331M Mets Spiral Into June Swoon Despite Soto Surge

Frustrations rise as the high-spending Mets have lost 13 of 16 games.