Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine’s office is suing the Washington Commanders for allegedly cheating ticketholders out of their deposits, the latest update in the district’s investigation into the football team for allegations of financial misconduct.
Racine announced the lawsuit on Thursday via Twitter, which accuses the Commanders of violating and misrepresenting the district’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
“Today, we are filing a new lawsuit against the Commanders — this time for cheating District season ticket holders out of their deposits,” Racine wrote. “Commanders executives seem determined to lie, cheat, and steal from DC residents in as many ways as possible. We’re holding them accountable.”
Today, we are filing a new lawsuit against the Commanders—this time for cheating District season ticket holders out of their deposits.
Commanders executives seem determined to lie, cheat, and steal from DC residents in as many ways as possible. We’re holding them accountable.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) November 17, 2022
Racine announced in April that his office would investigate whether the Commanders engaged in a “troubling pattern of financial conduct” after a former employee alleged the team withheld security deposits and hid money meant to be distributed throughout the NFL. That investigation coincided with a separate inquiry from Virginia’s attorney general reviewing the same allegations.
The lawsuit is the latest blow to the Commanders and its owner, Daniel Snyder, who has been the subject of several investigations by the D.C. Attorney’s General Office for accusations of fostering a hostile work environment and committing financial impropriety — with the office collecting more than half a million pages of documents since the fall of 2021.
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Racine’s office filed a lawsuit against Synder, the Commanders, the NFL, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Nov. 1, accusing them of repeatedly lying and denying knowing anything about instances of alleged sexual misconduct or harassment.
The financial misconduct investigation was opened after the team allegedly retained nearly $5 million in security deposits for up to 2,000 customers since 2016 and hid money meant to be distributed to the 32 NFL teams, according to a 20-page report released in April by Jason Friedman, former vice president of sales and customer service for the franchise.
All teams are required to give 40% of their net home ticket sales to the league to be distributed to the rest of the teams, according to NFL policy. However, the Commanders kept “two sets of books” for record-keeping: one that was given to the NFL with “underreported” ticket revenue and one that was kept in-house with accurate information, Friedman said.
The scam was accomplished by falsely documenting some ticket sales as coming from a Navy-Notre Dame college football game that was hosted at the Commanders’ stadium or by charging $55 for a ticket that was listed as only costing $44, the former employee told Congress.
Reports about possible financial misconduct emerged in late March from a separate investigation looking into more than 650,000 internal emails that some former employees claim showcase racist and misogynistic comments. The House Oversight Committee later referred the incident to the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether the team violated the law.
The Commanders have maintained they have committed no wrongdoing. With the House now set to be under Republican control in January, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said the investigation will end next year.
“It’s over,” Comer said in a brief statement per the Washington Post.
While the investigation has not officially ended, per a committee spokesperson, Snyder’s lawyers released a statement praising the committee for its decision to drop the case.
“We applaud Representative Comer for his leadership in putting an end to the investigation into a private company, which has been correctly characterized by sitting members of Congress as a ‘farce’ and ‘an abuse of power,’” attorneys John Brownlee and Stuart Nash wrote in the statement.
Snyder has been under intense scrutiny over the last few years, facing multiple allegations that he has fostered a toxic work environment. Snyder was fined $10 million by the NFL last year on charges that he maintained an unwelcome workplace, and the House Oversight Committee led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) later opened a subsequent investigation into allegations that the Commanders’ workplace tolerated misconduct against its employees.
That investigation was opened following a roundtable on Feb. 3, when several former employees detailed sexual harassment, abuse, and other workplace misconduct by top team officials, including Snyder.
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The latest development comes at a crucial time for the Commanders as Snyder considers selling the team, announcing earlier this month that he had hired Bank of America to “consider potential transactions” regarding team ownership. Calls for Snyder to sell the team have come from fans and those outside the organization for decades amid the team’s constant mediocre performance under his ownership.
The team was valued at $5.6 billion by Forbes in its 2022 NFL valuations, ranking sixth out of the 32 NFL teams. The most recent NFL team sale was the Denver Broncos, which was purchased by Walmart heir Rob Walton in June for $4.65 billion.
