The Commanders need a new radio station.
Audacy, owner of Washington’s flagship radio station The Team 980 AM, announced it will no longer broadcast Commanders games during the NFL season.
“(The organization and the company) disagreed on the value of the broadcasts [and] it is also very important for us as a sports talk station, even as a long-time flagship station for the team, it was important for us to continue to be able to provide honest, objective information and analysis about the [Commanders] on our talk shows,” Washington-based radio host Kevin Sheehan said on Wednesday.
Sheehan also implied the station’s fair coverage of the team played a role in this decision.
“It was important for us to be able to continue to provide what we provide on our talk shows which is honest, objective analysis about the team,” he said.
In response, a Washington team spokesman explained that the team is the one who decided to move on.
“We shared with Audacy last week that we would not be moving forward as partners,” the statement said. “We're very excited about our new radio broadcast partner, who we will be announcing soon, and anticipate this being the largest radio deal in the team's history.”
Washington owner Daniel Snyder had owned the radio station until 2018, when he sold it to Audacy for “a reported massive loss.”
This is only the latest business partnership breakdown for Washington, as the team has had an issue retaining business partners over the past few years. Yesterday, Anheuser-Busch decided not to renew its sponsorship deal with the team, the third time a corporation pulled its sponsorship with Washington in the past year.
This all comes after The Washington Post reported 15 women accused the team of allowing sexual harassment within the workplace. The Post also reported a former senior executive had employees film videos of partially naked cheerleaders behind the scenes of a 2008 swimsuit calendar photoshoot.
In October, legislators in the Committee on Oversight and Reform asked Roger Goddell for “documents and communications” related to the team in its investigation. In return, the NFL answered all questions pertaining to the investigation without providing specific documents. In February, six former employees met with the committee to discuss sexual harassment allegations.
The NFL is reportedly still investigating Snyder, having retained U.S. attorney and ex-Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to lead the investigation.
Snyder has since denied allegations against him and the team.
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