A New Start! (the Reboot) The Front Office, Ownership, & Coaching Staff Thread

[lavar1156]

 

[Skinsinparadise]

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 through 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.

The allegations of financial improprieties came to light as the committee reviewed documents and interviewed witnesses in its inquiry of the team’s workplace and the NFL’s handling of the matter. The team has broadly denied such allegations, and the oversight committee has not verified them beyond the evidence presented in the letter.

 

“Given the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to investigate unfair or deceptive business practices, we are providing the information and documents uncovered by the Committee for your review, to determine if the Commanders violated any provision of law enforced by FTC and whether further action is warranted,” the committee’s letter says. “We request that you take any other action you deem necessary to ensure that all funds are returned to their rightful owners and that those responsible are held accountable for their conduct.”

The Commanders did not respond immediately to a request for response to news of Tuesday’s letter. Earlier this month, the team said it had committed no financial improprieties.

“The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time,” the Commanders said in a statement then. “We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”

 

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

 

 

[MisterPinstripe]

Maybe it will be like Capone, the only way to get rid of Snyder is if there are financial issues they can attack. 

[Rocky21]

The gun is smoking. 😀

[Conn]

Holy ****. If his own unending greed is what cooks his golden goose it will be such poetic justice 

 

this feels…real and serious 

[JamesMadisonSkins]

Enter: Jeff Bezos

[Skinsinparadise]

For the local media the hip default position is Dan is untouchable -- and outside of him being found as the mastermind of some James Bond villain evil masterplot to blow up the world, the owners will always have his back no matter what line he crosses.

 

At some point it gets beyond ridiculous.  All the organized efforts to oust Dan IMO should be redirected to put pressure on the fellow owners.  Make them feel the heat for protecting him IMO.   

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Renegade7]

5 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

For the local media the hip default position is Dan is untouchable -- and outside of him being found as the mastermind of some James Bond villain evil masterplot to blow up the world, the owners will always have his back no matter what line he crosses.

 

Unless government determines he actually broke the law, enter FTC today.  That should change things.

 

5 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

At some point it gets beyond ridiculous.  All the organized efforts to oust Dan IMO should be redirected to put pressure on the fellow owners.  Make them feel the heat for protecting him IMO.   

 

I want to agree with you, but considering attempts fans have made already, I'm not sure they will have nearly the impact on out of market franchises.  Boycott their sponsors? Many of then are local to the franchise, they won't take us seriously. Not go to the games or buy their merchandise? See where I'm going with this? 

 

I'm all ears on how to come after other owners jus saying it would have to be completely different than what's been done so far against Snyder.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Renegade7

[Skinsinparadise]

7 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

 

Unless government determines he actually broke the law, enter FTC today.  That should change things.

 

 

Even if they don't, the NFL can vote to remove him.  Why?  Forgetting everything else, seems like he purposely withheld money from the rest of the league.

 

I don't have much hope that he gets caught for something illegal but hope the NFL owners find its one thing to destroy a marquee franchise and run a terrible culture which hurt people -- its another for Dan to defraud his fellow owners for money.

 

7 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

 

I'm all ears on how to come after other owners jus saying it would have to be completely different than what's been done so far against Snyder.

 

I got to think about it.  But my first thought is emails-communications directed at fellow owners.  I get the vibe that other owners feel they can do whatever they want relating to protecting another owner because the angst is directed 100% on the bad owner.  Wonder how they'd feel if they directly got some heat?

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Mr. Sinister]

I feel sick. John Riggins' "Dark heart" comment from yrs ago feels so tame nowadays

[Skinsinparadise]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

I feel sick. John Riggins' "Dark heart" comment from yrs ago feels so tame nowadays

 

Yep.  Dark heart, sleazy, grossly incompetent, delusional, totally classless.

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Renegade7]

@Skinsinparadise I've mentioned this before in another thread, but owners are clearly balancing potential lost revenue (as opposed to literally costing them money) versus keeping an incompetent owner in place they don't have to compete for championships with.

 

There's no doubt there's more support in our fan base for a possible Bezos ownership then there would be among the other owners.  This is bigger then money lost or missing for them, they're all billionaires mot hurting for money.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Renegade7

[profusion]

So, you own a business that's already a cash cow and a continually appreciating asset. Why on Earth would you jeopardize that with this kind of tiddlywinks fraud? 

 

In other words, it feels perfectly on-brand for Snyder and his reign of error.

[Gurgeh]

2 minutes ago, profusion said:

So, you own a business that's already a cash cow and a continually appreciating asset. Why on Earth would you jeopardize that with this kind of tiddlywinks fraud? 

 

In other words, it feels perfectly on-brand for Snyder and his reign of error.

 

There's several reasons why:

 

• Some people never think they are going to be caught, because of their stupidity and/or arrogance.
• Some people can't resist getting one up on their "rivals", thereby proving to themselves they are the smartest guy in the room
• Greedy people are never rich enough. They could own yachts, planes, and a dozen mansions and they'll still want more.

 

[CommanderCarson]

4 minutes ago, profusion said:

So, you own a business that's already a cash cow and a continually appreciating asset. Why on Earth would you jeopardize that with this kind of tiddlywinks fraud? 

