Nationals Park’s construction was completed in 2008 at a cost of $611 in public funds that would be paid back in lease payments by the team as well as taxes. Yesterday, the D.C. Council advanced legislation in negotiations with Ted Leonsis of Monument Sports & Entertainment (MSE), which operates the Wizards, Capitals, and other teams at Capital One Arena, for $515 million in public funds for a major renovation of the arena. Leonis was seeking $600 million per reports. WHAT?!? That arena exists. What could cost $515 million for a 20,000 seat arena that is less than half the size of Nationals Park? Is it being clad in gold bricks? The Nats have had to beg for upgrades on a stadium that is owned by D.C. and after 16 years finally got state-of-the-art lighting and an LED scoreboard.
Just 38-miles up the road, the Orioles got major structural upgrades at their 15-year and 20-year mark that added up to tens of millions — and they have one of the best ballparks in any sport. Earlier this year, the Orioles got approved to access up to $600 million in taxpayer-financed bonds for upgrades to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, as part of a lease agreement with the Maryland Stadium Authority. All of that was part of a cat and mouse game of swirling rumors that the Orioles were going to relocate to Nashville.
Not to fret, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has included Nationals Park in the same legislation as the $515 for Capital One Arena. But no amount of money was disclosed for future Nationals Park upgrades in the details beyond just saying the establishment of this fund through existing revenue sources like sales taxes at the ballpark and rent paid by the Nationals would pay it all back. In addition, there is a major stipulation that the Washington Nationals have to agree to a 30-year lease extension to run through at least 2054. This is a joke, right?
Under the new proposal with the DC Government and Monumental Sports & Entertainment from what we were told by a source, they will lease Capital One Arena back from the District for an initial rent of $1.5 million per year, with periodic escalations over the term of the lease. That proposed lease would extend through June 30, 2050. Now in comparison, the Washington Nationals will be paying $6,841,208.97 for the 2025 season on their lease for Nationals Park. So Leonsis gets favorable treatment? That is a huge disparity in rent. Below is the Nationals Park “Lease Agreement.”
.
The “Ballpark Maintenance Fund” would be used for repairs, maintenance, and capital improvements without imposing new costs on D.C. taxpayers. But we have no idea what all of this includes. The Nationals current lease runs through 2037, and that leaves just 13-seasons remaining with rent due of $8,542,186.25 in that final year. Why would the Nats’ ownership agree to signing 17-years beyond the current term unless substantial and transformative changes were made to Nationals Park?
“There should not be this problem that these obvious maintenance needs are not taken care of right away, and that they’ve been allowed to accumulate. There needs to be certainty that legitimate maintenance needs will be taken care of, and this bill provides that.”
— Mendelson said in a release
Here’s the thing — the “squeaky wheel gets the grease” and Leonsis is that squeaky wheel. He had already tried to leave D.C. for what he saw as much greener pastures of Arlington, Virginia — and Arlington didn’t want him. So he goes back to D.C., and the D.C. Government has caved.
The Nationals have asked for years to get repairs dating back to 2008 when the stadium opened. This was a contentious dispute based on construction defects that sources said was never really fully address, and the team paid themselves for much of the repairs and capital improvements that were needed. Finally after 16-years in the stadium, the Nats got the lights and the LED scoreboard they requested to get the stadium up to current standards in those regards. The broken clock on the scoreboard was never fixed, and the round ribbon board above the Red Porch hasn’t worked for years. Seats have holes in them, and concrete is stained and chipped away. The food stations were never built to serve food as designed and efficiently. D.C. has ignored the stadium they have owned for years although they have denied those claims.
While the Nationals make their lease and tax payments, those payments have far exceeded the minimum payments towards the original municipal bonds. Those excess funds were reappropriated to balance D.C.’s budget. The Nationals are now a “cash cow” for D.C., and yet, Mayor Bowser and the council, have used the Ballpark Revenue Fund (BRF) to fund other needs with no money flowing back in the requested extra police and safety presence as well as the much-needed repairs for the stadium. After the windfalls from the Nats’ World Series season, D.C. has repurposed “more than $200 million, including $82 million the city plans to pull from the fund for other purposes between 2024 and 2027” per a Washington Post report.
