Your Maryland Redskins

by Skin Patrol on Jan 25, 2008 10:59 AM EST in News Comment 3 comments

Back in May, the word was that it would take global warming to get us a Super Bowl bid in our current stadium. Murmur murmur will Dan Snyder get jealous of Jerry Jones stadium? Could Dan Snyder stand being one upped by Skeletor?

The incomparable Chimpanzee Rage suggests that this might once more become your Washington Redskins with a move back into the city:

Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty wants the Washington Redskins to return to the nation's capital...

Adrian Fenty said on Wednesday that he is going to present a proposal to Redskins owner Dan Snyder for a possible a 100,000-seat domed stadium that also could be used for Super Bowls and other major events. DC's Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi has gotten involved and will do a financial analysis of the impact that building this stadium and the return of the Redskins to town will have on the city.

One problem is and remains a pesky legal obligation the team has with FedEx Field through 2027. I cannot find the original article, but I quoted the Times back in January as saying:

Team general counsel Dave Donovan said the Redskins are legally bound to FedEx Field until 2027 because of agreement between the team, the state of Maryland and Prince George's County, and said the team has expressed no interest in leaving the Landover facility at least until then...

"We don't want to leave," Donovan said. "We're really happy and don't have any other options because we're bound to the lease. It was written in a way to make sure that we play football there for 30 years."

As I pointed out then, Donovan is essentially saying "We're really happy with this heavy ball and chain attached to our leg, and we have no options since we left our hacksaw at home."

I say this gets done and encourage Mayor Adrian Fenty to pursue the same strategy that got him elected in the first; door to door to door to door to door to door. And he should do so, quickly, as the way our coaching search is panning out there isn't much reason to think this coming season will result in 9 wins and a postseason berth.

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Wow really?

I thought the Dan owned the stadium? I wonder if there's an escape clause or loophole in that deal so they could transform the stadium into a shopping mall (i heard it was built with the ability to do that) and still be honoring the agreement?

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times!!!?? Stupid Monkeys!" ---Montgomery Burns

by Chimp Rage on Jan 25, 2008 12:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Contracts can be nullified

if both parties wish it thus. I have been to at least one game every season at FedEx and I can tell you the stadium is deteriorating before our eyes, rusty hand rails, chipping concrete, foggy glass panes, it is almost as though the team has decided to minimize upkeep because they have no plans to stay there long term.

I have long heard and suspected that Prince George's County is very happy with the sub/urban renewal out there and wants the land. They would buy it lock stock and sell it to developers either to convert it or tear it down and build residential mixed use, with a whisper number around 300 million dollars.

This of course is contingent upon the federal government, the Park Service in particular, selling title to the land, either to Dan directly or to DC who then sells it to Dan, Dan would never build a marquee stadium he does not own from the dirt on up.

The problem here is the dome thing. If the Redskins moved into a dome I really may divorce the team and may give up football forever.

Curly R has tackled this issue here, here and here.

=====Curly R: The Redskins Blog=====

by thatguyben on Jan 25, 2008 4:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah...

growing up in Houston and seeing the sport in a dome (the first one, the Astrodome) and seeing it in a retractable-roof, grass surface stadium (Reliant Stadium), there is no question: football is not meant to be played in domes.

I got to play a few high school games in the Dome... my joints have never hurt so bad. Of course, that turf was older and not kept up by the (the Oilers had alreayd left town) but still... there is nothing worse than seeing a football game in a dome.

Retractable roof is one thing... a dome is quite another.

by TexSkins on Jan 25, 2008 10:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs