If former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and other local political and business leaders had their way, the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics would have taken place in a new 85,000-seat stadium where RFK Stadium now sits — and would serve as the future home of the Washington Redskins. Ten years ago, Williams brought a delegation to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as part of the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition’s efforts to lobby the U.S. Olympic Committee to be its choice to host the 2012 games. He declared publicly his plans for a future home for the Redskins.
“I’ve told [Redskins owner] Dan Snyder that I would like to build a first-rate, premier track and field facility where we could host some of the best track and field events in the world, the best soccer events and one day host the Washington Redskins back in our hometown,” he told reporters. “That’s my dream.”
Bobby Goldwater was the executive director of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission at the time of the stadium proposal, and he was in the room when the pitch was made to Snyder.
“It was presented directly to Mr. Snyder in a meeting in Mayor Williams’ conference room back in 2002,” said Goldwater, now president of the Goldwater Group sports and entertainment consulting company. “He didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no. But there was interest.”
It would have been a difficult sell, given the lease commitment the Redskins have in Prince George’s County at FedEx Field — which Snyder owns — that doesn’t expire until 2027. So odds are it would have wound up another Olympic boondoggle — a state-of-the-art, 85,000-seat stadium hosting crowds of 15,000 for D.C. United games and monster car shows.
Also, a commitment to a new Olympic stadium probably would have seriously hampered — if not killed — chances for a new ballpark for the relocated Montreal Expos — the Washington Nationals.
Goldwater said plans for a baseball stadium were “complementary” to the Olympic bid, and “ultimately the ballpark would have been part of any Olympic bid plan.”
But back in 2002, the District’s plans for a new ballpark were not for a fully funded stadium. It was an 80-20 split, an offer that was met with derision at Major League Baseball headquarters, where powerful Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf told District officials, “We were thinking more like 100 percent” government funding.
Ultimately, that was the deal the District had to make — a fully funded ballpark.
At the very least, the Olympic infrastructure costs would have certainly muddied the waters for ballpark funding. The battle over a financing package and lease agreement in the D.C. City Council was difficult enough in 2005.
Baseball gold — the first-place Washington Nationals — seems like a much better investment than Olympic gold.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
