I wanted to post an update to this story and saw a new thread was requested, so here it is.
Statement from Virginia State Senator Chap Petersen on why he's pulling his vote for stadium funding, includes some very strong language: "I don't have confidence in The Washington Commanders as a viable NFL franchise." pic.twitter.com/Q8qSJTTqFc— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) May 26, 2022
For those that missed the news the Commanders have been approved to buy around 200acres of land in the Woodbridge area presumably for a new stadium.
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As a life long Redskins fan I don't have confidence in the Washington Commanders as a viable NFL franchise...
basically nobody wants to give money to Dan Snyder bc at this point, how could you trust him to do the right thing with it?
Oh Dan will absolutely find a way to make this an unmitigated disaster
At this point, as a non-fan of the team yet as someone who despises Snyder, I feel like it would be considered a win if he didn't name it Secession Field at Confederate Memorial Stadium.
Oh absolutely, and every game against the Giants or Eagles will be marketed as the Battle of Northern Aggression. Every entrance gate to the stadium will be named after a notable Virginia plantation.... Monticello Gate, Westover Gate, Kenmore Gate, etc.
And of course, they'll come out with an all-grey alternate set, because why not.
If they follow through and build a new stadium in Woodbridge, they may have found the one place in the DC area that is more difficult to get to than Landover. That takes some serious talent
This is the worst possible location for a stadium. 95 is a disaster most Sundays already and there is zero public transportation to get you to the stadium. No sane person from Richmond is going to make that drive and he's alienating any fans from inside the beltway (who also won't want to make that trip). The stadium can't survive on Fairfax which is largely transplants with no love for Snyder and the Commanders. This is going to be an epic disaster and it couldn't happen to a better guy.
Well, the land is currently a rock quarry.....so Snyder is already starting out in the hole.
Underground stadium would be sick.
Resurrect RFK Stadium ladies and gentlemen!
This would be the best solution in my opinion, but I also believe there is less than a zero chance it would actually happen.
Dear God make this happen... It's so obviously the most sensible and best thing to do for the franchise. Sadly this is a major reason I don't have a lot of confidence it will happen... but I'm ready to be shown otherwise!!!
I'd honestly like to see the franchise taken over by a DMV community based publicly owned franchise model Green Bay style. I doubt the NFL cartel allows this to happen again though. Oh well... Jeff Bezos is probably better than Snyder... maybe...
Can't happen again. After Green Bay bought the team the NFL changed the rules to prevent it ever happening again.
Most of the owners HATE the fact that as a publicly owned team, the Packers have to release the full financials for the team every year. That includes the disbursement from the NFL to the Owners. The player will know exactly how much the team makes from the NFL amount.
Now it is also interesting that the Packers have been slowly buying and renovating all the property around the stadium. So the motels, restaurants, parking, etc are all income streams to the organization as well.
Yeah... it's a superior model in every way except that it doesn't favor the cartel bosses...
you mean people in positions of wealth and power hate transparency? Shocker!!
I'm starting to wonder if Dan Snyder is trying to tank the Washington football team on purpose a la Rebecca Welton
Well I'll tell ya'. If they do they should hire a four-legged hillbilly to coach the team.
Let me ask you this VPIhokieME, what do you love? Is it hokie-ing? Good, because you're darn good at it. Me? I love coachin'. Now I'm gonna say this again so you don't think it was a mistake the first time I said it. For me, success is not about the wins & losses, it's about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves - on and off the field. And it ain't always easy VPIhokieME, but neither is having the worst owner in the NFL and a team name that everybody hates.
Let me ask you this, is my tongue still in my mouth because I think my face is numb from all the losing going on here.
Dan Snyder to any coach trying to instill a charming, supportive, fun, and safe atmosphere to his football team:
You give him too much credit...
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence (or hubris).
I'm just happy they're not talking about a Loudoun location any more.
Maybe there's more to the parallel between Snyder and Welton...
After the botched deal with City of Richmond on the training facility, I'd be very surprised to find any Virginia legislators backing any infrastructure funding, or stadium funding. City residents will be paying for the training facility for years to come. Local businesses didn't get the support they were offered. Basically, the WTF ran off with bags of cash laughing on their way to the bank.
