Hours after looking into selling the team, Dan Snyder’s Commanders are reportedly facing a federal investigation | You Pod to Win the Game

Yahoo Sports Jori Epstein and Charles McDonald discuss the latest drama surrounding the Washington Commanders and their ownership. Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

Video transcript

JORI EPSTEIN: We went from Dan Snyder saying, I'm not selling the team, to Dan Snyder hiring bankers to be like, well, let's look like-- if we were gonna sell the team, what's this transaction gonna be like?

Is he selling the team, Charles? And is he doing it this year? Like, what's happening? Is Jim Irsay getting his way? We don't know what's happening on the field for the Colts, but is their owner getting his way in terms of league management?

CHARLES MCDONALD: It seems like it, right? So first of all, Forbes reported this morning that Dan Snyder and the Commanders have hired Bank of America to help them start facilitating a sale of the team, which they half [BLEEP] rebutted like, five minutes later. It's just like, oh no, we're just exploring all possibilities. But as the days progressed, it's very clear that they are about to start the process of selling the team.

And this just feels like kind of-- I don't know if it's like, someone came to them and said, you need to sell the team or X, Y and Z will happen. But it kind of seems like it has reached a breaking point for them where it's just not tenable for them to own the team anymore. And not too long ago, ESPN reported that the US Attorney's office is investigating the Commanders for financial improperties, which came the same day as the Forbes report.

Hm. I don't think that those two things are entirely unrelated. I would imagine that if Dan Snyder is really feeling the heat of the US Federal government, which he has already run from once when he was hiding on his yacht from the subpoenas all summer long, this might just be [INAUDIBLE].

JORI EPSTEIN: He ran, and now he can't hide.

CHARLES MCDONALD: Right, exactly. There's nowhere that he can go now if he's gonna be investigated by the federal government for financial improperties. It's just become too much of a distraction on the field, off the field. The stadium is in tatters. It's just not a good look for him to have one of these 32 assets that the NFL, and really any person with the wealth to acquire one of these teams has deemed as an infinitely valuable entity.

It doesn't make sense for him to be around, I think, Jim Irsay is gonna get his way. Jim Irsay is gonna come out the winner of a public spat that's just absolutely fascinating to me. But this is kind of where we are with Dan Snyder and the Commanders, which might not be Dan Snyder's team much longer

JORI EPSTEIN: Yeah. I think it's like, look, they hired Bank of America Securities, which handled the selling of the Clippers when Steve Ballmer bought them. And so, they kind of have a background in terms of what this takes. They're going through this process. I love the NFL being like, well, actually 24 of 32 owners have to vote on this.

So like, when you wanted to not sell, we weren't going to agree with it. And now when you want to sell, we're not just gonna agree with it, either. But look, there's a lot of public pressure. There's a lot going on. And as much as he's kind of wrecked this franchise, there's still only 32 of these in the world. The NFL is so frickin' valuable. Like, there is going to be some interest. And it'll be fascinating to see what that interest looks like, what that culture.

Also like, what's the order? Like, do they-- got to think whether it leaks or not that there's going to be potential owners having conversations long before we get to an NFL vote, since it's unlikely that would happen until at least March. So it's gonna be quite the process to watch.

CHARLES MCDONALD: Poor Dan Snyder. He's gonna lose his team and be punished with, like, $5 billion in sales. Wow.

JORI EPSTEIN: 5.6.

CHARLES MCDONALD: That's just-- yeah.