In February, the NFL hired Mary Jo White to investigate former Washington Commanders employee Tiffani Johnston’s allegations of misconduct against owner Daniel Snyder. At some point since then, White’s assignment has grown.
The NFL has confirmed via email to PFT that White is investigating the financial aspects of the allegations made by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Reform against the team. The league declined to comment on the timing of the expansion of his investigation.
News of alleged financial improprieties emerged fairly recently. It started with a claim of two sets of books and ticket revenue allegedly being diverted from the visiting-team pool surrendered to the league and shared by al 32 teams. The letter sent by the Committee to the Federal Trade Commission includes allegations regarding a security-deposit shell game involving season-ticket holders.
Some connected to the league have predicted that the claims of shorting the league’s ticket revenue will become the “death knell” for Snyder as an owner, if proven to be true. If it’s shown that the Commanders basically stole from some of its most loyal customers, Snyder and others could be facing prosecution, not to mention class-action lawsuits.
As to White’s investigation regarding the revenues allegedly withheld from the league, it will be interesting to see whether she explores the league’s responsibility for failing to spot the alleged practice as it was happening. That quite possibly will fall beyond the assignment given to her by the league office, given the potential implications of the findings to certain key employees of the league office.