Avula says he’s ‘not concerned’ about future of new baseball stadium

Handshake deals only work if everyone agrees on what the agreement was. That doesn’t seem to be happening with Richmond’s new baseball stadium.

This week, the company that owns the Richmond Flying Squirrels threatened to sue after a city official implied the city and VCU could strike their own deal to allow college baseball games at the under-construction CarMax Park without the blessing of the professional ballclub. 

Calling the city economic development official’s comments “shocking” and “reckless,” the Squirrels said the remarks were the latest in a “litany of instances” where the city has harmed the team’s interests.

Asked for a response to the letter, Mayor Danny Avula on Friday stressed that the city owns the stadium. He said he understands it “raises eyebrows” for the team’s legal letter to have gone public, but sees it as part of an ongoing negotiation process.

“I fully expect that the Squirrels are going to be in there for opening day. And I fully expect that VCU will be playing baseball there,” Avula said when asked about the stadium dispute at an unrelated news conference. “I think a lot of this just needs to happen between the lawyers. So I’m not concerned about the future of this.”

In Tuesday’s letter, a law firm representing Navigators Baseball — the parent company of the Squirrels — accused the city of undercutting the team’s ability to negotiate with VCU by implying the city could work out its own deal with the university. In January, the Squirrels announced they were ending negotiations with VCU due to an impasse over the financial terms of sharing the stadium.

The stadium — part of the larger, 67-acre Diamond District redevelopment project — is being financed largely by $130 million in city-issued bonds that are expected to be repaid by future revenues generated by the project.

Because of the public financing, the city’s Economic Development Authority will own the stadium. As part of an informal deal announced in October, VCU agreed to lease the stadium for about $400,000 per year, and agreed to pay the Squirrels around $300,000 annually for the university’s share of stadium maintenance costs.

It’s not clear exactly what caused the breakdown in the arrangement between VCU and the Squirrels. Whatever the cause, the new dispute is about whether the city can work out its own deal for VCU to use the stadium.

“The EDA simply cannot do an end-run around the Navigators and permit VCU or anyone else to use the Stadium,” a lawyer for the Navigators wrote in the letter.

When asked to clarify if the city believes it does, in fact, have the power to do that, Avula didn’t directly answer beyond saying he’s confident the lawyers can work it out.

“The lawyers are on it,” he said. “And I think we’ll have some news in the coming weeks.”

City comments in question

The Navigators letter was largely a response to comments made by Sharon Ebert, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for planning and economic development, at a City Council committee meeting earlier this month.

While presenting a plan to have the city loan the EDA nearly $15 million to facilitate the purchase of Sports Backers Stadium from VCU, Ebert explained that VCU told the city it initially wanted the Sports Backers transaction and the usage terms for the new stadium to be completed at the same time.

“We now have learned that the Navigators do not want to go forward with the operating agreement, so we'll most likely be doing that as well,” Ebert said.

Interpreting that to mean the city was willing to do its own deal with VCU before VCU has a deal with the Squirrels, the Navigators letter said Ebert’s comments implied the city was preparing to “breach” the stadium lease. The letter urged Ebert to retract her comments, while calling on the EDA to publicly disavow the remarks and “refrain from any attempt to enter into an agreement with VCU.”

“Should the EDA proceed down any other path, the Navigators will have no choice but to pursue all available legal remedies to protect their interests under the Stadium Lease,” the letter said.

Squirrels say they are owed payment for building VCU’s space in new stadium

The Squirrels owner also questioned whether the EDA is meeting its funding commitments for the project, accusing the authority of not fully providing $6.5 million the Navigators were expecting from the city.

That amount includes $2.5 million the company spent on building out a space at the stadium for VCU’s baseball team to use. The EDA had indicated it would fund that work, according to the letter, but has not done so.

As evidence for that point, the Squirrels owner included a document showing comments VCU made to a draft lease document in early 2025 objecting to the notion that VCU would be paying for the buildout of the VCU-specific space.

“VCU is not paying for the build out of the space,” the edit reads. “The city agreed to pay for it per discussions in a call with VCU.”

VCU did not respond to a request for comment.

In a written statement about the baseball team’s letter, Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II praised the connective power of sports but gave little indication of how the city plans to find a way out of the dispute.

“Sports has a unique role in unifying communities and providing a vehicle for success for our young athletes,” Donald said. “We are committed to working — diligently and transparently — with all of our partners to build a vibrant and thriving Diamond District. While there is still work to do, we’re on the right track.”

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org