Virginia’s back in game to score Commanders stadium

The $6.05 billion sale in July of the Washington Commanders by embattled former owner Dan Snyder did more than set a world record for the highest price paid for a professional sports team.

The deal also reignited Virginia’s bid to persuade the Ashburn-based NFL team to move its stadium here. Lawmakers up for re-election in November and representing districts under previous consideration for a new stadium — including Woodbridge and Dumfries in Prince William County as well as Sterling in Loudoun County — see a fresh opportunity to work with the Commanders’ new ownership group led by Maryland-raised billionaire and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris (see related Q&A with Harris).

“With a new ownership team coming in, I think we all should go back to the drawing board,” Democratic Del. Luke Torian of Prince William County told the Virginia Mercury in May.

Torian and Democratic Sen. Jeremy McPike represent districts in Prince William that could be targeted for a stadium. McPike is “ecstatic” about the new owners; he’s less enthusiastic about using state money to attract the team. “There’s not a lot of appetite for taxpayer incentives, even if it’s incremental financing,” McPike says.

In September, the General Assembly passed a budget allocating $250,000 to evaluate economic incentives to attract sports teams to the state in the best interest of taxpayers.

In Loudoun, Democratic Dels. Dave Reid and Suhas Subramanyam, who is running for the state Senate in the 32nd District, say a stadium could diversify the county’s economy, which is best known for data centers; they also want certainty that any deal would be good for taxpayers.

“What would be the number of new jobs that would be created? What type of additional tax revenue would that generate?” asks Reid, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “And then also, what are going to be the performance-based incentives to make sure that we’re protecting the taxpayer’s dollars?”

While Virginia faces renewed competition for the stadium from Maryland — the Commanders currently play in Landover — and Washington, D.C., Gov. Glenn Youngkin has expressed willingness to play ball so long as the deal is a collaborative effort between lawmakers and a good deal for taxpayers, he said in late July to Fox 5 in D.C.

“I think Virginia is the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Youngkin said, “and it should be the best place to have a professional football team.”

RELATED STORY: