Washington Commanders might have engaged in 'unlawful' financial conduct, Congress alleges to FTC
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Loading... - Elsie Fisher
- 13 Apr 2022
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The House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday that it has reason to believe the Washington Commanders and owner Daniel Snyder might have withheld or concealed ticket revenue and related funds as part of "a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct."
In a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, the committee said that as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace culture within the Commanders' organization, it obtained evidence that the team might have underreported some of its ticket revenue to the NFL. A portion of ticket revenue is pooled among NFL teams as part of the league's revenue-sharing agreement.
The committee also informed the FTC, which investigates deceptive business practices, that the team might have intentionally withheld "approximately $5 million" in refundable ticket deposits that it owed to fans and corporations.
"This new information suggests that in addition to fostering a hostile workplace culture, Mr. Snyder also may have cheated the team’s fans and the NFL," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
"While the focus of our investigation remains the Commanders’ toxic work environment, I hope the FTC will review this troubling financial conduct and determine whether further action is necessary. We must have accountability."
In response to a request for comment, Commanders spokesperson referred USA TODAY Sports to the statement it released in late March, in which it categorically denied "any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time."
"We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL," the team said. "We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work."
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the league is also cooperating and has turned over more than 210,000 pages of documents to the committee.
"The NFL has engaged former [Securities and Exchange Commission] chair Mary Jo White to review the serious matters raised by the committee," McCarthy said.
In its letter, which spans 19 pages and was first reported by The Washington Post, the House Oversight Committee details how it received information about the alleged financial misconduct from Jason Friedman, a former sales executive who spent 24 years with the Commanders. Read More…
