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Taylor Swift isn’t the only one fumbling ticket sales.
The Washington Commanders agreed to pay a $620,000 settlement after the Washington D.C. attorney general accused the NFL organization of roughing fans by failing to return ticket deposits.
Necessary Roughness
This has been a long time coming for the football team previously known as the Washington Football Team. Former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sued the team in November, alleging that since 1996, the Commanders front office had been cheating season ticket holders out of their deposits.
While fans who paid deposits were supposed to get their money back within 30 days, Racine’s lawsuit alleges the team “intentionally complicated the return process by imposing extra, burdensome conditions that were not previously adequately disclosed” — and then pocketed the cash:
- The majority of the settlement won’t actually go toward refunding fans. In fact, the people who still root for the Commanders will get just $200,000, while $425,000 will be paid to the District for legal fees and costs associated with the investigation. The team is also required to make the refund process more transparent on its website.
- Washington has certainly seen its share of penalty flags. Last year, the House Oversight and Reform Committee filed a report on sexual misconduct in the team’s office. The investigation was laborious and the organization was not forthcoming. Lawmakers said co-owner Daniel Snyder, who was among those accused of sexual misconduct, provided “misleading testimony” and interfered with the investigation.
Who’s gonna buy that? Neverending scandals are not the best look for an organization that’s looking to sell. Earlier this year, Snyder announced plans to sell a majority stake in the team, and the prospective buyers include private equity billionaires Mitchell Rales and Josh Harris, HBCU GO owner Byron Allen, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Whoever the new owner is, they’ll not only have to rehaul the front office and snuff out misconduct but also try to keep the Commanders from being the worst team in the NFC East.