The Washington Commanders might have changed their name to start a new identity, but allegations that imply they’re a poorly run and purposefully shady organization just keep coming.
We found out last week that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform was looking into allegations of financial improprieties. Now, A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.come is reporting that the committee received information alleging that the Commanders held onto ticket revenue that they should have been shared with other NFL teams.
BREAKING: The House Oversight Committee has received info alleging the Washington Commanders used a scheme to hold back ticket revenue from the NFL, sources tell @byajperez.
The Commanders allegedly did not pass along the required 40% share of ticket sales to visiting teams.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 3, 2022
NFL bylaws state that every team is required to pass along 40% of ticket sales from every home game, minus ticket handling fees and taxes, to the league, who then shares the aggregate funds with visiting opponents. Per FOS, a person gave information to the committee recently that alleges the team failed to pass along the full 40%.
Neither the league nor the Commanders responded to FOS for comment.
These allegations feel like par for the course with the many other allegations that have been levied against Dan Snyder’s organization.
The committee in question was already looking into the NFL franchise over the NFL’s handling of widespread sexual harassment allegations against the team, which was deemed secretive and inadequate.
The NFL is also in the midst of a second investigation into harassment claims against Snyder and the organization. The initial investigation ended with the team being fined $10 million and the announcement that Tanya Snyder, Dan’s wife, would take over day-to-day operations for an unspecified time. However, the league did not release the findings or ask for a written report of what the investigation uncovered, causing many to wonder if it was purposefully trying to shield Snyder and the league from further scrutiny.
Meanwhile, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week that Dan Snyder remains uninvolved with the franchise, multiple reports have come forward showing that he is, in fact, still making decisions for the Commanders and is heavily involved in decision-making.
The reaction to the news of fresh allegations certainly got a lot of NFL folks talking on social media, with some noting that allegedly attempting to steal money from other billionaires might end up being the thing that actually gets him run out of the league.
Oh wow man for the Commanders that's gotta be like, $12 extra they pocketed https://t.co/cvaIftglWh
— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) April 3, 2022
lmao if this is true this is basically the precise variety of malfeasance that would force the league to make him sell https://t.co/ze8R22RwwR
— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) April 3, 2022
The ultimate in humor for me here would be the NFL forcing Snyder to sell the team to a new owner who then promptly renames the team or some thing on affiliated with old ownership. https://t.co/lcTcflKt1y
— Kane "The Conqueror" Webb (@FightOnTwist) April 3, 2022
1. That's a lot of visiting fans' money
2. Is this organization not in the news every week for doing something wrong? https://t.co/sjHgiFW3a4— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) April 3, 2022
This might be the thing that gets Daniel Snyder finally outta here https://t.co/JSAZ7T5tCU
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) April 3, 2022
While we wait to see how these latest allegations will play out, we also have to wonder what kind of new allegations against Snyder and the Commanders will come out next week too.
