Why was Dan Snyder slammed with a huge $60m fine?

After months of speculation, Dan Snyder is finally out as the owner of the Washington Commanders NFL franchise. On his way out he has been slapped with a huge fine, but why? Let’s take a look at the lurid accusations behind Snyder’s Washington exit.

As Snyder leaves NFL ownership behind, the league is forcing him to pay a whopping $60,000,000 fine. This includes £27,000,000 in legal fees, according to Pro Football Talk with the remaining 33 million to be distributed elsewhere. Quite where this money is headed is not exactly clear.

There is no shortage of controversies around Dan Snyder, but after a lengthy investigation by the NFL, the league concluded Snyder had sexually assaulted and employee and had paid the NFL the correct amount in revenue.

After accusations surfaced around Snyder’s inappropriate conduct with his own staff, the NFL employed Mary Jo White, a former District Attorney, to investigate Snyder.

With the controversies around his ownership ongoing, Snyder decided to sell the Washington NFL franchise back in 2022.

Dan Snyder was accused by Tiffani Johnston, who worked in marketing for the Commanders, of touching her leg and trying to force himself on her both during and after a work dinner.

Johnston’s claims were backed up by Jason Friedman who was serving as a Vice President in the Commanders organisation at the time.

Jason Friedman was also behind the accusations of revenue hiding. The NFL operates a revenue-sharing system, with around 40% of gameday income given to the NFL which is evenly distributed. Friedman alleged Snyder had worked to hide around $11,000,000 from the league in a deliberate attempt to keep the Commanders’ financial obligations lower.

After Friedman went public with his claims, the Commanders’ legal team released public statements calling Friedman, “a liar, accusing him of committing the federal crime of perjury,” according to Friedman’s attorney.

As a result of the Commander’s response, Friedman is reportedly suffering, “from severe anxiety and depression, will require ongoing medical treatment, and has been unable to find a comparable job due to the Team’s deliberate and malicious destruction of his reputation.” Per his attorney.

Friedman and his attorney are seeking over $7,500,000 in damages as restitution for the Commanders’ actions. The Commanders’ legal team, however, has stated, “We believe this complaint is completely without merit, and we will vigorously defend the team against these false allegations”

This is not the first time Snyder has been fined for his inappropriate actions, with a report from back in 2021 stating he, and his organization, were being fined $10,000,000 for the hostile working environment he had created in Washington.

This fine came off the back of a case filed by the District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine. In this suit, Racine alleges many incidents of sexual harassment taking place, especially towards the team’s cheerleaders.

Many of the accusations follow similar patterns, female employees were harassed or propositioned by powerful employees within the organization, and when they reported the incident was told to,”'stay away from the coach.' or, in other cases, to stay away from Snyder himself.

Amongst this lawsuit were also claims Snyder bullied male employees too, with multiple incidents reported of the ex-Commander owner questioning their sexual orientation if they didn’t fit Snyder’s very narrow view of what a ‘man’ should be.

After years of lawsuits and months of speculation, the Commanders were sold to Josh Harris back in May 2023. The sale was confirmed unanimously by the other 31 team owners, with Harris now at the head of the organization. The good news is Snyder is gone, the bad news is he sold the team for over $6 billion, leaving him wealthier than ever.