Commanders reportedly being investigated by U.S. attorney's office

WASHINGTON - Just hours after the Washington Commanders announced that the Snyders are in talks to sell the franchise, a new report claims another criminal investigation is in the works.

This time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Virginia is reportedly looking into allegations that the Commanders engaged in deceptive business practices over the last decade.

So what does that mean, and what are the team’s options?

There are a lot of options for the Snyders moving forward after the announcement they’ve hired Bank of America to consider potential sales of the team.

FOX 5 spoke with experts to get more clarity on the situation as well as the latest response to the team's financial misconduct.

"Engagement of Bank of America at this point is more than just inviting them to go fishing and see what bites," said attorney Seth Berenzweig.

The Snyders, owners of the Washington Commanders for more than two decades, could be selling the franchise.

"This would be one of the biggest sports deals here in America," said sports analyst Eric Mitchell.

The team saying they are exploring all options, but the announcement comes just weeks after NFL owners met to discuss business, including forcing Snyder to sell.

"This screams to me the owners probably gave him an ultimatum. Sell your team or we’re going to make this very public and ugly and vote you out," Mitchell said.

Washington Commanders, Dan Snyder hire Bank of America to consider selling team

So what are Dan Snyder's options for a franchise valued at $5.6 billion dollars?

"Could he bring in minority owners and have them run the day-to-day — he could," said Mitchell.

Or he could sell the team outright.

"The only answer anyone will accept across the fanbase, and across the NFL, is Dan Snyder is no longer having any attachment to the Washington Commanders," Mitchell added.

It’s expected the team would fetch at least $6 billion which would surpass the sale of any NFL team so far.

But could the potential for a new stadium play into the sale?

"Literally the moment the deal’s done the clock ticks and that’s what you’re going to do," Mitchell said. "Obviously, the stadium needs to be replaced."

Meanwhile, the Snyders face a new challenge.

Another investigation into financial misconduct, a report from ESPN claiming the team withheld millions of dollars worth of security deposits from its own season ticketholders and had two separate finance books.

"It appears rather than decreasing the scope of the investigations that Mr. Snyder and the Commanders organization have been fighting over the past couple years, the scope’s actually gone up," Berenzweig said.

The team sent FOX 5 a statement calling the allegations, "falsehoods," adding that they are "simply untrue."

But for fans and followers of the Commanders, it’s just another reason for them to look forward to what the team’s future holds.

"You have to fix the organization and it’s not a coaching problem or a player problem, it’s an owner problem. And the moment you have a new own,r fans get excited again," Mitchell said. 

"They’ve seen the glory days followed by 20 years of a lot of bleakness, but I think we will have hope. The sun may yet again shine on the stadium," Berenzweig added.

There is still a lot expected to unfold but Mitchell says we can likely expect a leak on potential buyers before the end of the year.

On Wednesday night, Bloomberg reported Byron Allen as a potential buyer. He previously tried to buy the Denver Broncos.