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The NFL and the Washington Commanders appear to be painting themselves into a corner based on the latest round of allegations.
Rather than cut bait and just sever all ties to Commanders owner Daniel Snyder as by all indications it appears they should have done, the NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell seem to have done everything they can over the past several years to drag out and obfuscate the facts regarding the alleged misbehavior of the Washington football team owner.
On Tuesday, ESPN published a bombshell report which implicates Roger Goodell in alleged bank fraud committed by Daniel Snyder in securing a $55 million loan.
Multiple sources have told ESPN that the $55 million loan was illegally secured without the knowledge and required approval of Daniel Snyder’s minority partners, and Roger Goodell was allegedly aware of this happening.
That loan, ESPN reports, “has become a primary focus of federal prosecutors in Virginia who are investigating allegations of financial misconduct by Snyder and the Washington Commanders.”
Loans and lines of credit obtained without the approval of Washington’s board of directors violate the team’s shareholder agreement, according to the documents. The documents also show Bank of America officials asked team executives repeatedly for proof that the board had approved the loan. But the team executives never turned over a copy of the board approval before the loan closed, and one team lawyer later acknowledged in a letter that the board approval doesn’t exist, documents show.
Four days after the partners pressed the NFL arbitrator to seek proof that the loan was legally obtained, the documents show, the NFL moved to shut down arbitration proceedings. The partners begrudgingly agreed to mediation, led by Goodell, sources familiar with the matter told ESPN. The mediation resulted in the partners selling their shares, and it silenced their complaints against Snyder, the sources said. The NFL never conducted the partners’ requested investigation of the loan, and the league levied no sanctions against Snyder related to the allegations of financial misconduct.
“Goodell knew about the loan, but the partners didn’t,” said a source with firsthand knowledge of Daniel Snyder’s financial transaction.
“Three billionaires — not a few whistleblowers — alleged to the NFL arbitrator that their partner had possibly committed bank fraud,” the source told ESPN. “This is jail time type of fraud. The NFL owes them as much of a fair shake as it owes Snyder. And the league had no interest in finding out what happened. They buried it and didn’t investigate it and covered it up.”
Daniel Snyder’s former partners also alleged that he was using the team as his “personal piggy bank.” One example of this was Snyder allegedly charging the Commanders $4.5 million to put the team logo on his private jet.
The report also states that in order to buy out his three partners’ 40% share for a total of $875 million, Daniel Snyder had to take out a $450 million from Bank of America. To do so, Snyder needed the NFL’s permission and received it, by a 32-0 vote of team owners, and was granted a new debt-limit waiver.