Would the owners of RFK Memorial Stadium refuse to let the Montreal Expos temporarily play at the ballpark to put Virginia out of the running for the team and a stadium site?
Mark Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Government Sports and Entertainment Commission, which owns RFK Stadium, responded with "No comment."
Virginia, Washington and five others are vying for the opportunity to call the Montreal Expos their own. Major League Baseball is expected to decide where to move the team this summer, and then determine who will have the right to buy it.
Talk of using RFK to give Washington leverage over Virginia has been batted around recently, most openly on Mark Plotkin's WTOP radio talk show.
Virginia investors announced last week a financial package and a 450-acre stadium site surrounded by development as its best bet in making Virginia Expos a reality. The proposal would require the use of RFK for three years until the stadium is constructed near Washington Dulles International Airport.
Tony Bullock, spokesman for D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, said the mayor does not support using RFK to block Virginia's ability to compete. "That's a rumor gone bad," he said. "We are not going to play a blackmail game over the temporary use of RFK."
Brian Hannigan of the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority said U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee, has assured Major League Baseball that a Virginia bound team could play at RFK. The committee oversees the D.C. Government Sports and Entertainment Commission.
"I don't think the D.C. Sports Entertainment Commission is in the position to turn us down," Hannigan added. "Eighty-one home games minimum for three seasons. RFK currently has one paying tenant, D.C. United."
Tuohey, while declining to comment on Virginia's possible use of RFK, said the ballpark is available if Williams is able to persuade Major League Baseball to bring the team to his backyard. "The plan is the renovations (of RFK) will take place, for the Washington team, between September and April," he said. "The sports commission and the city will take care of the renovations. Washington would pay for it."
He said the stadium would need field and seating renovations, which would be "very expensive."
Bullock said they would cost "tens of millions of dollars."
Tuohey said the D.C. United soccer team will continue to play at the stadium regardless of any decision involving a baseball team.
RFK was home to the Washington Senators and the Washington Redskins for 10 years when it first opened.