Controversy has dogged the Washington Commanders and owner Dan Snyder for the past few offseasons, and now the pressure could be mounting. Two weeks ago, Front Office Sports reported that the Commanders may have used “two books” of financial information and records that gave different accounts of the franchise’s financial health. Evidence has now come to light to support the claim.
According to the 20-page letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Snyder and the Commanders “may have engaged in a disturbing, prolonged and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct.” That reportedly includes the Commanders withholding up to $5 million in refundable deposits from season ticket holders. The letter also alleges Washington was hiding money to be shared among NFL owners.
The allegations were made by Jason Friedman, who served as vice president of sales and customer service for the Commanders for 24 years. Friedman reportedly gave the committee a report that matched Front Office Sports’ earlier report, saying the franchise had “two sets of books,” one of which contained underreported box office receipts. These were reportedly maintained by former CFO Stephen Choi and another employee.
The letter also alleges Washington falsely claimed revenue by claiming money came from events such as a Navy-Notre Dame college football game held at FedExField and a Kenny Chesney concert. Friedman told the committee that he “incorrectly processed” more than $162,000 of Commanders NFL game tickets as coming from the Navy Notre Dame game. Money from these events would not be part of the NFL’s pool, and money made through this method was reportedly referred to internally as “juice.” Ticket sales are to be split among the 32 NFL teams, with 40% going into a visiting team fund.
Friedman also gave the committee documents showing Washington had withheld security deposits from customers who had purchased multi-year tickets for certain seats that should have been returned. The commanders have previously denied any financial wrongdoing.
“The team categorically denies at all times any allegation of financial impropriety,” the commanders said in a March 31 statement, according to The Washington Post. “We adhere to strict internal processes consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally recognized independent accounting firm and are also subject to periodic audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the work of the committee.”
On Tuesday, an NFL spokesman gave NFL Media a statement regarding the allegations in the letter.
“We continue to work with the Oversight Committee and have provided more than 210,000 pages of documents. The NFL has retained former SEC Chair Mary Jo White to review the serious matters raised by the committee.”
ESPN’s John Keim spoke with MP Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who was one of the signatories to the letter. He said: “Honestly, if you go through the allegations, it reads like a description of an organization outside of the Godfather and not an NFL football team. It really helps color the culture and impunity that other witnesses have described and the evidence of severe dysfunction.”
The committee sent the letter to the FTC to provide the information and documents necessary to determine whether the commanders violated laws enforced by the FTC. According to Friedman, Snyder and Washington could be in trouble.