Comment on this story
comment
Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder and his attorneys have requested that other NFL franchise owners and the league release him from future legal liability and costs if he sells his team, two people with direct knowledge of the inner workings of the NFL said and the attitudes of the owners.
Snyder’s demands, which include a threat of lawsuit if the indemnity condition is not met, have angered some owners and revived discussion about the possibility of removing him from Commanders ownership if he doesn’t sell the franchise, the people said , who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject and the legal threat.
“He wants compensation if he sells,” said one of those people, adding that the owners consider the claim “ridiculous” and “absurd” and believe Snyder should give the other owners legal compensation for any legal claims that may result from it and the actions of the team.
Owners would “definitely” move to a vote to remove Snyder from his team’s ownership if he doesn’t sell the franchise, this person said. Such a vote would require the support of at least three quarters of the owners. The other person who confirmed Snyder’s claims added that the dispute “could get messy.”
Commanders declined to comment Monday night.
Tilman Fertitta is involved in tendering for commanders
Snyder is also asking the NFL to keep confidential the findings of the ongoing investigation being conducted by attorney Mary Jo White, one of those with knowledge of the situation said. The NFL has announced that the results of White’s investigation will be released. It is the league’s second investigation into the team’s workplace and Snyder.
The NFL declined to comment.
According to one of the people with knowledge of the situation, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is trying to negotiate a peace deal that would see Snyder sell the Commanders and leave the NFL without further acrimony. Jones has long been considered Snyder’s closest ally among his co-owners. The Cowboys did not respond to a request from Jones for comment.
Tensions rise between Snyder and the league and other owners as Snyder entertains bids for his team. Potential buyers include Josh Harris, owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils; Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets; and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post.
Harris has visited the commanders’ training facility in Ashburn, two people familiar with the situation said this month. Fertitta has made a bid for the team, estimated at just over $5.5 billion, and is said to have visited the training facility, two people with knowledge of the matter said Saturday. Bezos has hired a New York investment firm, Allen & Company, to evaluate a possible bid, two people familiar with the consultancy said last week.
Snyder is “locking out” Bezos in the sale process up to this point, a person familiar with the situation said, confirming reports from the New York Post and the Athletic. Snyder has dismissed “any effort” by Bezos to go forward with the team’s purchase, according to this person, who said Snyder was acting “out of defiance” of Bezos’ ownership of The Post. It’s not clear whether Snyder’s actions represent a final decision or a pose as part of a negotiating strategy.
Commanders said in November that Snyder and his wife Tanya, the team’s co-CEO, had hired Bank of America Securities to review potential transactions for the franchise. The team hasn’t said if the Snyders are looking to sell some or all of the franchise, which Forbes values at an estimated $5.6 billion. The Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion last year, a record price for an NFL franchise.
Jeff Bezos hires an investment firm to review an offer for Commanders
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was upset by Daniel Snyder’s compensation claim, according to one of those familiar with the matter. The league and owners are willing to legally fight Snyder if necessary, this person said, but would prefer Jones to convince Snyder to accept a record price for his team and leave the league without a court confrontation. The owners believe any vote they could take to remove Snyder would survive a legal challenge, according to this person.
“It only seems to be getting worse. … If you want to sue, fine,” said that person. “If you want to fight, we will fight. … [But] Hopefully, in the long run, he’ll realize that just talking to him isn’t the way to go.
When asked what Snyder and his attorneys are seeking indemnification against, the person said, “literally everything.”
A third person with knowledge of the owners’ views said Snyder’s request was offensive but not surprising. Snyder “stands a better chance” of keeping the results of White’s investigation out of the public eye than getting the owners to agree to compensate him, this person said, while adding that neither should be allowed.
In March 2021, NFL owners approved a waiver that allowed Snyder to borrow $450 million above the league’s debt ceiling so he could resolve a dispute with his three co-owners by buying their combined 40 percent stake. Given that placement — which at least one owner now regrets, according to a person with knowledge of the matter — the owners likely won’t bow to Snyder’s current demand for terms on the franchise’s sale.
The owners recently settled their internal dispute over another compensation issue. They voted unanimously in October to ratify a proposal to split payment of the NFL’s $790 million settlement with St. Louis in 2021 to settle the city’s litigation over the Rams’ move to Los Angeles in the to be settled in 2016. Rams owner Stan Kroenke apparently agreed to pay the settlement and legal fees, less the approximately $7.5 million per team that the league had withheld from the other 31 franchises up to that point to contribute to the total.
A vote to remove an owner would be unprecedented. Jerry Richardson sold the Carolina Panthers to David Tepper in 2018 following an NFL investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct. This investigation, also conducted by White, concluded that there was no information to discredit the claims made against Richardson. The NFL fined Richardson $2.75 million.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said in October that he and his co-owners should seriously consider a vote to remove Snyder from ownership, which would require the approval of at least three-quarters of the owners. Several owners told the Post in September that they believed serious consideration was being given to ousting Snyder from the ranks of owners, either by persuading him to sell it or by voting to remove him.
White’s investigation was launched in February 2022 after Tiffani Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing manager for the team, told a congressional roundtable that Snyder molested her at a team dinner, placing his hand on her thigh and pushing her toward his limousine . Snyder denied the allegations, calling the allegations leveled directly against him “outright lies.”
The Post reported in 2020 that the team paid a former employee $1.6 million as part of a confidential settlement in 2009 after the woman accused Snyder of sexual misconduct. Snyder denied the woman’s allegations, and a team investigation accused her of fabricating her claims as part of an extortion attempt. But Snyder and the team eventually agreed to pay her a seven-figure sum as part of a settlement in which she agreed not to sue or make public her allegations.
Following an earlier investigation into the team’s workplace by attorney Beth Wilkinson, the NFL announced in July 2021 that the team had been fined $10 million and that Tanya Snyder was assuming responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the franchise would take over.
The team and Daniel Snyder are also under investigation by federal agencies in the Eastern District of Virginia. The federal investigation involves multiple agencies and is focused on allegations of financial irregularities involving the team, according to people familiar with the situation.
The allegations of financial irregularities originally surfaced as part of the Democrat-led investigation by the House Oversight and Reform Committee into the team’s workplace. The commanders have denied any financial wrongdoing.
Democratic leaders on the committee wrote in a 20-page letter in April that the commanders and Snyder “may have been engaged in a disturbing, prolonged, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct” allegedly involving withholdings of up to $5 million of eligible funds included deposits from season ticket holders and also hiding money to be shared among NFL owners. The team has at all times denied committing any financial irregularities and has described the committee’s actions as politically motivated.
The office of Karl A. Racine, then DC’s Democratic Attorney General, filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the Commanders, Snyder, the NFL and Goodell in November, accusing them of deceiving clients about an investigation into the team’s workplace and misleading around its fan base in pursuit of revenue. The team and the NFL denied the allegations, and the team’s attorneys said the lawsuit “repeats many innuendoes, half-truths and lies.”
Racine’s office this month filed a second lawsuit against the commanders over refundable deposits allegedly not returned by the team to district season ticket holders. Commanders said a review by an outside law firm “found no evidence that the team intentionally withheld security deposits that should have been returned to customers, or that the team failed to properly convert unclaimed deposits into revenue.” Since then, Racine has been succeeded as Washington Attorney General by Brian L. Schwalb (D).
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) announced in November that his office’s consumer protection division reached a settlement with commanders over allegations that the team withheld security deposits from ticket holders. The team paid a $250,000 fine as part of a settlement in which it did not admit the allegations. The settlement required commanders to return any deposits not yet returned to consumers.