Is the Washington Football Team finally closing in on a location for a new stadium? If new Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has any say in the matter, Washington will soon be building its new stadium in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
On Friday, the Virginia House and Senate introduced two bills with the hope of luring the Washington Football Team to the state. The goal is to build a massive sports and entertainment complex in Prince William County or Loudoun County, both of which are in the northern part of the state.
Team headquarters is in Ashburn, which is in Loudoun County. FedEx Field is located in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Washington has a lease to play at FedEx Field until 2027; team owner Daniel Snyder also owns the stadium. The state of Maryland and Washington, D.C., both remain in contention for a new stadium for the team, but the momentum clearly favors Virginia right now, with Youngkin — who took office on Jan. 15 — intent on making it happen.
“Virginia is a football state. We deserve a football team — both as a source of shared pride and of state revenues,” House Majority Leader Terry G. Kilgore said, per Laura Vozzella of The Washington Post. “We have a business-minded, forward-thinking governor and House majority, and as we continue to pursue this opportunity, I think it’s important for us to understand how this project and its revenues will benefit the whole state, from Arlington to the mountains of Southwest Virginia.”
Earlier this week, State Sen. Jeremy McPike spoke with Tom Fitzgerald of Fox 5 D.C. and said talks between the commonwealth and the WFT were “very serious.”
McPike also offered the following comments to Fox 5:
There are some locations under consideration, I can’t talk about specific sites, but certainly the existing station contract in Maryland is up in the next four years. And so they’ve got to start to make plans now, the construction of a stadium takes years and years.
Much like the new name, this is a divisive topic. You have fans from each area who will be upset with where Washington decides to build its next stadium. For many Washington fans, Washington, D.C. is the most logical choice, but that doesn’t seem possible for many reasons.
Washington’s 25 years at FedEx Field have been disastrous. The stadium is a dump and the laughingstock of the NFL.
For the first time in years, there seems to be real progress toward a new Washington stadium.