Congress details allegations of Commanders' 'unlawful' conduct to FTC

Source: Washington Post

Congress details allegations of Commanders’ ‘unlawful’ conduct to FTC

By Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala
Today at 12:00 p.m. EDT|Updated today at 7:15 p.m. EDT

The Washington Commanders and owner Daniel Snyder “may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct” that allegedly involved withholding as much as $5 million in refundable deposits from season ticket holders and also hiding money that was supposed to be shared among NFL owners, according to a letter sent from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday.

The 20-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, freshly details allegations made by Jason Friedman, a former vice president of sales and customer service who worked for the franchise for 24 years. The letter says Friedman told committee members the team maintained “two sets of books,” including one set of financial records used to underreport certain ticket revenue to the NFL. The letter cites documentation that the team’s financial improprieties may have extended to tickets registered in Commissioner Roger Goodell’s name. It references evidence that it says indicates the revenue gained by the team through these practices was known internally as “juice,” and it details allegations that the Commanders improperly attributed such revenue to being derived from a Navy-Notre Dame college football game at FedEx Field or a Kenny Chesney concert so that it wouldn’t be part of the NFL’s revenue-sharing pool.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/04/12/washington-commanders-dan-snyder-house-oversight-ftc/

Non-paywalled link: https://wapo.st/3uCy5Mj