Jeff Bezos has no one to blame but himself for losing out on Commanders

As the Washington Commanders begin anew under Josh Harris' ownership, we wonder why Jeff Bezos didn't end up purchasing the team. Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, has more money than God as the founder of Amazon, who is a broadcasting partner for the NFL on Thursday night. It seemed inevitable that Bezos was going to get into the sports franchise ownership phase of his life.

Although some people speculated that Bezos was blocked from buying the Commanders by their former owner Daniel Snyder, that may not be the case. A report from the Financial Times indicates that he was outbid by Harris to buy the team. If he would have paid $7 billion for the franchise, Bezos would own the Commanders. There is one wrinkle in this that has not been fully explained just yet...

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk touched on exactly how I feel about the situation over the weekend. One day, Bezos is going to own an NFL franchise, and it is going to be the Seattle Seahawks. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle. The Seahawks have a much stronger, or less damaged, brand than the Commanders. The franchise is owned by the late Paul Allen's sister Jody Allen, who is in her mid-60s.

All things equal, the Seahawks are the better NFL franchise to buy over the Commanders right now.

Jeff Bezos could have owned Washington Commanders if he wanted to

Let's be real. There is not a better investment in America today than owning a professional sports franchise. As long as you hold onto the property for a few years, it is only going to go up in value. While these franchises don't always become available, one would think Seattle is the next NFL franchise that will be going to market. That could be in five or 10 years, possibly even way sooner.

There may be more sentimental attachments to the Seahawks by Bezos than to the Washington franchise. Obviously, Harris really loves sports, as he also owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils. Seeing him jump at the opportunity of a lifetime made all the sense in the world. Fate would have it, Bezos possibly holding out for something better makes a ton of sense, too.

I think what the Financial Times article tells us is if Bezos wants to have a bigger role in the NFL sphere, nobody is going to stop him. No, he is not going to hostilely take over your favorite team's operations, but if another franchise were to go to market, it wouldn't shock me if he pounced on it. My money would be on him owning the Seahawks before the end of the decade, but that is too far out.

The NFL is big business, and nobody does big business in the US quite like the founder of Amazon.