Commanders owner Josh Harris “could have a hard time getting at least 23 of his colleagues to sign off” on the $3B stadium plan for the RFK Stadium site, according to Mike Florio of PROFOOTBALLTALK. For the $3B facility the Commanders “will pay up to” $2.5B. This project “could entail as little as” $500M in public money, which is “only 16.667 percent of the total expense.” Teams “usually shake half the base price of a new or renovated stadium from the taxpayer tree.” An owner of a business “can’t decide how to do business without the consent of a sufficient number of the owner’s business partners,” and Harris’s partners “might not be thrilled” about the precedent that a 16.67% contribution sets. Florio: “Consider the other teams currently trying to build or upgrade stadiums with public money. ... If the Commanders have to foot more than 83 percent of the bill for a new building in D.C., the government officials with whom those other teams are or will be negotiating might want a similar split” (PROFOOTBALLTALK, 4/17).
FRONTING THE BILL: In D.C., Thom Loverro noted there are 700,000 people living in the District. This “may be hard to believe,” but most of them “are not football fans and would rather see their money go somewhere other than the pockets of the Commanders’ owners.” But cities are often defined by their professional sports franchises. The report says that while the negotiations are continuing, the city “would put up the money for the infrastructure for the new stadium” while the team would “front as much as” $2.5B. Loverro wrote seems like a “good deal for the city, right?” After all, the team “would be putting up most of the money.” But the report says that the Commanders “would get the chance to develop the rest of the 180-acre property.” That is “many millions of dollars the city is surrendering in valuable development rights that it could use to bring in revenue for city coffers” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/17).
