Commanders Accused of Financial Crimes

The NFL’s Washington Commanders may have engaged in unlawful financial conduct, including concealing ticket revenue and failing to refund season-ticket holder security deposits, according to a letter from the House Oversight Committee to the FTC requesting further investigation.

🏈 A deeper dive… NFL teams must give 40% of their home ticket sales to the league, which then distributes it to the other 31 teams (revenue sharing).

• The Commanders’ former VP of sales, Jason Friedman, testified to Congress that the team had two sets of books – one for the NFL, which underreported certain revenue, and another which had the accurate numbers.
• He also claimed the Commanders held onto nearly $5 million in security deposits for thousands of season-ticket holders since 2016, directing employees to “establish roadblocks” to prevent fans from being refunded.
• A Washington spokesperson said the team "categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time.”

🔎 Zoom out: Commanders owner Dan Snyder (☝️) has been the subject of several recent investigations by the NFL and federal lawmakers. The House committee’s probe actually began last year with questions regarding the lack of transparency over an NFL-led investigation into sexual harassment and workplace misconduct inside the franchise, which resulted in a $10 million fine.

• And then earlier this year, a former employee described a new allegation of sexual harassment against Snyder in front of Congress, prompting the NFL to launch another investigation into the incident. Snyder has denied any wrongdoing.