Here’s what needs to happen before Sixers partner Josh Harris officially buys the Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has agreed to sell his NFL team to a group of investors headed by Josh Harris, a part-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s Jersey Devils, for a record $6.05 billion, according to people familiar with the deal.

Harris’ partners in the Commanders deal include David Blitzer, his partner in the Sixers and Devils; Mitchell Rales, a billionaire manufacturer from the Washington area; and former NBA star Magic Johnson. The NFL has said it’s trying to encourage Black investors and general diversity in the teams’ mostly white ownership.

The deal must still pass scrutiny by NFL management and win approval from NFL owners, who will next meet in May.

Harris, 58, is cofounder of Apollo Global Management, a private equity and real estate investment firm whose clients include Pennsylvania’s pension funds. Harris headed the firm until stepping down from day-to-day management after a power struggle in 2021.

Blitzer is a top partner at Blackstone, another big private equity firm.

Rales, 66, is the founder, with his brother Steven, of the Danaher Group, a medical device maker, based in Washington. Like Harris, Rales grew up in suburban Washington.

Johnson, 63, the well-known former Los Angeles Laker and NBA Hall of Famer, has previously owned a piece of the Lakers and currently has stakes in Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC, and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Sparks.

According to Forbes, Harris is worth about $6 billion; Blitzer more than $1 billion; and the Rales brothers’ investments and other assets about $12 billion. Johnson’s reported net worth is about $620 million.

Prospective investors who agree to buy an NFL team need the support of three-quarters (24 of 32) of NFL team owners.

The owners also have acted to force longtime owners to sell. For example, when San Francisco 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo was named in a 1990s gambling-license bribery case, owners pressured him to sell the team to his sister. Last winter, the owners were reportedly close to compelling Dan Snyder to sell the Commanders after allegations of sexual harassment and financial impropriety but held off when he said he was planning to sell anyway.

The NFL does have restrictions on who can buy a team. Pro football has a reputation for imposing more conditions than other leagues, but rules have been loosened as prices rose quickly in recent years, thinning the herd of people rich enough to buy, according to a recent Washington Post review of the league’s rules.

Although the NBA and MLB allow big private investment firms (such as the ones Harris ran and Blitzer runs) to buy teams directly, only individuals can buy an NFL team.

The NFL wants new owner groups to have a leader, who puts up at least 30% of the price. There are limits on how much the group may borrow to finance the deal.

The NFL does allow splintered ownership by heirs, who sometimes sell to smaller owners. That’s what happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers: The late Art Rooney’s descendants have sold pieces of the team, including minority shares to Josh Harris and to Hollywood mogul turned Pittsburgh investor Thomas Tull.

No ownership group can include more than 25 people. One exception: The Green Bay Packers are owned by 537,000 individual shareholders under an old arrangement.

Other NFL owners also own other sports teams. For example, the late Paul Allen owned both the NFL Seattle Seahawks and NBA Portland Trailblazers. Such arrangements have increased since the NFL ended remaining “cross ownership” restrictions in 2018.

Each of the Sixers partners has significant sports assets. For example, Blitzer last year bought Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer and a stake in Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians.

People familiar with the Sixers ownership group says Harris’ and Blitzer’s ownership of the Commanders won’t change the team’s plans to build a new arena in Philadelphia or its other initiatives.

In 2022, a group including Harris, Blitzer, and Johnson tried to purchased the Denver Broncos, but lost out to Walmart heir Rob Walton, who paid $4.65 billion.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.