National Football League

Commanders owner Daniel Snyder exploring potential sale of team

Updated Nov. 2, 2022 6:14 p.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

Fans of the troubled Washington Commanders franchise serenaded ownership with chants of "Sell the team!" at their last home game two weeks ago.

Now it seems they might soon get their wish.           

Franchise owner Daniel Snyder has hired Bank of America Securities to explore a potential sale of the franchise, the organization announced Wednesday. A press release from the team said the move was "to consider potential transactions".

But when asked whether that meant selling the entire franchise or just a piece of it, a team spokesman told FOX Sports, "We are exploring all options."

That in itself is enormous news, considering that the 57-year-old Snyder has been consistently defiant about selling the franchise, even in the wake of pressure from Congress, fans and fellow NFL owners. Just two weeks ago, when Colts owner Jim Irsay said "there's merit to remove" Snyder as owner given all the unseemly allegations against him, the Commanders responded with a fiery statement that ended with this line:

"We are confident that, when he has an opportunity to see the actual evidence in his case, Mr. Irsay will conclude that there is no reason for the Snyders to consider selling the franchise. And they won't." 

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Whether Snyder will actually go through with this process and sell remains to be seen. Hiring a bank to consider options is only the first step in a very long process. It could also turn out to be a public-relations move to help get some of the pressure from other owners off his back.

But it's still a big step for the Snyders, who have owned the franchise since they bought it for $800 million back in 1999. And it's a step many around the NFL have been eagerly anticipating for years.

That's because Snyder's tenure has been overwhelmed by a series of controversies centering around allegations of sexual misconduct throughout the organization and a toxic workplace culture that he is said to have created. Snyder is currently the subject of several legal investigations and has been the target of multiple damning reports about his behavior and business practices.

Meanwhile, he runs a franchise with just six winning seasons in the 23 years since he bought it. He also owns a 25-year-old stadium that is considered to be one of the NFL's worst, and given his reputation he appears to have little chance of finding a partner for a new stadium deal.

Given all of that — especially the allegations against him — some believe there is support among NFL owners for forcing Snyder to sell, which would require 24 of the other 31 owners to vote to take that unprecedented step. Instead, Snyder is apparently being proactive. And the sale could be huge. Forbes, which broke the story of Snyder hiring the bank, recently valued the Commanders franchise at $5.6 billion.

Considering the Denver Broncos sold last summer for $4.65 billion, Snyder could easily end up getting $6 billion or more for the Commanders. That would be an 800% return on his initial investment, at least, though Snyder did spend an additional $875 million to buy out three minority owners in his franchise last March.

While the Commanders didn't refute the idea Snyder was investigating a full sale of the team — not just a possible sale of a minority stake — they weren't providing any more information Wednesday. And the statement about how they will "consider potential transactions" was unsurprisingly vague.

"The Snyders remain committed to the team, all of its employees and its countless fans to putting the best product on the field," the statement read, "and continuing the work to set the gold standard for workplaces in the NFL."

So it's unclear how serious Snyder is and whether he's being pressured by other owners, or simply feeling the pressure of the many investigations, some of which are expected to be concluded relatively soon.

The big one is the investigation by Congress — one his lawyers called "a politically inspired hatchet job" in a letter to the House Oversight Committee last month. The NFL has since hired former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Jo White to conduct another investigation into all the allegations around Snyder, and has promised to provide a written report both publicly and to the House.

Meanwhile, there are also investigations by attorneys general in Washington, D.C. and Virginia about alleged financial improprieties by the organization. Snyder has been accused of underreporting ticket sales in part to ease their tax burden, though the organization has denied it. And ESPN reported on Wednesday that the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia has opened a federal criminal investigation into those allegations, too.

And that's only the latest. Two years ago, the Washington Post broke the news that more than a dozen female employees in the organization alleged they were sexually harassed, some saying that Snyder was personally involved. That led to the team, and then the NFL, retaining attorney Beth Wilkinson for a supposedly independent investigation.

The NFL refused to release details of Wilkinson's report, but fined the team $10 million as a result of what they found and announced that Snyder would step away from day-to-day operations for a while, leaving his wife, Tanya, in control. Snyder has been more of a presence around the Commanders lately, though the NFL has insisted Tanya Snyder is still in charge.

And that was all capped by a recent, damning ESPN report that claimed Snyder had hired private investigators to look into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other NFL owners to find "dirt" he could use if they ever tried to vote him out. Snyder, in a letter to NFL owners, blasted the report, saying it was "patently false and intended to erode the trust and goodwill between owners that I take quite seriously."

Still, it all has been too much for many owners, which is why Irsay, at the league meetings in New York two weeks ago, called the controversies swirling around Snyder "gravely concerning" and said that removing him "is something that has to be given serious consideration."

It would take the burden off the NFL's shoulders if Snyder has decided to remove himself instead.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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