Commanders agree to pay $625K in settlement over ticket holder deposits
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Monday that his office has reached a settlement agreement with the Washington Commanders to resolve its lawsuit over unreturned security deposits related to the purchase of game tickets.
The attorney general's office alleged that the Commanders required fans to provide a security deposit when purchasing multiyear ticket packages but promised to return the deposits upon the expiration of the ticket contract. Instead, the team withheld those deposits and made it more difficult for fans to reclaim them, the lawsuit claimed.
The terms of the settlement will require the Commanders to return the outstanding security deposits to impacted D.C. residents – who, according to the attorney general's office, are owed more than $200,000 between them.
The Commanders also agreed to pay Schwalb's office $425,000.
"Rather than being transparent and upfront in their ticket sale practices, the Commanders unlawfully took advantage of their fan base, holding on to security deposits instead of returning them," Schwalb said in a statement.
"Under this settlement agreement, our office will maintain strict oversight over the Commanders to ensure all necessary steps are taken to reimburse fans for the refunds they are entitled to. Our office takes seriously the obligation to enforce DC consumer protection laws by holding accountable anyone that tries to exploit District consumers."
The Commanders said in a statement that they have not required security deposits for more than a decade and have been "actively working to return any remaining deposits since 2014."
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement on the matter with the DC Attorney General and will work with the office to fulfill our obligations to our fans," the team said.
The lawsuit regarding unreturned security deposits was one of two lawsuits filed by the D.C. Attorney General against the Commanders last year.
The other lawsuit claims that the team, owner Daniel Snyder, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell deceived D.C. residents by declining to release a full report on its investigation into a toxic workplace culture within the team. That lawsuit remains active.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.