Open Letter to Dan Snyder

[nightbird]

It's all just too depressing to think about sometimes.

 

The guy made a fortune not by building a great company, but basically as a superb bilko artist.

 

Now he is in charge of the team we all grew up with.

 

He took generations of good will -- and a franchise generally regarded as among the classiest in sports -- and just pissed it all away.

 

Is there any reason to cling to hope?

 

Well, we could win in spite of him.  It's possible.  Some teams have gotten some lucky breaks and built contenders despite terrible ownership.

 

Beyond that, I don't know.  Maybe there's a 1% chance he sells the team.  Something freaky happens in the markets and he finds himself in financial trouble.  Or some rogue federal prosecutor goes after him on something. 

 

Do you know what the worst part of it is?  I know for a fact he doesn't give a crap about me.  He treats fans with contempt.  The World Cup beer, the airline peanuts, the lawsuits against ticket holders . . . I take those all as insults.

 

Do you remember how the fans cared about JKC?  That zany old guy was beloved! 

 

I don't see how Snyder could walk through his own stadium's parking lot without having a beer chucked on him. 

 

Not that he'd care -- one of his security goons would take the hit for him and shuffle him on out of there.

 

Is he at all embarrased when he sits in his suite with his "friends" watching a half-full stadium of people boo his crappy team? 

 

Such a disaster, and like a lot in my family, I've had most of the passion beaten out of my system by now.  They will always be my team, but it just does not feel the same to watch them.

[KDawg]

I mean, I know you saw my tweet earlier during the game.

 

I would trade this current team for an expansion team in a second.

 

EDIT:  Maybe it was KDawg who tweeted something similar right after I did, not you lol

Ironically enough, I saw that AFTER I tweeted that. You know... great minds...

[DC9]

Ironically enough, I saw that AFTER I tweeted that. You know... great minds...

 

Maybe you hit me up through Osmosis

[skinsmarydu]

Good post, nightbird. My mom skates on the edge of Steelers/Ravens, so I know how you feel. So far, I've been somewhat successful in keeping her from defecting, but I wonder if it's worth the effort anymore. I'm trying to stay out of the duldrums myself, but it gets really hard after games like Sunday. The only thing I'm hanging onto right now is that I know the team doesn't want to suck.

[GibbsFactor]

I'm starting a petition, that most will deem complete blasphemy, to get the Redskins name changed to the Red Coats, to get Dan Snyder deported, and to send the team to London.

 

 

The NFL can take one of those lesser franchises like the Jags, Titans or Eagles and move them to DC with a new patriotic name. 

[zoony]

seriously, I said it in another thread, but you KNOW that Sunday night was one of those late night crown royal-fueled idea session of Dan and his inner circle spitballing ideas on how to throw the hail mary play to save the franchise

 

can't wait to see the fruits of that tree.  His compulsions have always worked out well for the franchise

 

Wouldn't you love to be the NSA with access to Jay and Jon's phone conversations?  Jon worked for Al Davis, I bet they talk daily.

[skins4eva]

 

Is he at all embarrased when he sits in his suite with his "friends" watching a half-full stadium of people boo his crappy team? 

 

Such a disaster, and like a lot in my family, I've had most of the passion beaten out of my system by now.  They will always be my team, but it just does not feel the same to watch them.

 

Great post.  I agree with everything in it.  I quoted the following because it's really the only thing I think about at this point.  To try and think rationally about Snyder is to try and think rationally about a completely irrational actor.  If Snyder were a rational actor, he would understand that much of the value embedded in a sports franchise is predicated on goodwill.  Goodwill is an intangible asset but it has some very tangible implications in the real world.  The most notable implication is that it can be squandered.  How long does it take to squander the goodwill embedded in franchise with a long and storied history?  15 years.  I believe we have reached the tipping point with this franchise.  15 years of watching this owner in action is enough to lead people to the last two sentences in your post above.  Once that apathy kicks in, the decent will be rapid and accelerate unless a significant amount of force is used to move the inertia.  In the context of a football team, that force is winning and building a successful organization.  Two things that I damn well guarantee you will never happen under current ownership.  