For years, the D.C. government and the District’s leaders have mostly ignored the Nationals — but they can find $515 million of new money and reduced rents for Capital One Arena? Let’s not forget that the original construction budget for Nationals Park was $600 million, and they cut corners instead of building a state-of-the-art stadium using the best of Camden Yards, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and a retractable roofed stadium that the Brewers got back in 2001.
In fact, Nationals Park is the seventh youngest stadium in MLB at this time. And architecturally, it came up short because they had it built on a budget when MLB owned the team — and MLB refused to pay any more towards the construction. Any changes to the stadium would be the responsibility of the new owners when MLB transferred ownership. That of course happed back in mid-2006 with the Lerners. The changes they wanted would have to paid out of pocket — and they did. Remember, at the time, the Lerners paid a record price at the time, $450 million, for a team without a team-owned stadium included in the deal. On top of that they paid upwards of $25 million in improvements on a stadium that they do not own.
The end-result was a stadium that ranks consistently ranks in the bottom-half of MLB stadiums, and many times in the bottom-10 in baseball by some stadium snobs. The stadium is nice, and it is functional. But you can’t expect a stadium that would be Top-10 when so many corners were cut.
Yes, in my humble opinion, at some point, tear it down and start over if you want to get what you want or just relocate. The Nationals should not sign a lease extension on the current terms, but should be looking to make sure the new stadium the Washington Commanders are planning to build could house the Nationals for two-to-three seasons to allow for a jewel of a baseball stadium to be rebuilt at 1500 South Capitol St SE as an architectural marvel to be the best in baseball, in the nation’s capital.
For all intents and purposes, D.C. has the Nationals through at least 2037, and they have not been good stadium owners to this point. It has affected the ballpark experience in a negative way. Again, the stadium is fine, however, let’s not get carried away that this is anything more than a functional baseball stadium. This is not a top destination stadium.
“What most people say about Nationals Park is true. ‘It is fine, and it is adequate.’ They aren’t wrong. But if you’re gonna spend hundreds of millions of dollars on something, it should be special. I do believe MLB said to themselves, ‘what can we build that is acceptable and economical.’ “
— a conversation with a prominent architect who DM’d us and wants to remain anonymous. To the architect’s credit, we also got to see their work in a portfolio of photos that were spectacular in their designs
“The definition of architecture, for me, is not ‘designing a building’ — it is creating an experience around a place.”
“And ya, the place is designed just fine to watch a baseball game… But there are no other defining experiential features that make it special other than the indoor batting cages that can only be viewed inside the original President’s Club.”
“The stadium’s biggest defining feature was supposed to be the scoreboard… which is something every park has now including Wrigley. There is nothing anchoring/tying it to the site, and was built almost to ignore the river and sight lines.”
“Even from the outside it’s just a typical ball park. ‘Missed opportunities’ is just… true. The center field stands could have been lower, like at PNC and in Cincinnati. I went to school in SE Ohio, Cincinnati’s ball park is so cool to be inside. Beyond the game, there’s a lot to look at.”
There was little-to-no consideration of sightlines from the seating inside of Nationals Park. What was there in the early years have almost been completely blocked as large buildings were erected all around the stadium. Yes, the new development around the stadium was great news for the D.C. Government as they were collecting higher property taxes from the real estate owners, and income taxes from all of the affluent people who took residence in the Navy Yard neighborhood.
Also, who knew that the southern part of Washington, D.C. was in a storm belt? In 2023, there were 32-games threatened by inclement weather. That is nearly 40 percent of the games — and while some would blame it on “climate change” — just know that the average baseball fan hates travelling to games to sit through weather delays and a chance of postponement.
Threats of bad weather costs a team in ticket sales. On the current stadium, the cost to add a retractable roof to Nats Park would be cost prohibitive at this point in time. The team actually did a cost study on it. But a new open-air stadium with a retractable roof for the next baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals would be wise. It would give the team the ability to host concerts during the winter and other events — and never have to worry about inclement weather. And of course one of the prerequisites for hosting the Olympics is to have roofed stadiums/arenas. While those retractable roofs are generally an eye-sore from the outside, as they look like giant airport hangars, they feel just fine from the inside when the rain is pelting down.
