Potential new Commanders owner buys stake in Joe Gibbs Racing

Arctos, a private equity firm that has ownership stakes in the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and other pro teams, will also join as a minority owner.

On the flip side for Gibbs, the Pro Football and NASCAR Hall of Famer, the former coach of the Commanders will become a limited partner in the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, the NBA and NHL teams that HBSE owns. 

Gibbs won't be involved with the Commanders, the franchise he twice coached, including for three Super Bowl runs during his initial tenure as head coach from 1981-92.

As most organizations in team and individual sports these days, Gibbs was looking for additional financial backing, especially since he boasts one of the larger teams in NASCAR. 

However, it has been frequently reported that he wanted to keep the majority share in the family — something longtime competitor and racing icon Richard Petty was unable to do with Richard Petty Motorsports, which was sold to a group headlined by Jimmie Johnson. 

As noted by The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi:

These organizations all have owners whose primary means of wealth comes from outside business interests not only allowing them to spend on their race teams, but also to develop business-to-business relationships with outside companies that bring further capital to the race team in the form of sponsorship, the lifeblood of keeping a team afloat. Joe Gibbs doesn’t have a primary outside business interest, his main business is the NASCAR team that bears his name.

By selling a stake to Josh Harris, Gibbs is bringing additional capital to his team that in turn can be invested in ensuring JGR is competitive on the racetrack. And in NASCAR, money buys speed.

Harris is far from the first team sports owner to put his money into NASCAR, but he is investing into one of its most successful teams since the turn of the millennium. 

Since 2000, JGR won five Cup Series championships, four Xfinity Series crowns and one ARCA Menards Series title. While Denny Hamlin drives the number 11 car under the JGR banner, the team has a technical alliance with a competitor Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, 23XI Racing. Jordan is currently in the midst of selling his majority share of the Charlotte Hornets.