Washington Commanders Virginia stadium bill left to die in committee

Legislation to partner Virginia with the Washington Commanders to build a new NFL stadium in the Commonwealth will be left to die in a conference committee, the bill’s sponsors said Thursday.

That, effectively, puts the efforts to bring the football franchise to Virginia back to the drawing board.

“Virginia is the largest state, both by population and economic activity, in the country without a major professional sports franchise. A football stadium authority will help remedy that and bring positive economic growth to our dynamic Commonwealth. However, it’s become clear that there are issues to be resolved. Put simply, this bill is not ready and will remain in conference. I continue to believe that an NFL stadium will benefit Virginia for decades,” said State Sen. Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, in a statement to the Times Dispatch.

Saslaw later noted in a comment to the Washington Post the recent controversy involving Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a “dust-up” compared to the racial justice protests that followed George Floyd’s death in 2020.

“This obviously was not very helpful to put it mildly but there’s so many other things out there,” Saslaw said. “There were just so many things out there that a lot of people are saying, ‘Saslaw, this thing needs to wait.’”

Saslaw sponsored the Senate bill that would authorize the football stadium authority. Virginia Beach Republican Del. Barry Knight had sponsored the House legislation.

Knight told the Times Dispatch on Thursday that he isn’t sure that “the numbers work” on the project, because of course they don’t.

The NFL and its team owners make more than enough in ticket, concession and parking sales and TV and merchandising revenue to be able to finance their own playhouses without needing help from taxpayers in the form of corporate welfare.

Credit to the Commanders for trying to spin the issue in a statement to WTOP, in which the franchise said that it supports the legislature’s decision to “more deeply examine this issue.”

“We look forward to continued engagement and open dialogue with stakeholders across the Commonwealth to share our vision and hear directly from communities on their economic development objectives and how we can be a trusted, reliable partner to realize those outcomes,” the statement said.

Story by Chris Graham