 

The only, and I mean the only cause for a sliver of residual hope is the question you posed above.  What does it feel like for a guy like Dan to watch games in empty stadiums, populated mostly by the fans of opposing teams?  I don't know the answer to that.  No one does.  But, my hope, as I mentioned earlier in this thread is that he will come to the realization that he's much better as a fan with an economic interest than as an owner with unchecked power.  He should sell a controlling stake in the team to a consortium of buyers or a buyer willing to hire the right people to set up, and run a successful organization.  He can retain the economics and monetize his most precious asset.  If he doesn't, sooner or later, the value of this franchise will plummet.  The generational connections that we all have with this team will fade, and the value embedded in the goodwill will disappear entirely.  Time is not on his side.

[nightbird]

What does it feel like for a guy like Dan to watch games in empty stadiums, populated mostly by the fans of opposing teams?  I don't know the answer to that.  No one does.  But, my hope, as I mentioned earlier in this thread is that he will come to the realization that he's much better as a fan with an economic interest than as an owner with unchecked power.  He should sell a controlling stake in the team to a consortium of buyers or a buyer willing to hire the right people to set up, and run a successful organization.  He can retain the economics and monetize his most precious asset.  If he doesn't, sooner or later, the value of this franchise will plummet.  The generational connections that we all have with this team will fade, and the value embedded in the goodwill will disappear entirely.  Time is not on his side.

 

Thanks.  I hope you are right, and I hope the results show up some day before I completely check out.

 

I think he owns 65% at this point.  I think he lost his investments in six flags and johnny rockets.  who knows if it will ever become financially necessary for him to sell off a bunch more shares.

 

He is a parasite who has sucked up decades of tradition and continues to leech off the carcass of a loyal fan base.

 

Bless all you people who still go to the games and support our guys, the way I used to and the way my father and his father did before me.  I can't do it.  Feel like the village needs to be destroyed in order to be saved.

[jpage520]

My memory is escaping me here, but has Dan ever had to buy out seats to avoid a blackout? I think we can all agree that as fans the only real way that we can truly send a message to him is through his wallet. It's a very bittersweet feeling for me to turn on a home game and see thousands of empty seats or other team colors. But deep down I know it's kind of a good thing because it sends the message that we're sick of this crap.

 

I'm not very well versed in the rules of the blackout and I know there was recently a ruling that overturned it I believe from the FCC but not the league? Only reason I bring it up is I feel like the time he has to decide whether to eat millions buying seats for no one to avoid not being shown on TV or face losing ratings might be the first sign we get of some true change. It speaks volumes about an owner and his regime when what is nationally considered one of the most loyal and dedicated fanbases in the NFL is so fed up they won't fill enough seats to get the team on TV in its local market. Mix that in with the whole "Waiting List" BS and all of his prior issues and the media ****storm would be so insane I think he would have no choice but to do SOMETHING different.

[GoldSkinner]

Dear, Dan,

 

You don't know football and you don't know how to run a football team. You have conveniently hijacked a beloved organization while it was in its down-years and gutted it until every ounce of real football legitimacy it had was gone forever, transforming it to a commercial and glamorized abomination that barely meets the minimum requirements of what constitutes a football club. You're a loser, and the fact that you're scared to show your face in public or present yourself to the fans who'd undoubtedly boo you as the Nats fans did to GWB demonstrates the type of pu**y you are as an owner and a human being. Go **** yourself, Dan.

[GoSkins0721]

It has just sucked the football life out of me. I got to miss the entire game Sunday as I was traveling for work. I didn't care. Again. Another Sunday, another day of not watching a Redskins game (or other NFL games). 

 

And the worst part is they aren't even lovable losers like the Cubs. They've become that desperate, clingy girlfriend who's gained 60 pounds and won't take the hint you can't stand her.

 

Dan: Just sell it, please, for the sake of all the fans, just ****ing sell it. 

 

 

[ConcordNCSkinsFan]

A dozen goofball RG3 threads and hardly anyone is talking about Snyder right now. He consistently remains the core issue but these Fans raised in the Fantasy Football Generation continue to think that plug and play at QB will solve the problems on this team. 

