To Predict Dan Snyder’s NFL Fate, Hire A Private Investigator To Follow The Money

When Jim Irsay, the flawed Indianapolis Colts owner, told a roomful of reporters at the National Football League’s fall meetings Tuesday that he and the other team owners might give “serious consideration” to jettisoning Dan Snyder, it was like he stood at the top of a mountain and dislodged a single boulder that might soon turn into an avalanche.

Snyder, as even the most casual fan of American sports must know by now, has never been a particular favorite of, well, just about anyone. He bought what was then the Washington Redskins for a record $800 million in 1999; today, Forbes ranks the team, now the Commanders, the sixth-most-valuable NFL franchise, worth $5.6 billion. Despite the rosy economics, controversy has dogged the franchise for what seems like forever, including the protracted dispute over its racist nickname and now the multiple allegations of years and years of sexual harassment and a poisonous work environment, the latest charge coming as recently as February. The allegations have been denied by Snyder but acknowledged by the NFL, which fined the team $10 million last year. Snyder has also been accused of hiring investigators to dig up dirt on his fellow owners, so he could use the information against them if they tried to oust him. Snyder has denied those reports, too.

Now a league probe on the Commanders’ toxic workplace and alleged financial fraud, headed by former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White, is expected to become public – perhaps between now and the next NFL meetings in March, giving enough time for the boulder that Irsay shoved down the mountain this week to grow into a wave that will bury his fellow team owner.

“I think once owners talk amongst each other, they’ll arrive at the right decision,” Irsay said Tuesday. He’s the first in the star chamber of NFL owners to say the quiet part out loud: In his humble opinion, Snyder must go.

Two issues remain: What would convince 24 of the 32 owners, the number needed to make the decision, to bounce one of their own, and what form would Snyder’s banishment take?

The answer to the first part is a variation on the Watergate-era expression “follow the money.” FedExFDX
, which holds naming rights to the team’s stadium, was instrumental in forcing the franchise to drop its outrageous nickname post-George Floyd after years of refusals from Snyder. In August 2022, ticket platform SeatGeek struck a deal with the Commanders that Forbes estimates is worth $10 million to $12 million annually. Also, sports merchandise company Fanatics has a 10-year deal with the Commanders. Those brands could feel pressure in their wallets from the public that motivates them to close ranks against Snyder.

There are also ongoing negotiations between the Commanders and local governments over committing taxpayer funding to a new football stadium. If Snyder becomes too radioactive, which may have already happened, his presence as team owner could make a deal impossible to hammer out. And that could spoil Commanders team president Jason Wright’s plan for attacking the racial wealth gap.

“It’s highly unlikely that a public legislator would vote to help fund a new stadium for Dan Snyder with public money,” said Charles Grantham, director of the sports management program at Seton Hall University. “It’s not going to happen.”

The NFL could paint Snyder’s ouster as a moral decision — Irsay has already talked about protecting the reputation of the NFL “shield” — but it would primarily be an economic one. The wild card is that NFL bylaws give Commissioner Roger Goodell the power to ban Snyder from any NFL stadium for conduct detrimental to the best interests of the league, skipping an owners’ vote entirely. But that might set an unpleasant precedent. The owners are Goodell’s bosses, after all.

As part of the NFL’s 2021 punishment, Dan Snyder was supposed to step aside from daily management of the team and give that job to his wife, Tanya Snyder. She’s vowed not to sell the team. Irsay’s mention on Tuesday of former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo hinted at how the Snyder family could remain at the helm of the Commanders even after a damning investigation. DeBartolo gave up control of the team in 2000 after being indicted for a felony for his role in a gambling scandal. The Niners went to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, and the team remains in the DeBartolo family, now run by Denise’s son, Jed York, the 49ers’ CEO. There’s early speculation within NFL circles that owners would favor Tanya Snyder taking complete control of the franchise. However, that outcome might not be supportable. As unsavory as Snyder’s tenure as Commanders’ owner has been, he’s never pleaded guilty to a federal crime.

But times have changed, and Irsay is saying that the NFL needs to change, too.

Consider what unfolded in the National Basketball Association over the last year with Robert Sarver.

In November 2021, the Phoenix Suns owner was accused of racism and misogyny. Almost a year later, the NBA fined and suspended Sarver and publicly released the results of a probe into his behavior. The details were bad enough that social media erupted in backlash against him. NBA players and a Suns minority owner called for Sarver’s removal, and PayPalPYPL
, a top sponsor, threatened to end its financial relationship with the team. Sarver, who’d once insisted that he’d never sell, recently put the team on the block.

Snyder could likely face the same fate – selling his sports franchise. Irsay reminded fellow NFL owners they have the authority to eliminate him — no private investigator required.