This promises to be an off-season of radical change for Dan Snyder and his Washington football franchise, not just on the pitch. The team started the year with hiring Ron Rivera as head coach and ushering in the new by pushing the old – sending longtime CEO and president Bruce Allen – but the latter is not the biggest front office change that could catch on before all is said and done. Currently in turmoil as Snyder opens an official journal in the possible change (ahem … probable) of the name of the franchise of “Redskins”, which is regarded as a racial insult towards the Amerindians, the owner of the team could find himself soon flanked by new faces within the committee of property.
The minority stake in Washington seems uncomfortable about the direction the franchise has taken in recent years and is ready to leave the stadium on the left, according to the Washington Post. Dwight Schar, Robert Rothman and Frederick Smith all own a minority stake in the team, but apparently not for long, all three looking to sell their share of the cake. The trio hired Baltimore-based Moag & Co. – as Sportico noted – to formally search for potential buyers due to an internal conflict that left them “unhappy” with Snyder.
The news comes just days after Smith used the FedEx brand to pressure Snyder to change the team’s name, a decision that combined with a similar request from federal officials and additional calls to change Nike and PepsiCo. FedEx, of which Smith is the founder, president and CEO, also holds the naming rights for Washington National Stadium up to a $ 205 million contract, which gives them the unique ability to force Snyder to change by name after years of frozen position. this once led him to openly declare that the team would “never” consider him.
It was then, however, and it is now.
While consideration of a new name is under consideration, a Rivera situation would like resolved before the start of the 2020 season, Snyder now finds himself fighting major battles on many fronts. The trio of Schar, Rothman and Smith represent about 40% of Washington, and they are the only ones whose last name is not Snyder to own part of the team.
In other words, as clearly as possible, Snyder is entering unknown territory regarding the impending name change, and he does so while watching the knights of his round table desperately seek an exit, depending on how he heads the organization up to this point. overall – since taking the reins in 1999. The franchise is currently valued at around $ 3.4 billion, and the aforementioned trio is not the first minority stake the club has experienced in the past 21 years . Schar, Rothman and Smith entered the fold in 2003, the two original minority owners – Fred Drasner and Mortimer Zuckerman – having bought the team with Snyder before retiring shortly after.
And now Snyder could find himself looking for a new group of business brothers for the second time in almost as many decades if the owners of the minority managed to get out.
