Is Washington closing in on location for new stadium?

The Washington Football Team needs a new stadium.

Unfortunately for FedEx Field, owner Dan Snyder’s lack of incentive to make renovations during his reign of terror has seen the stadium, which first opened back in 1997, slowly morph into a laughingstock.

Between a sewage pipe bursting in Week 1, a sprinkler going off in a suite, a smoke machine blunder, and a railing full of Eagles fans collapsing and nearly injuring Jalen Hurts, FedEx’s malfunctions reached an all-time low in 2021.

The franchise has FedEx Field under lease until 2027, so we’re still several years away from Washington playing in a new stadium. With the contract winding down, though, the club needs to start planning for the future.

Fans would like to see the new stadium built in Washington, D.C., but that seems unlikely for myriad of reasons. Nevertheless, the conversation was reignited this past week, and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin is right at the center of it.

Could the Washington Football Team finalize a new stadium location in the near future?

In Virginia’s General Assembly on Monday, Youngkin said he wants the state’s Baseball Stadium Authority, which was created in 1992, to center on a possible relocation of a professional football team’s home stadium with the hope of luring the Washington Football Team with FedEx’s lease expiring in 2027.

The grand plan, introduced by the Virginia House and Senate, is to build a cosmic entertainment and sports complex in either Prince William County or Loudon County, the latter of which is home to the team’s headquarters in Ashburn.

It’s worth noting that the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C. are still in the running. However, with Youngkin, who took office on Jan. 15, pushing hard for Virginia, it seems like the Commonwealth is leading the race.

Earlier this week, Northern Virginia State Senator Jeremy McPike told FOX 5 that legislators met with Washington Football Team officials last month and that discussions of a move to Virginia were “very serious.”

"“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,” McPike told FOX 5."

It’s certainly a very polarizing topic. While fans would like to see Washington move as far away from FedEx Field as humanly possible, relocating to northern Virginia wouldn’t feel like “home” compared to the nation’s capital.

There will be more updates to come, but for now we’re getting the sense that progress is (finally) being made toward a new stadium. With multiple years needed to build the complex, don’t expect Youngkin to let up anytime soon.