When they move on from Ashburn

June 21, 2024

by Alex Zeese

There’ve been a lot of moves happening with the Commanders’ practice facility. Last week, we received the recent news that the Commanders finally got rid of their astroturf practice field, and this week we learned that they filed paperwork that would allow the current 160+ acre site to possibly be turned into 3 server facilities. With that news and training camp coming, I have been thinking a lot about the practice facilities.

It’s one thing that we don’t talk about as fans because odds are you don’t go to training camp, or if you do it’s only 1-2 visits, and it’s not at the front of your mind. But, it should be: the facility the Commanders have is the 2nd oldest in the NFL, built in 1992. Only Cleveland’s facility is older, as it was built in 1991. Washington’s facility is routinely ranked at or near the bottom of the NFL by both players and media alike. The assumption has been that when the team rebuilds its stadium, a new facility is likely part of the plans; however, I wonder if the delays in stadium construction will mean delays in a new facility.

Obviously, if the team ends up on a large plot of land in the suburbs, then the practice facility would likely be a part of that development, whether that’s out in Largo or down 95 in Virginia. It’s the simplest and most likely solution – acquire a big plot of land and put everything close together. However, things get a bit more interesting if a deal gets done in the city and the team ends up being able to build back at the RFK site. The RFK site is big enough for a stadium and some mixed-use commercial and residential areas, but it’s clearly not enough space for the team to build a practice facility at that location. In that case, the question becomes a where would the team eventually move their practice facility. That could mean a bidding war that would be as heated as the stadium fight.

In my mind, the more fun question is what should they look to build. When it comes to this question I would suggest looking at some of the newer facilities in the league and see what stands out.

I have some suggestions:

A 1st class medical facility on site. While every aspect of a new facility would be an improvement over the old one, this would be an area I’d especially like to see them focus on.  One of the most common issues we read and hear about as fans is that when players are injured or trying to recover from an injury they don’t want to do it at the team facility. Whether it’s a lack of trust in the medical staff from the prior regime, or maybe the facility is not “up to snuff”, improving the team’s ability to treat players should be a higher priority for Washington.

Another item that came to my mind after all the scandals of the Tiny Tyrant era. I would suggest they just build separate buildings for the football side and the business side of operations. The team moved a chunk of their sales team to a suite in the stadium, so it’s an idea that is not without precedent. The corporate culture and football culture are two very different animals, so dividing them makes a lot of sense.

Many teams are getting rid of the practice bubbles and building and replacing them with an actual structure. While this isn’t exactly new, the Packers have had one for close to 3 decades. They seem to be becoming standard. The Raiders recently built the largest in the league. Theirs is 150 yards long & 108 feet high. The Jaguars just spent $120 million on a new facility next to their stadium and are building a full-time indoor field, rather than a bubble, and a covered spectator section by the fields for training camps.

Lastly, there’s been a trend in the league to build a small stadium at the practice facility. The Cowboys’ facility has a 12,000-seat indoor stadium. The Vikings TCO Performance Center opened in 2016 and features a 10,000-seat stadium to be used by local schools. Jacksonville looks like they are building permanent grandstands at their new facility. While this is not something that’s being done at every new facility, I think it’s something the team should consider – not only would it be great for the fans when they come to training camp, but the ability to interact with the community, as much as possible, is good for re-building the team’s relationships.