Report: Letter to FTC details financial misconduct by Washington Commanders

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform detailed allegations of financial misconduct from former Washington Commanders vice president of sales Jason Friedman, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Friedman claimed in the 20-page letter that the Commanders kept two sets of books while withholding more than $5 million worth of refundable security deposits from ticket holders.

According to the letter, the Commanders failed to inform all leaseholders of a change made after 2000 no longer requiring security deposits for new club seat lease agreements. Friedman said some customers forgot about the deposits or, in the case of corporate accounts, took over without knowing about the refund. This resulted in unreturned deposits for more than 2,000 accounts, which team officials intentionally misallocated as revenue that they brazenly referred to as “juice.”

The financial malpractice even extended to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who had an unreturned deposit of $1,000 for two season tickets that was collected in 2006 prior to him becoming the league commissioner.

“Given the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to investigate unfair or deceptive business practices, we are providing the information and documents uncovered by the Committee for your review, to determine if the Commanders violated any provision of law enforced by FTC and whether further action is warranted,” the committee’s letter read. “We request that you take any other action you deem necessary to ensure that all funds are returned to their rightful owners and that those responsible are held accountable for their conduct.”

The financial misconduct was discovered in the midst of a separate investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct in the Washington Commanders work environment. The franchise has denied any wrongdoing in both cases, even going as far as to accuse Friedman of committing perjury for his comments despite him providing “multiple documents” to prove his claims. That led to Friedman’s attorney, Lisa Banks, to call out the Commanders for defaming her client.

“It’s clear that the team’s misconduct goes well beyond the sexual harassment and abuse of employees already documented and has also impacted the bottom line of the NFL, other NFL owners, and the team’s fans,” Banks said.

But complicating the Commanders’ argument is that Friedman wasn’t the only former team employee to come forward. Rachel Engleson, the team’s former director of marketing and client relations, wrote to the committee that “it was known and/or rumored in the office that there was ‘moving around’ of money regarding tickets,” according to the letter.

The NFL has yet to comment on the recent letter to the FTC, as its investigations into the Commanders organization is still ongoing. However, one telling aspect of all the allegations is that Commanders owner was not at the recent meeting between league owners in March, with his wife taking his place instead. With that in mind, it seems a likely possibility that severe punishment is coming in the near future.