DC Arena Football Team

[DCGloryYears828791]

I sent an email out to the Redskins asking what happened to the Arena rights that Dan Snyder purchased and Karl Swanson or one of his 4 secretarys sent me back an email that said that Snyder still owns the rights to an Arena Football Team.

The offseason would be even shorter if we had an AFL team playing at Verizon Center, and how cool would it be to see a team here in DC.

just a quick fyi, in case anybody else was watching AFL on NBC yesterday.

GO George Mason!!!!!!

[gay4pacman]

i actually think that i could get into an arena team especially if dan took it as seriously as he does the redskins.

[JansenFan]

Imagine Santana Moss moonlighting on the arena team. That would be cool.

[RedskinsFreak]

Offseason's not affected -- Arena doesn't count, no matter who owns a local team.

[Redskins1974]

Snyder's original intent was to use the old Cap Centre as an Arena football venue. At that time, he considered building a new Redskins Park on the surrounding land. However, developer dollars spoke louder than his original plan.

I think one of the only things that has blocked it from happening is finding a venue. For some reason the MCI Center wasn't an option 5 or so years ago when he purchased the rights for an Arena team.

[frankcal20]

I watch and go to several games here in Los Angeles. It's definatly not NFL but its pretty fun. My wife and I go and get 2 beers, 2 hotdogs and 2 tickets for 25 bucks and we are 15 rows or so from the field. Its pretty fun.

[Steve Spurrier III]

The Redskins have held the rights to an AFL team since 2003, but no progress has been made. These links are from an old theHogs.net thread:

Basically, Dan Snyder does have the rights and even wants to get a team up and running. However, as you might imagine space is just a little tight downtown, and considering they just blew up the Capital Center/US Air Arena (Washington Warthogs, anyone?)

Here's a quote from an editorial in the Georgetown U paper:

The District�s would-be AFL team CEO, Redskins owner Dan Snyder, hoped the D.C. version would be up and running by 2003, but without a home, there is no point in revving up the �Washington Warriors.� MCI Center, Patriot Center and Comcast Center are all either over-booked or over-priced, and the odds on having space nearby to build a new venue are slim to � nevermind; if I suggest a new stadium be built, the last thing it would be for is an AFL team.

The article as a whole is an interesting read, here's the link if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.thehoya.com/sports/032304/sports9.cfm

Here's an article from back in 1999, when all of the intentions seemed a bit more clear:

Snyder yesterday confirmed a Nov. 20 report in The Washington Times that he has purchased an Arena team that will begin play by 2003. With Redskins minority owner Fred Drasner and family members, Snyder purchased the team for $4 million.

. . . While the name and colors aren�t official, the team will be called �Warriors� and wear the 1965 Redskins� burgundy helmets with a gold arrow, pending agreement with NFL Properties. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said talks with Snyder about the uniforms are expected soon.

. . . Snyder said no Redskins football officials will be used for the indoor team, but the Arena club could one day become a minor league system for the Redskins.

source for full article:

http://www.webskins.org/TWT/1299/120403.html

Snyder had to pay $4 million for the rights to the team, so you know at one point he was serious about it.

It appears that a venue is the biggest obstacle. If there is one thing we know about Snyder, it is that he will always maximize his profits. If he can find a suitable arena and believes that the team can make him some money, you can believe that he will still try to make it happen. The Nationals coming to town certainly won't help things.

Personally, I would love to see an arena team in Washington. I agree that it isn't anything close to the real thing, but as far as I am concerned, bastardized football is better than no football at all.

[kadskin]

GO George Mason!!!!!!

Mason Pride Over Here! Finally my school's got something to be proud of! NCAA CHAMPS! IM FEELING IT!

[Sir_Monk]

Personally, I would love to see an arena team in Washington. I agree that it isn't anything close to the real thing, but as far as I am concerned, bastardized football is better than no football at all.

I agree, I have been a fan of the Austin Wranglers since they came down here, while it is not the NFL by any strech, it is still a blast going to their games.

I think it would be cool if Snyder could somehow incorporate the Redskins in some way, be it with the teams name or at least the color scheme. Maybe the AFL could put the DC team in the same division as the team from Dallas (owned by Jerry Jones) and set up a Dallas, Washington rivalry in the AFL...

[VRIEL1]

Danny needs to think about Virginia. See Virginia has no professional sporting events. For the life of me I can't figure out why? They say that most people head into town not out of town...well news flash...with the sheer volume of cars heading to any game whether it be in town or out it will be backed up. Why not spread the wealth around so everyone can either be happy that they don't have to travel or be pissed that they do.

[VRIEL1]

Another soap box. Why does DC lump the outskirts into the metro picture when it means something positive for them...ie..."we have a huge fan base for a baseball team in DC metro and Virginia including the subberbs, but god forbid they put any type of ball field out their..."we don't need a ball field out their no one would attend." If we are apart of the metro area then it should only be fair for travel expenses to be shared by all.