Who'll benefit most?

'Sweet deal' could be good for business and political players in Washington-area baseball game

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 12/22/2004

By MICHAEL ZITZ D.C. Council seals deal for baseball team

It remains to be seen who will score the most political points as a result of yesterday's D.C. Council approval of an amended baseball stadium deal.

Will the ballpark really be an economic engine and become Washington Mayor Anthony Williams' lasting legacy?

Will D.C. Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp be elected the city's next mayor for having the nerve to stand up and go nose to nose with the lords of baseball?

Cropp predicted changes in the deal will save the city $193 million.

But there can be little doubt that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig hit a grand slam with a deal in which the District guarantees financing of a ballpark that could ultimately cost $600 million.

"Major League Baseball is pleased that the Council of the District of Columbia today approved legislation consistent with the terms of our original agreement to have Washington as a home for Major League Baseball," Selig said yesterday in a statement.

"We can now focus our attention on bringing baseball back to Washington this coming season," he continued.

The commissioner drew the Montreal Expos relocation process out for years, deftly pitting the District and Northern Virginia against each other in a competition that also included Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; Monterrey, Mexico; and Norfolk.

But the proximity of ballpark sites in Southeast Washington and Loudoun County--just 20 miles apart--created an economic dynamic in which either D.C. or Virginia could siphon millions from the other's economy each baseball season if it got the team.

As a result, the Expos, an orphaned team that had been hemorrhaging money in Canada, got what insiders consider a sweetheart stadium deal. They will become the Washington Nationals and probably do quite well in one of the country's largest and most affluent markets. The new team already has sold 16,000 season tickets, in spite of what were grave doubts about its status until yesterday.

After a number of stops and starts since Mayor Williams negotiated the initial agreement with baseball in September, the D.C. Council narrowly OK'd the deal 7-6 yesterday, with Cropp providing the deciding vote.

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Date published: 12/22/2004