Washington Commanders Rips Off Fans, NFL, Congress Tells FTC

Washington Commanders Business Practices Overview:

• Who: The congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential crimes committed by the Washington Commanders NFL team.
• Why: The committee investigated the team itself and says it has found evidence of “concerning business practices,” including withholding fans’ deposits and underreporting ticket sales to the NFL.
• Where: The team is based in Washington, D.C.

Congress says it has uncovered evidence that the Washington Commanders NFL team has been ripping off thousands of fans by withholding security deposits while also underreporting ticket sales to the league.

In a letter sent to the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Apr. 12, members of the congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform presented evidence of “concerning business practices” uncovered by the committee during an ongoing investigation into workplace misconduct at the team.

According to the letter, senior executives and the team’s owner, Daniel Snyder, “may have engaged in a long-running and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League.”

The investigation found that, for over a decade, Commanders executives may have withheld millions of dollars in refundable security deposits owed to customers upon the expiration of their multiyear seat leases and may have taken steps to prevent customers from collecting these deposits. 

According to a former team executive, the Commanders “failed to properly refund those security deposits intentionally and took various steps to retain as much of that money as possible,” the letter states. 

As of 2016, the team may have retained up to $5 million in deposits from approximately 2,000 customers, Congress says.

Washington Commanders Evidence Includes Two Sets of Books

Meanwhile, information and documents obtained by the committee also suggest that the Commanders concealed revenues that were owed to the NFL as part of a revenue-sharing agreement that redistributes revenues to 32 teams in the league and helps set salaries for the league’s football players, the letter states. 

According to a former executive, the team maintained “two sets of books”— one that was shared with the NFL but underreported certain ticket revenue and another internal set of books that included the complete and accurate revenue.

Another former team employee informed the committee that “it was known and/or rumored in the office that there was ‘moving around’ of money regarding tickets” and said she told an outside investigator hired by the Washington Commanders about this issue in 2020.

Documents indicate that the revenue gained by the team through these practices was known internally as “juice,” the letter states.

Congress said it was providing the information to the FTC to determine if the Commanders had broken any law enforced by the commission.

“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 said. 

Meanwhile, it’s been an eventful year on and off the field for the NFL. Top Class Actions decided to look at lawsuits involving the NFL that made the biggest impact in the news over the last several years. Click here for more. 

What do you think of the allegations about the Commanders’ business practices in this letter? Let us know in the comments! 

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