Commanders' Dan Snyder Has 'Dirt' On NFL Owners, Won't Be Voted Out Next Week: Report

ASHBURN, VA — Washington Commanders' owner Dan Snyder has "dirt" on other NFL owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell that would thwart any move to force Snyder to sell the embattled team, according to a new report from ESPN.

The ESPN report comes less than a week before the NFL's league meeting in New York. Another recent report from the Washington Post claimed that other team owners are considering removing Snyder from the league.

The once-storied franchise now draws fewer fans than any other NFL team, last won a playoff game after the 2005 season, and its last Super Bowl win and appearance was in January 1992 after the 1991 season.

Snyder is embroiled in several controversies. The franchise is being investigated by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform after the NFL found that Snyder fostered a hostile workplace culture ripe with sexual harassment. In April, the committee said it was also investigating whether the franchise withheld ticket profits that are supposed to be shared with other league members. In June, new details emerged about a sexual assault allegation against Snyder.

"They can't f--- with me," Snyder has told associates, according to ESPN. The report claimed that Snyder hired private investigators to research other owners. Snyder believes he has enough information to "blow up" the league's status quo, the report says.

However, lawyers representing the Washington franchise denied the allegations. On Thursday, a Washington Commanders spokesperson also denied the claims. "It’s hard to imagine a piece that is more categorically untrue, and is clearly part of a well-funded, two-year misinformation campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful," the spokesperson told Patch.

ESPN claimed that Snyder described the NFL as a mafia. "All the owners hate each other," he said.

"That's not true," an unnamed owner told ESPN. "All the owners hate Dan."

See also: Commanders Owner Dan Snyder Could Be Ousted By NFL Owners

The NFL owners are scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday at the fall league meetings in New York City. Snyder's wife, Tanya Snyder, will represent the franchise at the meetings.

Dan Snyder has not represented the franchise at official functions since he was fined $10 million after a 2021 NFL investigation into the organization's workplace culture.

Read more: Washington Football Team Fined $10M After NFL Investigation

The NFL's investigation was conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson, whose firm interviewed more than 150 employees of the team, primarily current, but also former, workers. The NFL has not published the completed report.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform said earlier this year that Dan Snyder started a shadow investigation against employees who spoke negatively about the team.

"In addition to deploying private investigators, Mr. Snyder abused the subpoena power of federal courts to obtain private emails, call logs, and communications in an effort to uncover the sources of the Washington Post's exposés, undermine their credibility, and impugn their motives," a memo from Rep. Carolyn Maloney said. "Lawyers for Mr. Snyder used their shadow investigation to create a 100-slide dossier with emails, text messages, telephone records, and social media posts from journalists, victims, and witnesses who had made credible public accusations of harassment against the Commanders."

The committee's final report is still pending.

See also: Commanders Owner Dan Snyder Accused Of Sexual Assault

Other NFL owners told ESPN that Snyder's threats of "dirt" are an attempt to protect his position in the league. Snyder could be removed as team owner by a vote of 24 of the 31 other owners.

"He's backed into a corner," one owner told ESPN. "He's behaving like a mad dog cornered."

"I think there will be a movement,” another owner told the Washington Post. “He needs to sell. Some of us need to go to him and tell him that he needs to sell."

The Associated Press reported that the NFL owners do not plan to vote on removing Snyder at next week's meetings.

After next week's event in New York, owners are scheduled to meet on Dec. 13 and 14 in Texas and from March 26 to March 29, 2023 in Arizona.

In recent years, the Washington franchise has seen steadily decreasing ticket sales. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the franchise had a waitlist for season ticket sales. In 2022, the team ranks last out of 32 teams in average attendance at home games. At FedEx Field, 14 percent of tickets remain unclaimed when the Commanders play.

In a recent ranking of 30 NFL stadiums, USA Today's Bet For The Win placed FedEx field at the bottom. "Look, there’s no way around this. FedEx Field is awful. It’s literally falling apart," Caroline Darney wrote. "Remember when a railing gave way back in January and sent a handful of Philly fans tumbling at the feet of Jalen Hurts?”

Despite its last-place ranking, FedEx Field also has the most expensive beer of any NFL stadium, according to a recent survey of beer prices by ESPN. The average beer costs $14.

The Commanders are looking to move away from 25-year-old FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Earlier this year, the Commanders spent $100 million on 200 acres near the Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge, according to ESPN and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Read more: Commanders Buy Land For Preferred Stadium Site In NoVA

However, a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would have used public money to help pay for a football stadium failed.

State Sen. Bryce Reeves, a Republican from Fredericksburg, said in a tweet that the stadium bills never should have been considered. "The Washington Commanders stadium deal should have been dead on arrival from the start," Reeves said. "I voted no on this back in January. Dan Snyder doesn’t need our tax subsidies and gov't funded stadiums have proven to benefit the rich and not the average hard working Virginian."

The franchise has not officially announced any future plans to build a new stadium in D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. The team's contract to play games at FedEx Field expires in 2026.