The newest stadium built in MLB was for the Texas Rangers and that stadium, Globe Life Park has a retractable roof and got a No. 13 ranking from Sports Illustrated. Good for the 2023 World Series champs. The former Globe Life Park wasn’t even 30 years old when it was replaced in 2020 for the Rangers’ new stadium. Yes, they went to a new site which the Nationals should avoid.
One of the features of PNC Park in Pittsburgh is the clear views of the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Pittsburgh skyline, and fans can see the river behind the stadium. Camden Yards has that nostalgic feel of an old stadium that is actually new. That stadium set the new standard when it was built in the early 1990’s to set the standard for stadiums built after it. MLB and D.C. went in a different direction. Where PNC Park improved on Camden was taking the concession stands and putting them on the outside walls to give clear views of the field from the concourse, and they took advantage of the views. Nats Park got many aspects right at minimal cost like planting some cherry trees, the nostalgic walkway to the homeplate entrance, the statues, and the stone knee-wall behind homeplate.
Yes, use “old-timey feels” and classic DC architecture. The stadium should draw from the four most iconic structures in D.C. like that old deep red brick to match the original Smithsonian, white marble on the outside to match the Washington Monument, sandstone to match the US Capitol, and Aquia sandstone to match the White House. You can extend the stadium east enough to get some decent South Capitol views of the US Capitol with a raised observation deck. Actually raise the stadium enough and turn it 180 degrees to get views of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the Anacostia River.
Yes, in a new stadium, keep the outfield open to clear views of the bridge and river and beyond as the backdrop. Construct some bells and whistles to the seating areas like CitiField added with their home run deck, and their newly installed Cadillac Club at Payson’s as a speakeasy hideaway club behind the warning track in right field that has given fans a trendy, intimate and up-close space for those looking to get a unique ballpark experience. Stadiums are also adding those stand-up areas by the dugouts and homeplate for premium seating and like the Cowboys added a cordoned-off area for fans to high-five players as they leave the field. Texas put in a few standup areas along the foul lines.
-OR-
Just reconstruct several parts of the stadium. Add some iconic sightlines and stadium bells and whistles by being creative.
Some ideas would be to:
- Create a home run deck in leftfield. Turn both bullpens 90 degrees so they don’t take up all of that frontage on the field and you can add a left field and right field club like that Cadillac Club.
- Add outfield standup room for fans where the bullpen cart enters the field as well as where the grounds crew enters the field by the foul lines.
- Take the two sections between the dugout and homeplate to transform into standup seating at the same eye-level as the dugout and camera wells with features like the Cowboys have.
- The eastern side of the stadium could be mostly removed and rebuilt next to South Capitol Street, and the sidewalk would become a pedestrian tunnel as you build up above it with actual restaurants and party decks with views to the south to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and to the north to the US Capitol. You can also integrate into that an exclusive small boutique hotel with views into the stadium that extend higher than the upper deck along the third base side.
- Lastly, you retrofit part of the stadium for a retractable roof to cover the field while leaving the outfield seating uncovered. No more rain delays. Attendance goes up!
Maybe you lose some seating, maybe you gain some seating in these upgrades proposed above. I doubt all of this would cost anywhere close to the $515 million that Leonsis is getting for Capital One Arena. You do all of these upgrades to Nationals Park — and you don’t have to fully demolish the stadium — and you extend your lease for 30-years. Otherwise, I would not sign a lease extension unless you get it all. Instead of waiting 10-years and making threats that you will relocate outside of D.C. like Leonsis did — be proactive, and build a better stadium now.
The RCR Points drive, Unused RCR Points? Let’s Bring Some Holiday Cheer to Deserving Kids Again is continuing.
If you’d like to donate, simply send an email by no later than November 29 to [email protected]. Include the following information:
1. the email address associated with your account,
and
2. the number of points you want to donate.
Last Day to Donate is Today!