[DM72]

C

A dozen goofball RG3 threads and hardly anyone is talking about Snyder right now. He consistently remains the core issue but these Fans raised in the Fantasy Football Generation continue to think that plug and play at QB will solve the problems on this team.

I once thought that Snyder wasn't as big a problem as many people thought. But I was dead wrong. This man is TOXIC. Gruden showed some backbone the other day by publicly criticizing RGIII and Snyder couldn't wait to rip the backbone right out of him.

I am ashamed of this team.

[HogsOfWar]

C

I once thought that Snyder wasn't as big a problem as many people thought. But I was dead wrong. This man is TOXIC. Gruden showed some backbone the other day by publicly criticizing RGIII and Snyder couldn't wait to rip the backbone right out of him.

I am ashamed of this team.

 

this

 

The worst thing about Snyder is not his desire to be a (bad) fantasy football GM. It's that he is a starstruck fan who just wants to pal around with the athletes. And that means that the coaches do not have the authority, the star players do. 

 

I've been off the Snyder bandwagon since he hired Gibbs. I love Gibbs, but the move was another offseason Superbowl.

[profusion]

I'm not very well versed in the rules of the blackout and I know there was recently a ruling that overturned it I believe from the FCC but not the league? Only reason I bring it up is I feel like the time he has to decide whether to eat millions buying seats for no one to avoid not being shown on TV or face losing ratings might be the first sign we get of some true change. It speaks volumes about an owner and his regime when what is nationally considered one of the most loyal and dedicated fanbases in the NFL is so fed up they won't fill enough seats to get the team on TV in its local market. Mix that in with the whole "Waiting List" BS and all of his prior issues and the media ****storm would be so insane I think he would have no choice but to do SOMETHING different.

 

As of this year, the FCC will no longer act to enforce the blackout rule. However, the rule is still part of the NFL's television contracts and can be enforced by the league and its broadcast partners contractually against local stations that refuse to go along.

 

Regardless, the league is currently set up in a way that protects bad owners from facing the consequences of their bad decisions. The NFL splits the revenue from its television contracts evenly, with no reference to how well individual teams perform in the ratings or in the stands. Revenue from licensed merchandise goes directly to the league and is also split evenly, with no relationship to how much merch any team is responsible for. Essentially, merchandising powerhouses like the Cowboys and Steelers subsidize sad sacks like the Jaguars (and increasingly, the Redskins).

 

In other words, FedEx Field could be completely empty on game day and not a single piece of Redskins-logoed crapola sold to anyone, and Snyder will get the exact same enormous check from the league every year.

 

Snyder's non-league sources of revenue are two-thirds of each ticket sale (the visitor gets a third), parking fees, stadium concessions, and local licensing deals ("Official Plumbing Supply Store of the Washington Redskins" and that sort of thing).

 

Don't go to the games and don't buy from the local sponsors (and make it known why), and you'll hit Snyder where it hurts...but he'll still be making a lot of money from the league that he adds almost nothing to.

 

Also, just let me add to the chorus of voices and say that the last 15 years have taken their toll on my love of the Redskins and even my interest in football generally. It's just increasingly hard to care anymore when you know that the management isn't going to improve anytime soon.

[Bishop Hammer]

I met this guy at a Ravens event and got to ask him a question about how the Ravens can get so many draft picks and Free Agents right but the Redskins can't.... All he did was laugh.... Then went on about how the Ravens would have never signed Haynesworth to a $100 billion contract.

The front office here sucks and has sucked for a long damn time. They thought it would be ok to trot an ESPN analyst on the field as our starting safety. And I see Phillip Thomas has been activated. He needs to start. If he looks like he can be ok then keep him, if not cut him. I'm tired of the bull crap.

It didn't take a genius to figure out signing Haynseworthless to a conctract was a bad idea. Hail that was on par with firing Marty for Steve Spurious.

[jpage520]

As of this year, the FCC will no longer act to enforce the blackout rule. However, the rule is still part of the NFL's television contracts and can be enforced by the league and its broadcast partners contractually against local stations that refuse to go along.

