The Washington Commanders’ owners announced Wednesday that they had hired Bank of America in a major step toward a potential sale of the troubled NFL franchise.
“Dan and Tanya Snyder and the Washington Commanders announced today that they have hired BofA Securities to consider potential transactions,” the team said in a statement.
“The Snyders remain committed to the team, all of its employees and its countless fans to putting the best product on the field and continuing the work to set the gold standard for workplaces in the NFL.”
In recent years, the team has been the target of multiple investigations about its workplace culture, leading to calls for Snyder and his wife to sell.
Snyder bought the once-proud franchise before the 1999 season, taking over a club that has won three Super Bowl titles.
Only six other NFL franchises have won more modern titles than Washington. But Snyder’s tenure has been marked by poor results and several scandals off the field.
The team hasn’t reached a conference title game during Snyder’s regime, and it’s now on a run of five losing seasons.
Commanders fans “will throw a parade if they sell the team,” tweeted former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III, one of the best-known players of Snyder’s ownership.
Retired cornerback Domonique Foxworth, a former president of the NFL Players Association, urged the NFL to find a Black-led business group to buy the team.
Foxworth, a Maryland native, said the team has struggled for years to win over Black fans in a highly diverse market. Washington, D.C., is nearly half Black, and Washington was the last NFL team to integrate.