Do You Support MD Legislators Approving $400M Bill To Develop Area Around FedEx Field?

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — The Maryland House has voted 121-10 on a bill that would spend $400 million to develop the area around FedEx Field in Landover, home to the Washington Commanders.

But Maryland officials say they will not build a stadium for the team, something owner Daniel Snyder wants. The bill now advances to the Senate, which has less than one week to make a decision before the state's legislative session ends.

The proposal would use the Maryland Stadium Authority to pull cash from the state lottery over to Prince George’s County, which could use the $400 million to build infrastructure and a “sports entertainment facility” in the area surrounding the team’s current home. Snyder also owns more than 200 acres around the stadium and wants to see the construction of a multibillion-dollar sports entertainment destination that would include homes, businesses, retail space and even sports betting.

If he decides to pull the team out of Maryland and move to Virginia or back to Washington, D.C., Prince George's County could still use the money to develop the area. The Commanders are required to play in Maryland until 2027.

"It’ll be great for Prince George’s with or without the Commanders,” Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s), who helped piece together the deal, told The Washington Post. “We hope it encourages them to stay, but if it doesn’t, we’re not going to forget about these communities.”

According to the Post, the incentive package could be expanded down the road to include potential tax credits or tax revenue streams for the team.

Virginia legislators could not hash out their differences in the two different stadium bills floating around the House and Senate before the General Assembly adjourned last month. But talks resumed in a special session that began Monday.

Maryland’s proposal follows news that a congressional committee is investigating allegations of financial improprieties at the team, potentially complicating public willingness to help finance a new stadium home in any of the jurisdictions. Maryland officials envision a bikeway, an elevated pedestrian bridge and a field house with basketball and volleyball courts. The stadium would be relocated closer to the Metro system.

Some federal legislators want to apply the brakes to any state-generated proposals and deals, now that accusations of mishandled money have surfaced from the Commanders program. The NFL also is investigating Snyder amid sexual harassment complaints filed against him. The team earlier this week denied to AP News a report that claimed they withheld ticket revenue from visiting teams.

“Why in the world would you go into business with this team on a stadium deal?” Del. Marcus B. Simon (D-Fairfax) tweeted. “They are stonewalling Congress on the investigation into their toxic culture of sexual harassment and now we can’t trust their books?”

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Virginia), who chairs the House Joint Economic Committee, has expressed in the past his opposition to any public financing for pro sports teams, including the Commanders.

"Super-rich sports team owners like Dan Snyder do not need federal support to build their stadiums, and taxpayers should not be forced to fund them," Beyer said in a statement. "Billionaire owners who need cash can borrow from the market like any other business. Arguments that stadiums boost job creation have been repeatedly discredited. In a time when there is a debate over whether the country can 'afford' investments in health care, child care, education or fighting climate change, it is ridiculous to even contemplate such a radical misuse of publicly subsidized bonds."

"There is no reason why these teams — the average of which went up in value to $3.48 billion in 2021, according to Forbes — should have American taxpayers footing any of their bills. It doesn't make economic sense, and it's particularly galling given the league's longstanding failure to address issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault as well as ongoing racial and gender discrimination and domestic violence," U.S. Rep Jackie Speier (D-California), co-chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus and member of the Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

Last month, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he would not support using public money to build a stadium for the Commanders or engage in a bidding war with neighboring jurisdictions.

“They’re negotiating, you know, trying to pit everybody against each other, but we’re not going to get into a bidding war over them, and we’re not going to be proposing $1.2 billion to build them a stadium,” Hogan said. “If Virginia wants to do that, and they want to go to Virginia, I would say ‘good luck.’”

The governor has lent his support to other legislation allocating $1.2 billion to upgrade facilities for Maryland's two other pro teams in Baltimore: M&T Stadium for the Ravens and Camden Yards for the Orioles.

The Congressional probe into the Commanders has complicated any efforts to entice the team back to RFK Stadium in the District.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) told the Post he found it “reasonable to pay the substantial cost of infrastructure needed to make the RFK site suitable for a new stadium."

But he noted he would not back spending taxpayer money on developing the site around the stadium until after a full investigation of the team's sexual harassment reports and investigations are done and public.