 

Regardless, the league is currently set up in a way that protects bad owners from facing the consequences of their bad decisions. The NFL splits the revenue from its television contracts evenly, with no reference to how well individual teams perform in the ratings or in the stands. Revenue from licensed merchandise goes directly to the league and is also split evenly, with no relationship to how much merch any team is responsible for. Essentially, merchandising powerhouses like the Cowboys and Steelers subsidize sad sacks like the Jaguars (and increasingly, the Redskins).

 

In other words, FedEx Field could be completely empty on game day and not a single piece of Redskins-logoed crapola sold to anyone, and Snyder will get the exact same enormous check from the league every year.

 

Snyder's non-league sources of revenue are two-thirds of each ticket sale (the visitor gets a third), parking fees, stadium concessions, and local licensing deals ("Official Plumbing Supply Store of the Washington Redskins" and that sort of thing).

 

Don't go to the games and don't buy from the local sponsors (and make it known why), and you'll hit Snyder where it hurts...but he'll still be making a lot of money from the league that he adds almost nothing to.

 

Also, just let me add to the chorus of voices and say that the last 15 years have taken their toll on my love of the Redskins and even my interest in football generally. It's just increasingly hard to care anymore when you know that the management isn't going to improve anytime soon.

 

Thanks for the clarification. That's a pretty sad reality. I had always figured that maybe the ratings and attendance had some kind of direct effect on him or other owners just because of the reports about some owners having to buy out the empty seats to avoid a blackout. Regardless it definitely makes me wonder. Would he even do that? Would he even bother to spend the money to keep the team on TV? Or would he just let it get blacked out?

That is, if the league even let the game be blacked out. But at the same time, at this point in the year it would definitely be possible. Too many division rivalries and races going on to not take our game off the air and show a more popular game.

[Nuwanda]

No offense, you just wasted your time with that thing.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Someone should organize some effigy burnings. Yup, nothing burns like an effigy.

[profusion]

Thanks for the clarification. That's a pretty sad reality. I had always figured that maybe the ratings and attendance had some kind of direct effect on him or other owners just because of the reports about some owners having to buy out the empty seats to avoid a blackout. Regardless it definitely makes me wonder. Would he even do that? Would he even bother to spend the money to keep the team on TV? Or would he just let it get blacked out?

That is, if the league even let the game be blacked out. But at the same time, at this point in the year it would definitely be possible. Too many division rivalries and races going on to not take our game off the air and show a more popular game.

 

This season's already "sold out"--the unsold premium seats don't count under NFL rules--so there won't be any blackouts this year even if the ticket holders all decide they have better things to do on any given Sunday. What matters is tickets sold, not actual attendance.

 

If people stop renewing their season tickets and there aren't replacement buyers, then yes, blackouts are an increasing possibility here. I don't believe the NFL would ever publicly pressure an NFL owner to buy up the unsold seats to prevent a blackout, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was behind-the-scenes pressure to do that.

 

Most of the regular "blackout cases" in the NFL these days are in smaller media markets like Tampa-St. Petersburg and Minneapolis-St. Paul, so the NFL's broadcast partners probably aren't going to kick up too much of a fuss about it. But put a major TV market like Washington DC out of commission on game day, and suddenly Fox and CBS are going to care a LOT more. They'd pressure the NFL to pressure Snyder, I'm quite sure. The NFL lives off its television deals, and anything that weakens their bargaining leverage with the networks will be dealt with, you can be sure of it.

 

Oh, and if a game is blacked out, the local station in that team's market doesn't get to choose a replacement. There's just no game shown at all in that time slot.

[jpage520]

No offense, you just wasted your time with that thing.

 

Clarification?

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Clarification?

I figured he was referring to the OP.

[jpage520]

Yeah. Probably so.

This season's already "sold out"--the unsold premium seats don't count under NFL rules--so there won't be any blackouts this year even if the ticket holders all decide they have better things to do on any given Sunday. What matters is tickets sold, not actual attendance.

 

If people stop renewing their season tickets and there aren't replacement buyers, then yes, blackouts are an increasing possibility here. I don't believe the NFL would ever publicly pressure an NFL owner to buy up the unsold seats to prevent a blackout, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was behind-the-scenes pressure to do that.

