NFL Open Thread: Fall of the House of Snyder? Edition
By 
Could this actually be happening?
The announcement Wednesday that Daniel Snyder would hire an investment bank to consider the potential sale of the Washington Commanders arrived after a dizzying sequence of events over the past 2½ years, a period in which change, controversy and scandal engulfed Snyder and the franchise he has owned since 1999.
Snyder’s grip on the franchise, a once-beloved civic institution diminished by two decades of dysfunction, loosened in recent weeks as the calls from fans to sell the team spread to league ownership circles, most vocally from Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. Even then, Snyder released defiant statements about never selling the team — as he had once declared he would never change the team’s name, which he finally did under pressure from sponsors in 2020.
Since Snyder dropped the name, a move meant to fortify his standing within the league, a whirl of allegations and ensuing investigations have imperiled his status. Snyder had long been the subject of disdain from fans and eye-rolling from fellow owners. But the tumult of the past 2½ years carved the path to Wednesday’s announcement.
The smart money is probably always on pessimism here. But one reason I think this could happen is not that Snyder is an huge asshole — this is more a job description that a problem in his line of work — but that he’s a particular kind of asshole who is no longer making money for his partners:
That exodus shows up on the stat sheet. The L.A. Chargers, who have no fans, saw their local TV viewership drop 29 percent this season and they STILL get more viewers there than the Commanders do here. No team draws fewer fans to its home stadium, and the ones that do buy tickets are often fans of the visiting team. That visiting team doesn’t even have to be within driving distance for Commanders fans to find themselves outnumbered on their home turf. Snyder had to reduce capacity at FedEx Field by nearly 20 percent to shroud the hometown apathy, but it remains visible to anyone with working eyeballs. Only one Commanders player, Chase Young, ranks in the Top 50 of merch sales. No Commanders fan under the age of 30 has any memory of this team winning a Super Bowl, which is why the Commanders HAVE no fans under the age of 30. And older fans have deserted the team anyway, many of them angrily so after a name change that was both overdue while also being hideously mismanaged.
The only redeeming virtue Snyder retains is that he’s so locally toxic he appears to have lost the ability to extort stadium money from local governments.
And the amazing thing is: he’s not even the biggest asshole who has ever owned the Washington NFL franchise.