The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform sent an explosive letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserting that the Commanders and team owner Dan 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.” The Washington Post was the first to report the news.
Using testimony from former Washington sales executive Jason Friedman, the 20-page letter sent to Sports Illustrated cites instances of of the team withholding customers’ security deposits on premium seating and using the money for other purposes. The alleged misappropriation of funds totaled “approximately $5 million” from “around 2,000 accounts” that should have been returned to customers. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s name corresponds with an apparent customer who was not refunded their security deposit, according to a spreadsheet provided by Friedman detailing customers’ unpaid credit.
The letter, sent by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.) chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, also states that ticket revenue that should have been shared with the NFL was falsely processed by Washington. Documents obtained by the committee allege that the team underreported ticket revenue and would, at times, falsely claim that a portion of ticket revenue came from special events instead of Commanders games.
