Baseball Stadium Agreement between the Government of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Sports and Entertainment Commission, and Baseball Expos, L.P.
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**The 2004 DC Baseball Stadium Agreement** — the foundational public-financing agreement for the construction of **Nationals Park** in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia waterfront. Signed between the D.C. government (under Mayor Anthony Williams), the District of Columbia Sports and Entertainment Commission (DCSEC), and Baseball Expos, L.P. (the legal entity for what would become the Washington Nationals when the Montreal Expos relocated for the 2005 season). **The Agreement committed approximately $611 million in D.C. public financing** for the stadium — drawn from a stadium-specific gross receipts tax on D.C. businesses (the 'Ballpark Fee'), rental car taxes, and concession/parking taxes. The Agreement is one of the largest single-stadium public-financing commitments in U.S. sports history. **The Anthony Williams administration's commitment to the deal was politically controversial** — DC Council Chair Linda Cropp added a last-minute amendment requiring 50% private financing (which Williams negotiated around). 29 pages.
Background
Phase 2 wantlist hit cleared. Activates the stadiums-and-relocation category for the first time. This is the foundational document of the Nationals Park public-financing arrangement — one of the most consequential public-stadium-financing deals in MLB history. Structural pattern: MLB threatened to relocate the Expos elsewhere (Virginia and Las Vegas were active alternatives), DC bid most aggressively, the Anthony Williams administration committed $611M in public financing. 2004 election-year context: DC officials including Linda Cropp (Council Chair) and Marion Barry (running for Council) opposed the financing terms; Mayor Williams negotiated through the opposition. The Ballpark Fee tax structure has been operative since stadium opening (2008) and is one of the few stadium-specific dedicated taxes in U.S. sports financing — most stadium taxes are general (sales/lodging/rental car) rather than industry-specific. Operative document for any Nationals Park public-financing analysis. The Anacostia ballpark forecast (also in this batch) is the economic projection underlying the Council's approval; the 2005 lease (also in this batch) is the operational rental document. The Expos RICO Complaint (also this batch) provides the contraction-era context — MLB had threatened to eliminate the Expos entirely, then relocated them to D.C. on these public-financing terms.
Key provisions
- Parties: Government of D.C., DCSEC, Baseball Expos L.P. (the MLB-owned Expos relocation entity).
- Public financing scope: Approximately $611M in D.C. public funds, drawn from the Ballpark Fee (a stadium-specific gross-receipts tax on D.C. businesses with >$5M annual revenue), rental car taxes, and concession/parking taxes.
- Location: Anacostia waterfront, Southeast D.C., near Navy Yard Metro.
- Stadium: Nationals Park, opened March 2008.
- Operational deal: 30-year lease from DCSEC to Baseball Expos / Nationals; team responsible for operating costs; D.C. provides land, infrastructure, and construction financing.
- [Detailed content review of 29 pages deferred — specific financing schedule, lease terms, no-relocation clause, etc.]
Notable provisions
[Detailed content review deferred.]
Further context
DC Baseball Stadium Agreement (2004)
Phase 2 wantlist hit cleared. The $611M D.C. public-financing agreement for Nationals Park. 29 pages. Activates stadiums-and-relocation category.
What it does
D.C. (Mayor Williams) + DCSEC commit approximately $611M in public financing for stadium construction at the Anacostia waterfront. Funding via the Ballpark Fee (stadium-specific gross-receipts tax on D.C. businesses), rental car taxes, concession/parking taxes. 30-year lease to Baseball Expos / Nationals.
Related documents
2002_memo_washington-dc-mlb-mou.md— 2002 predecessor MOU.2005_lease_washington-dc-proposed-lease-agreement.md— operational lease.2005_agreement_dcsec-no-relocation-agreement-draft.md— no-relocation clause.2004_report_anacostia-ballpark-economic-forecast.md— economic projection.2002-07-16_filing_expos-minority-owners-rico-complaint.md— the litigation context that produced the move.
References
- Primary source: sabr.box.com — Government of the District of Columbia / DCSEC / Baseball Expos, L.P., retrieved 2026-05-17.
- Confirmation source: sabr.box.com — Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Business of Baseball Files. SABR-hosted Box link. 29 pages. The operative agreement governing public financing of Nationals Park.
- File fingerprint: SHA256 86a12c2e45908969bbe4af3a1a72bbcaff0663e98eb954321f301e7d5124fa88.
Evidence trail
Per archive editorial standards §1.3 and §1.4, verified documents require two independent confirmation sources and an archive.org snapshot. This panel is the integrity record the archive holds for this document.
File integrity
- SHA256
86a12c2e45908969bbe4af3a1a72bbcaff0663e98eb954321f301e7d5124fa88- Filename
2004_agreement_washington-dc-baseball-stadium-agreement.pdf- Format
- PDF · 29 pp · 183 KB
- Retrieved
- 2026-05-17 by
claude/cowork-9167cb28 (uploaded by alex) - Primary URL
- https://sabr.box.com/s/s8orpfb7ux9bfjumsjv0r2s22z9xq3ix
Confirmation sources (1)
| Publisher | Retrieved | URL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Business of Baseball Files | 2026-05-17 | https://sabr.box.com/s/s8orpfb7ux9bfjumsjv0r2s22z9xq3ix | SABR-hosted Box link. 29 pages. The operative agreement governing public financing of Nationals Park. |
Most recent status change
needs_review on 2026-05-17 by claude/cowork-9167cb28.
**Phase 2 wantlist hit cleared.** PDF acquired via SABR upload. **Activates `stadiums-and-relocation` category.**