DC attorney general sues Washington Commanders for allegedly cheating ticket holders

By Jamiel Lynch and Alaa Elassar, CNN

DC Attorney General Karl Racine has announced another lawsuit against the Washington Commanders NFL team, this time for allegedly cheating ticket holders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The complaint alleges that Pro Football Inc., the owner of the Commanders, implemented a “decades-long unlawful scheme” to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars in security deposits fans paid for season tickets and “converted that money into revenue for the Team, to use for its own purposes.”

Last week, the office of the attorney general announced a separate lawsuit against the team, owner Dan Snyder and the NFL for allegedly colluding to deceive District residents about an investigation into toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault.

“The Commanders’ arrogance and blatant disregard for the law is a slap in the face to District residents who have supported the team for decades,” Racine said in Thursday’s newest release.

CNN has reached out to the Commanders on the latest lawsuit.

For the past 26 years, the Washington Commanders (previously known as the Redskins) have sold premium seating tickets, “some of which required the payment of a substantial security deposit to preserve the consumers’ access to the seats,” according to the complaint.

“Although the Team promised those consumers through its contracts that it would automatically return the deposits within 30 days of the contract’s expiration, the Team instead deceptively held onto these funds — sometimes for over a decade — and used the money for its own purposes,” the complaint said.

While some of the money was returned to ticket holders, “as of March 2022, the Team still held nearly $200,000 in unreturned security deposits paid by District consumers,” it added.

Those who did receive their security deposits back had to contact the team and “submit a further signed request via mail,” the complaint says, despite initial contracts promising the security deposits would be “automatically returned” without any further steps.

The AG said he is seeking a court order to force the team to stop these practices and pay District ticket holders what they are owed” as well financial penalties for alleged violations of the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

The other lawsuit, which was filed on November 10, alleges that Snyder lied to DC residents when he denied knowing anything about allegations of a hostile work environment and culture of sexual harassment within the team, according to Racine. Those deceptive efforts aimed to keep fans in the dark and increase profits for the team, according to the lawsuit.

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