Earlier this month, the Washington Commanders were accused of withholding ticket revenue from the NFL. The accusations stem from reports that the House Oversight and Reform Committee is investigating the Commanders for financial improprieties.
Tuesday, more details emerged of Congress’ investigation.
According to the Washington Post, the House Oversight and Reform Committee sent a 20-page letter to the Federal Trade Commission alleging the Commanders under owner Dan Snyder withheld as much as $5 million in refundable deposits from season-long subscribers.
“Washington may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that may have victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League,” the Committee wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “The Commanders may have intentionally withheld millions of dollars in refundable deposits owed to fans, and concealed revenues that were owed to the NFL as part of the League’s revenue-sharing agreement.”
The committee was tipped by former Commanders executive Jason Friedman, who testified to Washington did not properly surrender ticket revenue to the league’s visiting-team fund.
Friedman’s testimony set off a series of exchanges from the team’s lawyers and Friedman’s lawyer. The Commanders accused Friedman of committing purgary. Friedeman’s lawyer responded with allegations of defamation. The Commanders countered by welcoming a defamation lawsuit from Friedman.
“(Friedman) provided the Committee with information and documents indicating that the Commanders routinely withheld security deposits that should have been returned to customers who had purchased multiyear season tickets for specific seats, referred to as seat leases,” and that “team executives directed employees to establish roadblocks to prevent customers from obtaining the security deposits they were due — effectively allowing the team to retain that money.”
According to Friedman, Snyder and former Washington COO Mitch Gersham instructed him to find dormant accounts to convert credits that were transferred back to Washington. Those transfers were termed “juice.”
Among the many allegations recently against Snyder, Friedman’s may be the most damaging in the eyes of Congress and the other NFL owners and teams.
Withholding ticket revenue from the other 31 teams and cooking the books in a league that is built on revenue sharing, won’t be something the league’s leadership will tread lightly.
More so, Snyder’s ownership of the Commanders may be legitimately threatened if the FTC gets involved.
