Another week, another scandal involving the Washington Commanders. This time things are a little bit different. Dan Snyder isn’t just accused of overseeing a toxic work culture that other NFL team owners can sweep under the rug. He is accused of hoarding money he owes them.
AJ Perez of Front Office Sports reported over the weekend that the Commanders organization is accused of withholding 40% of ticket revenues. That is money that is supposed to be given to the visiting team each week. Ian Rapoport was on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday and was asked if this was likely the beginning of the end of Snyder’s tenure as the team’s owner.
“If the other owners find out for sure, 100% sure, that Dan Snyder withheld profits from them, that would be very bad,” Rapoport said.
Pat McAfee asked if it were possible that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or a collection of other owners could point at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and say that is the guy they want to own the franchise in Washington. Bezos has seen his name thrown around to replace Snyder before.
“I do not get the sense he wants to be an owner,” Ian Rapaport answered. “I’m not saying he’s never going to be. He hasn’t been involved. He hasn’t shown anything that indicates he wants to be an owner.”
Rapoport noted that Jeff Bezos can make plenty of money off the NFL as the owner of Amazon, which is now home to Thursday Night Football. That would allow him to be part of the league without the headaches of team ownership.
“Amazon has a significant, significant place in the NFL with Thursday Night Football and we’ll see what else they do, but they’re certainly a really good partner now. I think he’s happy there.”
The accusations against Snyder came up during a congressional investigation of the Washington Commanders’ workplace culture. They have not yet been proven true.