Why Dan Snyder is not about to sell the Washington Commanders
By Jonathan Eig
3 potential avenues to Dan Snyder selling the Commanders
There are three avenues toward a sale of the Washington Commanders in the next several years. I will lay them out in order of least likely to most likely – with the understanding that none fall into the “likely” category.
1) Tanya – Dan’s wife is the great unknown in this melodrama. I have no inside information on what she wants, so I am just tossing it out there. It is possible that she will get fed up with all the negativity and tell her husband it simply isn’t worth the aggravation. She could make a fairly convincing argument that cashing out and living their lives as billionaires outside the public eye is a pretty good fallback plan. Then again, she may pull a Lady MacBeth and encourage him to dig his heels in even farther. We just don’t know.
2) Dan overplays his hand – I find it hard to believe the recent stories that suggest Snyder has actually threatened other owners with “dirt.” But if he is dumb enough to do that, it might be just the thing to motivate them to remove him. An arrogant demigod with a huge bankroll wields a lot of power. But not when he is pitted against 31 similarly arrogant demigods with just as much or more cash on hand. The only mistake Snyder could make with regards to his fellow owners is pissing them off.
3) Civil litigation – It took the government to force Washington’s original owner George Preston Marshall to integrate in the early 1960s. The federal government does not seem disposed to take similar action right now. But civil lawsuits continue to mount.
Snyder has the wherewithal to face these suits and I expect he will settle most of them. He will undoubtedly suffer some financial pain. I just don’t think he will suffer enough to be forced to sell. I could be wrong, and I am hope I am, because I believe that is the only way we will see new ownership within the next decade.
