#Dan Snyder facing pressure to sell from Washington minority partners

Washington fans are no longer the only ones asking Dan Snyder to leave.

In the wake of the removal of the team’s longtime racist nickname and widespread allegations of sexual harassment within the organization, Washington’s minority partners are pressuring Snyder to sell his team, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, the same report also states Snyder, 55, has no plans to give up his ownership.

With Snyder seemingly unwilling to step aside, the team’s collection of minority owners — including FedEx Corp. CEO Fred Smith, and others, who own roughly 40 percent of the team — have reportedly hired an investment firm to try and sell their stakes in the team. Last year, Washington was ranked the seventh-most valuable team by Forbes, which valued the team at $3.4 billion. Snyder purchased the team for $750 million in 1999.

Snyder, who once vowed to never change the team’s nickname, recently caved to pressure from sponsors such as FedEx, but his issues with Smith have been present for years. The Wall Street Journal report said Smith had attempted to sell his stake in the team and believed he had located a buyer, only for Snyder to move slowly with the approval process and turn off the potential buyer, prompting the interested party to land a stake with another franchise. A recent legal filing by Snyder suggests at least one of the minority partners has “attempted to leak defamatory information against him.”