COMMANDERS ALLEGEDLY HELD BACK TICKET REVENUE TO BE SHARED WITH OTHER NFL TEAMS
The U.S House Committee on Oversight and Reform has received information that alleges the Washington Commanders held back visiting NFL teams’ ticket revenue. As per Front Office Sports’ A.J Perez, the Commanders kept ticket revenue supposed to be shared with other NFL teams. At least one person gave information about the alleged ticketing scheme in recent weeks to Congressional investigators as per Front Office Sports.
According to NFL bylaws, all teams are required to pass along 40% of ticket sales from each home game – minus expenses like ticket handling charges and taxes – to the league, which then disburses the funds to visiting teams.
The NFL and the Commanders learned about the allegations in recent weeks.
This confirms reports by The Washington Post on Thursday that the House Oversight Committee was expanding the scope of its investigation beyond allegations of the team fostering a hostile workplace environment to include an examination into potential financial improprieties of the team and owner Dan Snyder. FOS’ A.J Perez reported on Thursday that investigators are now “exploring whether the Commanders used ‘two books’ of financial information that paint different pictures of the team’s money situation.”
The Commanders have categorically denied any suggestion of financial impropriety “of any kind” to both FOS and The Washington Post, saying, “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.”
Ticket sales are the only part of local revenues that have to be shared among NFL owners. Teams don’t share other revenues – from parking to local sponsorship deals – with other teams. Ticket sales therefore not only impact other teams but also the players as ticket revenue is factored into overall league revenue that is used to come up with each year’s salary cap.
The salary cap dipped in 2021 for the first time since its implementation in 1994 largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic that limited fan attendance during the 2020 season. The cap is set at $208.2million in 2022, an increase of $25.7million.
The most recent data available for a season not impacted by the pandemic revealed the Green Bay Packers earned $77million in ticket sales in 2019. The Packers are the only publicly-owned team in the NFL and publicly publish their accounts. The Washington Commanders reported the second-lowest attendance in the NFL in the 2021 season.
The House Oversight Committee is also seeking information as to whether the debt load undertaken by Snyder when he moved to purchase the remaining 40.5 percent of the team in the spring of 2021 could be impacting the team’s finances, according to Front Office Sports.
Snyder bought out the minority stake owners of the team in March of last year for a total stake sale of $950million, a figure that is $50million higher than a figure the minority owners accepted when they attempted to sell to a California-based investment group in late 2020. The NFL approved Snyder’s request to exceed the debt limit by granting a $450million debt waiver that was used to fund the deal.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero