Former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has been watching from afar as the franchise he nearly ran into the ground has been resurrected without him.
The Commanders are now one game away from their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1991 season as they face the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Snyder sold the Commanders for $6.05 billion following sexual harassment allegations against a former employee, accusations of fostering a toxic workplace culture, and claims of withholding revenue from the NFL.
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. recently did a deep dive into Snyder’s life after his disastrous run as Commanders owner. Here are several surprising revelations from their report.
Dan Snyder ‘hates’ the team’s newfound success
Wickersham and Van Natta report that Snyder isn’t a fan of Washington’s success with him no longer at the helm. This information emerged during a dinner Snyder had with associates and friends in London.
“What’s it like for Snyder, for years the most hated owner in sports, to watch the Commanders succeed without him?
“‘He f—ing hates it,'” Snyder’s dinner companion told a colleague.”
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Snyder nearly killed Commanders sale
According to ESPN, Snyder nearly pulled out of the deal to sell the Commanders to Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, by refusing to share his bank information. However, former Super Bowl-winning head coach Joe Gibbs helped persuade Snyder to complete the sale.
“In the days leading up to the close,” the report states, “Dan and Tanya Snyder were pressed by confidants and friends, including Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, the three-time Super Bowl winner who supported Snyder even during the darkest times, to complete the deal out of love for the team and fans.”
Tad Brown, the CEO of HBSE, was reported to have told confidants months later, “We don’t get the Commanders if not for Joe Gibbs.”
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Snyder, a Donald Trump ally, invested in ‘The Apprentice’ movie
One of Snyder’s post-Commanders investments backfired significantly. Snyder, a Donald Trump supporter who donated $1 million to the president’s 2017 inaugural committee, invested $6 million in “The Apprentice” movie through Kinematics, a production company run by his 29-year-old son-in-law, Mark Rapaport.
Wickersham and Van Natta report that Snyder assumed the film would portray Trump positively. However, when he screened the film with Rapaport at an island home last February, he reportedly became enraged by its decidedly negative portrayal of the president.
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Snyder wants to buy Premier League team
Now living in London, Snyder has reportedly shown interest in buying a stake in an English Premier League soccer team.
“According to sources in London sports circles, Snyder in recent months has shopped for a piece of a soccer team, preferably in the Premier League, where exponential growth in team valuations rivals the NFL,” ESPN reports. “One source briefed on Snyder’s Premier League interest said, ‘I keep hearing he wants another act as a team owner — the Premier League is his dream.'”
However, other sources told Wickersham and Van Natta that Snyder won’t own another sports franchise because the Washington football team was his only true passion.
Related: Washington Commanders free agent targets 2025
Snyder central figure in federal lawsuit from former Commanders minority partner
Snyder remains a central figure in a lawsuit from former Commanders minority partner Robert Rothman, though he isn’t named as a defendant. Rothman claims he lost hundreds of millions of dollars after “Bank of America conspired with the NFL and Snyder to force him and two other minority partners to sell their stake in the Commanders back to Snyder in 2021 at a valuation roughly half of the $6.05 billion Snyder was ultimately paid.”
The lawsuit alleges that Bank of America ignored “financial red flags” raised by Snyder’s management of the team, including his alleged failure to pay partners their share of profits and his increasing reliance on team debt to finance his lifestyle. Rothman’s lawyers can now seek discovery on some claims, potentially leading to sworn testimony from both Snyder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
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