It’s been more than four years since we’ve heard any serious talk about a new stadium for the Washington Football Team in Virginia, but according to a report by the Washington Post, team officials have been meeting with state legislators about building “a stadium and vast commercial complex” there. “So far everyone’s pretty enthusiastic,” said one of five unnamed sources the Post spoke to.
Cost? The Post didn’t say. Location? “Loudoun or Prince William counties,” nothing more specific. So far, it sounds like WFT execs are focused on getting the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority — created in the 1990s to lure an MLB team to the state, before the Montreal Expos relocation to Washington, D.C., to become the Nationals — converted to a general sports stadium authority that could build a football facility instead.
The Post writes that “typically” such authorities create a tax district and “dedicate some or all of the new revenue generated within it — such as from sales or hotel taxes — to construction of the stadium or related infrastructure.” This would imply a TIF, which given that it wouldn’t be just a stadium but would also include restaurants, stores, a conference center, hotels, and residential buildings could amount to a boatload of public cash, but it’s hard to get more specific than that without knowing more details.
Those details could maybe be forthcoming soon, as the paper’s sources say the team plans to have a bill introduced in the state legislature next month. Or not, if the bill ends up just saying “Create a stadium authority with taxation powers,” and the rest is left to be worked out later. Either way, though, it seems like team owner Daniel Snyder is ready to cash in on the good will, or at least reduction in bad will, he’s gotten from ditching the WFT’s old name to get serious about the new stadium he’s long dreamed of. Can’t wait to hear if he’ll also revive plans for a stadium moat.
The evasive comment from Chap Peterson makes me wonder if a condition of the Virginia tax kickback would be a return to the Redskins name.
They could make more money for all of us by renaming themselves the Red Stars and cozying up to China.
But you didn’t hear that from me, obviously
Bring them back to DC! Tear down RFK and rebuild there. It has a metro right there and zoned space waiting to be used for this exact thing. If it goes to an outer burb should no longer be associated with DC, make it a VA team so DC can get a new team.
Replace 25 year-old stadium? No.
Facilitating development by improving public access like expanding roads, bike paths, sidewalks etc….is one thing. Deploying public funds to assist a private for profit entertainment business development is obscene.
In this case the state has leverage( let WTF stay at shithole FedEx Field) and Youngkin’s business acumen should kick in. Drive a hard bargain, stand fast against the little Snyder, who could care less about Virginia or anything else but himself.
Prince William County is an *awful* location for a potential new stadium, even worse than Landover, Md. I’d love to see how Loudoun County’s wealthy NIMBYs react to this potentially being in their back yards