We know Jeff Bezos has whipped together pancakes for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Could the billionaire Amazon founder also be working on a recipe that will make him an NFL team owner?
A new report from CBS Sports is revisiting the idea that the world’s richest person might also want to own a professional sports franchise. Bezos has reportedly become close with several current NFL team owners and has strong support within the league to “join their ranks.”
Bezos’ name has surfaced previously in this arena, especially following the death of Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen last year. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at the time that he could imagine someone like Bezos helping to keep the team in Seattle if a sale became an issue.
“I’d carry him piggyback to get him to the NFL,” Jones told Sports Illustrated.
But CBS alludes to Bezos’ interest in the other Washington. The owner of the Washington Post is putting a sizable Amazon office in Northern Virginia as part of the HQ2 sweepstakes. He bought a ridiculous mansion in an exclusive D.C. neighborhood, and he’s reportedly close with Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
CBS said Snyder has been trying to get a new stadium built for years in D.C. and that Bezos could potentially help with that, “perhaps even with an Amazon sponsorship.” It’s an idea we’ve heard in Seattle, when some imagined Prime Field could have been a contender for the Seattle Mariners baseball stadium, before T-Mobile stepped in with naming rights.
For now, Amazon’s interest in the NFL appears to be limited to its streaming broadcast rights to “Thursday Night Football.”