Secondly, and not because of this article, what would it take for Dan to sell the team? A dramatic loss of revenue? With all of the various marketing arrangements in place, I'm not even sure that fan attendance is mandatory anymore.
Snyder is in a lot worse financial spot than people think. He's not sole owner of the team, he purchased the team with a lot of investor money and he's beholden to them.
Fan attendance is a problem for a variety of reasons.
1 - it goes towards their deal with localities for a new stadium. part of paying for the stadium includes collecting taxes generated by ticket sales and merchandise, etc. PG county collects 10% on everything fed ex field related, to give you an idea.
2 - blackouts are still part of the rules. we would join the ranks of the bucs, jags, and bills. think about that for a second. we're one of the largest media markets..
3 - a lot of money is paid by sponsors to fund the team. bad stadium attendance would drive down sponsorships and hurt the team
i don't know what it would take. i would think snyder would try to move the team first, but i don't think the NFL would approve it (as far as I'm aware most owners would prefer snyder lose the team, they don't like him, they'd never help him move to keep it.)
you'd have to boycott the team.
A little birdie told me that Snyder received a visit from the NFL Commish towards the end of 2008 and was told to fix the mess he created here quickly, or else. Shortly thereafter Allen and Shanahan arrived. It's possible for us to drive Snyder out of town, but it would take a pretty organized and dedicated boycott that I just don't think the fanbase is capable of.