 

In other words, it feels perfectly on-brand for Snyder and his reign of error.

Which is why I very much doubt the validity of it.

 

Tbh it feels like a bunch of scratching and clawing to take him down and throwing a bunch of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

 

I agree with @Voice_of_Reason, at this point it feels like a lot of these things that coming out are further hindrances to Ron and the organization moving on from the past and portraying a new positive culture that they are trying desperately to instill. It just becomes a dark cloud for all of the coaches and players currently here trying to change the tide and makes attractive FAs hesitant and unlikely to want to come here. 
 

If there actually is wrongdoing and he’s ousted I’ll be celebrating along with everyone else, but I just don’t buy it.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

Here’s an example of how the “juice” practice allegedly worked. Friedman told the Committee that he “falsely processed” $162,360 in Commanders ticket revenue as arising from a Navy-Notre Dame game at FedEx Field. The team’s former chief financial officer, Steven Choi, allegedly directed Friedman to do it this way, in a May 6, 2014 email.

 

That's easy for Snyder to defend: "Mr. Choi is no longer employed by the team, so this problem has been fixed." Same way scumbags like Larry Allen and Alex Santos escaped any consequences for the cheerleader video.

 

However...if the false season ticket waiting list thing was a scam, then it certainly makes La Femina's firing more suspect.

Edited April 12, 2022 by BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen

[Spaceman Spiff]

I have my hopes up way, way, too high right now.  

 

EDIT:  Nevermind, it's the essentially the same thing covered in the WaPo article posted above.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Spaceman Spiff

[Conn]

18 minutes ago, CommanderCarson said:

Which is why I very much doubt the validity of it.

 

Tbh it feels like a bunch of scratching and clawing to take him down and throwing a bunch of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

 

I agree with @Voice_of_Reason, at this point it feels like a lot of these things that coming out are further hindrances to Ron and the organization moving on from the past and portraying a new positive culture that they are trying desperately to instill. It just becomes a dark cloud for all of the coaches and players currently here trying to change the tide and makes attractive FAs hesitant and unlikely to want to come here. 
 

If there actually is wrongdoing and he’s ousted I’ll be celebrating along with everyone else, but I just don’t buy it.

I know we’re all cynics here and we are skeptical of congressional effectiveness because of *gesticulates wildly at everything in the world* but it’s just bizarre to read this post after we found out an hour ago that the House Oversight Committee is referring this to the FTC, with specific accusations, and they say they have documentation. I understand protecting our hearts and not getting our hopes up but come ON. Doesn’t mean it goes anywhere that helps us as fans get rid of him as an NFL owner (although it looks more realistic than ever) but this is very clearly a real story.  

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[No Nonsense]

I just got the notification. There’s smoke. 

[Skinsinparadise]

As for why would Dan skim money when he's already making so much?  He's the same dude who sued an old lady who couldn't afford her season tickets among others.  Same dude that served cheap food in the team's cafeteria which wasn't that healthy and Shanny had to tell him this had to change.   

 

They went for a faze where they barely messed with upgrading the grass at fedex field because it was too expensive.  The facilities are third rate compared to the rest of the NFL.  On and on.  Being cheap and finding ways to add to the bottom line fits the Dan ammo as opposed to being an outlier.  

 

One of the cheapest scouting staffs for a long time, lost out on an assistant coaches that Jay wanted to keep because of hundreds of thousand dollars, supposedly wanted to keep Haz once Shanny was fired because he wanted to save some money by keeping that defensive staff. 

 

Heck part of the drill on the investigation for sexual harassment was this team compared to other teams they had a bare bones human resources staff. 

 

So saving hundreds of thousands of dollars or a million here and there is kind of how he rolls. 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Bifflog]

5 minutes ago, Conn said:

I know we’re all cynics here and we are skeptical of congressional effectiveness because of *gesticulates wildly at everything in the world* but it’s just bizarre to read this post after we found out an hour ago that the House Oversight Committee is referring this to the FTC, with specific accusations, and they say they have documentation. I understand protecting our hearts and not getting our hopes up but come ON. Doesn’t mean it goes anywhere that helps us as fans get rid of him as an NFL owner (although it looks more realistic than ever) but this is very clearly a real story.  

 

The real issue to me is I have seen plenty of evidence of Snyder's bad behavior, and zero evidence the actual League cares, and they're the only ones who can really touch him.  I haven't seen even a single indication of anything other than unwavering support, and straight up lying about his involvement in the team and the League itself during his faux suspension.  That's going to have to change for me to get excited (and, for that matter, it's a tipping point.  IF it ever starts going that way, it's time to celebrate, because it won't stop.  He either has the League with him, or not.  Right now they still seem with him to me.)

[JamesMadisonSkins]

 

[actorguy1]

Politically I don't think this is going anywhere. Legally, it could take years to see any charges actually brought up. It all comes down to the other owners. Are enough of them willing to vote him to sell? Retribution from Snyder would be fierce, including revealing impropriety from other owners. Can't get my hopes up until an actual report from an NFL investigation coberates these details from the over site committee.