Washington Ownership News: Bruce Allen linked to negative publicity firm; Jeff Bezos interested in buying the team?

It has been a slow news week month, but any story involving Dan Snyder and a possible sale of the Washington Football Team is going to get some attention. We’ve been following the drama that has surrounded the franchise since the beginning of last season. Snyder and three of the franchise’s minority owners(Fred Smith, Dwight Scharr, and Robert Rothman) have been feuding and it is an ugly breakup. Fred Smith is the founder and CEO of FedEx and was influential in a pressure campaign that preceded the team changing their name from the Washington Redskins after decades of protests to change it. Dwight Scharr and Dan Snyder are involved in an increasing bitter war that has reached tabloid levels of absurdity.

This war between billionaires has produced a lot of headlines, and even more lawyer bills. There have already been multiple court filings that have peeled back the curtain to reveal accusations of stories planted overseas linking Snyder to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, leaked stories to major US newspapers exposing sexual harassment in the organization, and settlements from Snyder’s past.

The latest court appearance has some pretty interesting revelations that could give some insight into how the team was run in the past, and a tease for what could have been for the future. A.J. Perez from Front Office Sports published an article yesterday detailing the latest disclosures from the Battle of the Billionaires.

“Keep an eye on the Redskins, it’s getting very interesting,” Moag texted a person on July 3, 2020. Their name was redacted in a screen capture attached to the filing.

“Hopefully Snyder’s going,” the person responded.

The alleged misinformation campaign began on July 16, the same day The Washington Post published the first of two lengthy stories on allegations of workplace harassment by former and current women employees of The Washington Football Team.

John Moag, founder of Moag & Co, is a big part of this story, and was hired by the minority owners to facilitate a sale of their 40% stake in the team. He is also implicated in the misinformation campaign that was allegedly started by Schar. Dan Snyder used his right of first refusal to block Dwight Schar from selling his stake in a deal that would have sold 40% of the franchise to Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano.

And now comes the two parts of the story that are going to generate the most interest from Washington fans. Former Team President/GM Bruce Allen was fired in December 2019 after a 10 year reign of error over the franchise. Many fans openly questioned what kind of incriminating photos or evidence Allen could have possibly had on team owner Dan Snyder. Bruce was apparently in contact with John Moag after his firing, and it was an extensive amount of communication. The court filing says they were focused on negative publicity...

The 18-page filing in India also stated Moag exchanged 87 phone calls with former Washington Football Team President Bruce Allen. The two talked more than 22 hours total. Moag and Allen also exchanged text and email messages that “prove” the two were “focused on negative publicity directed at [Snyder],” according to the filing.

The next revelation shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who follows news related to this team either. Jeff Bezos, who recently stepped back from his role as the CEO of Amazon, has famously been interested in becoming an NFL owner. There has been a lot of speculation that the Washington Football Team could be a target for him. He has made multiple moves in the area that could setup a bigger move like this. This article confirms that Bezos’ people at least spoke with Moag & Co. as they worked to sell their clients 40% stake in the team.

Bezos’ attorney spoke with Baltimore-based sports investment banking firm Moag & Co., which led the effort to sell a chunk of the team, according to court documents obtained by Front Office Sports.