Dan Snyder Hires Bank of America to Sell Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders’ owners Dan and Tanya Snyder announced on Wednesday that they have hired Bank of America Securities to consider potential transactions around selling the team.

This comes not long after Indianapolis Colts’ owner Jim Irsay made public comments about potentially removing Snyder’s ownership of the Commanders at the NFL League Meetings earlier this month.

"We have to look at all the evidence, and we have to be thoroughgoing forward," Irsay said. "But I think [removal as owner] is something that has to be given serious consideration. I believe it's in the best interest of the National Football League that we look it squarely in the eye and deal with it."

The Commanders quickly responded to Irsay's comments saying there would be no reason for the Snyders to sell the team. However, it appears that might change.

"It is highly inappropriate, but not surprising, that Mr. Irsay opted to make statements publicly based on falsehoods in the media," a Commanders spokesperson said. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Irsay decided to go public with his statement today, while an investigation is in process, and the team has had no opportunity to formally respond to allegations. The Commanders have made remarkable progress over the past two years. 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."

The pressure on Snyder to sell the team comes from a litany of accusations surrounding his time as owner of the team. The most recent accusation alleges Snyder has "dirt" on different NFL owners and has hired independent investigation firms to look into high-ranking league executives including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, ESPN reported.

In February, Snyder was accused of sexually harassing female subordinates for years and having secret lewd videos made of cheerleaders by six former Commanders' employees during a House Oversight Committee roundtable on toxic workplace culture, NBC News reported.

These accusations started in 2020 when the Washington Post released a report detailing several of the incidents described to the committee.

Former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White was hired by the NFL to conduct a new investigation into the allegations, however, there is no timetable for when the investigation will be finished, NFL Media reported. The NFL's first investigation ended with the Commanders being fined $10 million dollars.

Besides the allegations of workplace sexual harassment, the committee's investigation of the Commanders lead them to send a 20-page letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying the Commanders might've misappropriated fans’ money, and misrepresented revenue, The Washington Post reported.

"Snyder may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League,” the committee wrote in the statement.

On Wednesday The U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Snyder might have engaged in illegal financial activities, according to ESPN.

Snyder is being investigated by Attorney's General in Virginia and Washington D.C. for similar allegations of financial impropriety.

As for selling the team, it's unclear whether Snyder is looking to add a minority stakeholder or sell his share of the franchise.

Forbes values the Commanders at $5.6 billion.