The House Oversight Committee has released detailed allegations claiming that the NFL’s Washington Commanders engaged in “unlawful” financial dealings.
The allegations claim that Daniel Snyder, team owner of the former Washington Redskins, which recently changed names to the Washington Commanders, kept two sets of financial records, with one that supposedly underreported revenue so that Snyder could stiff the NFL, the players, and some season ticket holders.
The allegations have come before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday ordering the latter to look into the allegations.
Washington Commanders Owner Daniel Snyder (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The allegations were detailed in a letter penned by Jason Friedman, a former vice president of sales and customer service, who the Washington Post says worked for the team for 24 years.
Friedman alleges that the team underreported ticket revenue to the NFL and may even have registered some tickets under NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s name. The letter also claims that the team engaged in “juice” practices that improperly listed revenue earned by a Navy-Notre Dame college football game at FedEx Field or a Kenny Chesney concert so that the cash would not appear as part of the NFL’s revenue-sharing.
The House committee also sought confirmation from another former employee, Rachel Engleson, who was once the team’s marketing and client relations director. Engleson reportedly told the committee that “it was known and/or rumored in the office that there was ‘moving around’ of money regarding tickets.”
Friedman further alleged that the team never informed season ticket holders that they were no longer required to pay security deposits for their seats and then kept the money when ticket holders sent the payments that they didn’t have to make.
“So basically, the team is holding on to these security deposits, many of which should be back in the hands of the customers or former customers,” Friedman told the House committee.
Friedman also said that the unnecessary security deposit payments concerned more than 2,000 ticket holder accounts and may have totaled upwards of $5 million that the team failed to refund customers.
“Given the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to investigate unfair or deceptive business practices, we are providing the information and documents uncovered by the Committee for your review, to determine if the Commanders violated any provision of law enforced by FTC and whether further action is warranted,” the committee’s letter states. “We request that you take any other action you deem necessary to ensure that all funds are returned to their rightful owners and that those responsible are held accountable for their conduct.”
The Committee’s letter also added: “Evidence obtained by the Committee, including emails, documents, and statements from former employees, indicate senior executives and the team’s owner, Daniel Snyder, may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League (NFL).”
The team has not responded to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform letter but had spoken out earlier this month about allegations of financial impropriety.
“The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time,” the Commanders said in a statement. “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. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”
The team has also accused Friedman of “committing perjury” with his accusations.
The former Washington Redskins team has also been fighting claims that Snyder and crew fostered a hostile and abusive workplace. And in 2020, the NFL launched a major investigation of the charges. By the following year, the NFL had fined the team $10 million in connection with the sexual misconduct charges.
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