As Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder awaits his $6 billion sale of the franchise to the Josh Harris-led group to be approved by the NFL, the findings from Mary Jo White’s report into the Commanders could follow shortly after.
After refusing to sell the team for more than a decade, Snyder announced an agreement in May to sell the team for over $6 billion to a group including Harris and NBA legend Magic Johnson. While the league isn’t expected to approve the sale at the next owners’ meeting, due to concerns over the number of people involved in the group, the deal is expected to eventually be approved.
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NFL owners have wanted Snyder out of the league for several years, in large part because of his effects on the league’s brand and how badly things have gotten for a once-storied franchise. Months after some owners considered forcing Snyder out of the league, the looming sale of the franchise provided a far easier alternative that avoids a legal battle with Snyder.
However, the billionaire owner has reportedly tried to use the sale as leverage with the NFL. Don Vantta Jr and Seth Wickersham of ESPN reported that Snyder lobbied the NFL to limit the release of findings from White’s investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and financial improprieties.
The NFL has never disclosed when the findings from the independent investigation would be released. However, there might now be an early timetable based on insight from an NFL reporter.
On the latest Yahoo Sports’ You Pod to Win the Game podcast, previewing minicamp, NFL insider Charles Robinson shared when he thinks the league could release the finding from the investigation.
“As far as the Mary Jo White report, July 1. I will bet you it will be July 1…It’s pre-July 4. It’s the perfect time for them to dump it at a time where it will get caught up in, you know we’re in that weird period where a lot of NFL reporters are taking a vacation at that time because that’s really the only dead zone. There’s a few other things happening potentially with franchise tags, maybe contract extensions. It’s a perfect weekend for it to get muddled up going into a holiday, going into July 4, and it’s still weeks away from camps opening.”
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson on when Mary Jo White report into the Washington Commanders could be released
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From the NFL’s perspective, it would be the ideal time to release the report. After being criticized publicly and by elected officials for not releasing the report from the first investigation into Snyder, the league agreed to make White’s findings public this time around.
The NFL has a history of releasing significant news that could attract negative headlines on a Friday before the weekend. In this case, it would be the findings released on the afternoon of Friday, June 30. Not only is the NFL covered by a quieter weekend, but many fans and media will be on vacation through Tuesday, July 4.
Why are the Washington Commanders being investigated?
The NFL hired Mary Jo White, a former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in 2022 to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct made against Snyder and the Commanders’ organization.
White previously worked with the NFL, investigating former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson in 2018 following claims of sexual harassment, using a racial slur and fostering workplace misconduct. Based on her findings, the NFL fined Richardson $2.75 million after he sold the team.
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The investigation into Snyder was launched after Tiffani Johnston, a former Commanders’ marketing manager and cheerleader, directly accused Snyder of sexual misconduct. Snyder, who declined an interview with White, was also accused of financial improprieties that took stadium revenue away from the NFL.
Previously, the Commanders were investigated by attorney Beth Wilkinson after nearly two dozen women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct within the organization. The NFL hired Wilkinson, whose investigation found that the Commanders had a toxic workplace culture.
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The NFL never made Wilkinson’s findings publicly available but fined the team $10 million. Months later, new allegations emerged with former employees speaking in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, detailing their accusations.
Congress also discovered allegations of financial impropriety and released a report accusing the Commanders of financial malfeasance, saying Snyder conducted a ‘shadow investigation’ into his accusers and ruling that Snyder allowed and participate in conduct that created a toxic workplace culture.
If White’s investigation determines Snyder is liable for the claims made against him and the Commanders’ organization, the NFL can fine him just as they did with Richardson after he sold the Panthers.