That deal was such a disappointment. So stupid driving by those uprights wasting space in the middle of the city. I don't think they are even coming to town this year.
This is a perfect example of why not to give him a penny hes already lied and used the commonwealth once and why wouldnt he do it again? Not to mention who knows how the team will look 7 years from now when this project would possibly be completed the outlook on the team to me is bleak so whos to say it ever booms the way it did in the past unless Snyder sells.
It has just as much to do with Snyder for me of all things he has shown minimal ambition in running the team to be competitive so why should we do so much to make him feel welcome. Hes proven to be a poor owner and all the off field stuff doesnt help the fact that on the field they are a flaming pile of garbage year in year out. I hope VA doesnt go well out of its way to help him as there are far more pressing things than funding a POS's stadium.
a new stadium around Woodbridge? sounds like a great idea!
Poor Danny.
Virginia too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/09/virginia-commanders-stadium-bill-dc/
Damn Daniel
I don't know if I'd say a NOVA stadium is dead for Snyder yet. He could always pony up his own cash for it, instead of trying to squeeze money out of the state/local governments.
He's way too cheap for that.
Thinking the same thing-the last 20+ years of cheapness and grift should have exactly who Dan Snyder is and that's a poor man's version of Jerry Jones
If he is willing to shell out every penny for that stadium, that is the only way that I'll be okay with it. I do find it hilarious that even Danny S is too toxic for politicians to back. (I apologize if this is a bit across cgs and will delete if it is)
I think this is general enough of a statement to fall in bounds regarding the CGs - that's my opinion, anyway
mine too fwiw
Ya know, every now and then you do a pretty good job. /S
Stay in MD. Keep your shit up there.
The sad part about the stadium debacle is that this all but kills DC as a host site for the 2026 World Cup. FedEx is not approved by FIFA. The closest shot at going to a game will likely be Charlotte or Baltimore. Possibly Philly.
Fuck FIFA-all the stadiums built in Qatar were with slave labor and at a huge cost of life but FedEx isn't FIFA approved. Most corrupt organization ever. This should've been England's World Cup.
/rant over
Rant? No, that's just called truth.
And 2022 should have been USA's
FIFA doing the Olympics model for site selection.....
Also doesn't help that most stadiums built for the World Cup or Olympics almost immediately go into disrepair the moment the event is over. At least here in North America, or in major European countries, they generally leverage existing venues or have long term tenants lined up before construction begins.
Depending on the host nation the Olympics and/or WC are a complete shitshow. 2 of the last 4 Summer AND Winter Olympics have venues that were abandoned almost immediately after the games were over, Beijing & Rio for Summer, Sochi & Beijing for Winter.
At this point, the host countries are losing Billions over hosting the games. The system is going to break soon.
Those host nations used the promise of fresh infrastructure to get their bids, and hoped the national attention could spark some economic returns. For the most part I dont think that latter part happened, and its why the IOC has recently began to rethink their approach of awarding host countries based on proven track record and existing infrastructure vs bribery + "new and shiny".
I'm pretty sure the bribery is on both sides, not just new and shiny
^^^This
See Atlanta in 96, the last time you really saw this happen. The main stadium was converted into Turner Field IIRC, and I think the auqutic center ended up going to GA Tech? I lived in ATL from 2001-2007 and I think there were only a couple sites that were not really kept up (the Softball stadium comes to mind)
I could be remembering it wrong but pretty sure they had all this lined up. I can recall some of the committe lamenting the fact that Atlanta was a "second tier city". (Read: They did not get enough in bribes)
You're correct. Centennial Olympic Stadium became Turner Field, and the Braves used it for (Edit)
over20 years before moving to Cobb County. Georgia State is still using it for football and baseball. There's a good article about all the venues and their status as of last year.https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/25-years-later-where-atlantas-olympic...
DC and Baltimore already announced (back in April I think?) that they were joining forces in a bid to be a host city. Basically, Baltimore hosts the game, and DC hosts all the fan gatherings and activities since FedEx wasn't going to get FIFA approval to host a game by itself.
Full list of host cities are being announced this Thursday.