May 23, 2022
NFL Owners are reportedly fed up with Daniel Snyder and "counting votes" on a forced sale of the Washington Commanders franchise, according to USA Today's Jarrett Bell.
Snyder has been at the center of numerous scandals involving the team, the latest being an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Virginia that alleges the organization withheld ticket revenue from the rest of the league.
“There’s growing frustration about the Washington situation and not over one issue, but over how much smoke there is,” an anonymous owner told Bell. “I think everybody’s getting tired of it.”
A former Washington sales executive blew the whistle on the organization's alleged financial misconduct last month, claiming that it used "two sets of books" to underreport its ticket revenue to the NFL.
But that isn't even the beginning of Washington's problems.
Snyder long refused to drop the team's original name, despite it being an obvious offense to Native Americans, and only moved to change it once sponsors threatened to cut ties.
The organization came under investigation after The Washington Post exposed a toxic work environment and multiple cases of sexual harassment in 2020, which was followed up by another report that detailed further exploitation of the team's cheerleaders by Snyder and other higher-ups.
The NFL fined Washington $10 million for its workplace misconduct last July, and a settlement was reached with the former cheerleaders a few months before.
Snyder also handed off day-to-day operations of the organization to his wife Tanya following the fine but remains involved.
And he's hardly in the clear.
“For the first time, there’s been chatter,” another anonymous owner told Bell of the alleged underreported revenue. “We should really think about doing something if they find something there."
“If that happened, I think that’s the nail in the coffin,” a third owner was quoted in the report.
It's highly cynical that money might be what finally forces Snyder out, but this is where things appear to be at.
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