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The Washington Commanders will no longer hold training camp in Richmond.
“That ship has sailed,” said Richmond Economic Development Authority board chair John Molster, per Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “There are no plans for them to come back for the camp.”
Washington first started holding training camp in Richmond back in 2013 and remained through 2019. In 2020 during COVID-19, the team returned to its headquarters in Ashburn for camp. In 2021, head coach Ron Rivera returned for one week. The Commanders were back in Ashburn full-time last summer.
The land, which is located behind the Science Museum of Virginia, presents an outstanding development opportunity for the capital city. Unfortunately, due to the deal Richmond’s former mayor signed, taxpayers will still pay $700,000 annually until 2033.
On the Washington side, former team president Bruce Allen negotiated the deal due to his political connections in the state. It was a deal both sides would regret later. Under that deal, the city paid the team $500,000 annually for eight years.
Longtime Commanders beat reporter and current Team 980 radio host Chris Russell said it best with the following tweet:
No matter how bad this deal turned out for RVA & however much $ the #Commanders said they invested..one thing to remember is the organization received a lot of $$ from the Commonwealth to do significant improvements in Ashburn. I believe it was close to $40 M. https://t.co/X2kuZpCETQ
— Chris Russell AKA the 🐓🐓! (@Russellmania621) June 26, 2023
Owner Daniel Snyder agreed to sell the Commanders to Josh Harris in May, and a vote to approve the sale by other NFL owners is expected on July 20. Washington’s deal with Richmond will be a distant memory with so many changes on both sides.