 

Most of the regular "blackout cases" in the NFL these days are in smaller media markets like Tampa-St. Petersburg and Minneapolis-St. Paul, so the NFL's broadcast partners probably aren't going to kick up too much of a fuss about it. But put a major TV market like Washington DC out of commission on game day, and suddenly Fox and CBS are going to care a LOT more. They'd pressure the NFL to pressure Snyder, I'm quite sure. The NFL lives off its television deals, and anything that weakens their bargaining leverage with the networks will be dealt with, you can be sure of it.

 

Oh, and if a game is blacked out, the local station in that team's market doesn't get to choose a replacement. There's just no game shown at all in that time slot.

 

 

Got it. That makes sense. Lol It sucks. But it makes sense.

[profusion]

The OP seems right-on to me, even if no one on the Redskins ever reads it. 

 

If you look at the regularly successful NFL franchises, one thing they all have in common is an organizational culture. Looking back, Snyder didn't just fire Casserly and Norv in his early tenure, but I recall that he basically fired everyone at Redskins Park from the janitors on up. There was no one left to connect to the winning culture that Edward Bennett Williams and Jack Kent Cooke built.

 

Now, if Snyder had been connected to the game of football and was a great all-around executive, he could have gotten away with doing that. The results obviously indicate otherwise. He knew absolutely nothing about the industry he'd just bought into, and yet he still acted like a bull in a china shop. He (and we) are still paying for that, and he still doesn't seem to have learned his lessons.

 

Steve Bisciotti up in Baltimore was humble enough to keep Art Modell around for awhile and learn the business before he took over operational control of the Ravens. The current generations of the Rooney and Mara/Tisch families literally grew up in the business.

 

Hell, Jack Kent Cooke wasn't a "football guy" either, but he spent decades in the sports business--starting at basically nothing when he bought a Canadian minor league baseball team in the '50s--before he acquired the Redskins. He didn't know football, but he knew the business.

 

If Snyder is actually interested in being a successful owner, I think he needs to find an established and successful NFL executive (not Bruce Allen) and hand over COMPLETE operational control. No dinners with the players no hanging out at Redskins Park, no meetings with the coaches, nothing. He needs to butt out and show up in the owner's suite on game day, that's it.

 

I'm not holding my breath on that one.

 

 

Got it. That makes sense. Lol It sucks. But it makes sense.

 

Yeah, it does suck.

 

Snyder may not be a great team owner, but you have to admit that he knew a great buying opportunity when he saw it. He makes huge piles of money off his business without having to have any actual competence or ability at running it.

 

Owning an NFL team is almost completely idiot-proof, and the Redskins are living proof of that.

[Birdlives]

I was going to make a thread, but I'm just going to post here and people can tear this post up.

 

I've been thinking about this for a while and I truly think Snyder is far more involved than the press would have you believe.

 

I think he was behind the McNabb trade and the RGIII trade.

 

One thing struck me when Shanahan was on the outs. It seemed a throw away line, but I think it was a clue that Snyder had been undermining his authority from day one.

 

Paraphrased, "Snyder only cares about the QB position."

 

I think Shanny covered up a bit for him in the beginning but blew it when he couldn't find his own QB which lead Snyder to go and force the RGIII trade. I think Shanny would've walked if fired, but wasn't going to quit and leave his son behind or that money on the table.

 

I think Snyder did pal up with RGIII and its cost the rest of the hierarchy below him the ability to run the team with any level of authority.

 

I think Snyder still doesn't understand the idea that you can't pal around with your employees without undermining your managers ability to manage.

 

I think Snyder has once again destroyed the thing he claims to love the most with his inability to understand how management structures work, the locker room culture, and his inability to stand aside for any reasonable amount of time and let people who have that experience get the job done.

 

Is a lot of this speculation? Yeah, it is, but there's a pattern there.

 

Snyder made a lot of money at a very young age and without an education. That's a very dangerous combination.

 

I think Snyder is a brilliant marketer and salesman, but cannot manage things to save his life. Unfortunately, I also think Snyder can't help himself and wants to run this team.

 

The worst part, is that the money issue has been taken out of the fans hands because the television deals prevent Snyder from ever losing money no matter how bad the franchise performs. See the Oakland Raiders.

 

I doubt things ever change and that's disheartening.