About Virginia Baseball Club

Contact : Jerry Burkot
(703) 971-1732
(571) 214-5125 cell

The Virginia Baseball Club, chaired by Bill Collins, was formed in 1994 to return Major League Baseball to the National Capital area. The partnership is comprised of predominantly Virginia business leaders who are committed to purchase and relocate a Major League Baseball franchise to the Commonwealth of Virginia

The Virginia Baseball Club was a finalist in the 1994-95 expansion process, which awarded franchises to Phoenix and Tampa Bay . In 1995, the VBC reached an agreement with Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros franchise, to purchase and relocate the Houston Astros in 1997 before Major League Baseball (MLB) intervened to keep the franchise in Houston , requiring a 1996 referendum. The VBC negotiated with the Montreal ownership and also submitted an offer to purchase the Montreal Expos prior to its acquisition by MLB.

The Virginia Baseball Club is part of a unique private-public partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia . A financing plan to construct a new state-of-the-art ballpark was enacted by the Virginia General Assembly in 1997 and signed into law by Governor George Allen, with the VBC agreeing to participate in the overall funding of the ballpark project. The ballpark financing plan would not utilize any revenues from the General Fund and the bonds that are issued would be repaid entirely through revenues generated through the operation of the ballpark, lease payments and parking revenues.

The Virginia Baseball Club continues to work in partnership (through the Cooperative Effort Agreement) with the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, a state agency established in 1996, which has been funded by the Virginia Baseball Club.

Major League Baseball's Relocation Committee, established in late 2002 to recommend a permanent relocation market for the Montreal Expos, has toured ballpark sites in Northern Virginia and received two formal presentations from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2003. The Virginia Baseball Club participated in the March, 2004, Relocation Committee meeting and tours of the two preferred ballpark sites in Northern Virginia . The VBC continues to work closely within the process created by the Commissioner's office and the Relocation Committee for the sale and relocation of the Montreal franchise in 2004.