What is Sports Backers Stadium and why is it holding up Diamond District development?
Recent news items have focused on the city’s acquisition of Sports Backers Stadium as a key piece of its Diamond District development, a mixed-use community that will be anchored by a new baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is Sports Backers Stadium?
There are multiple sports facilities in the area currently known as the Diamond District.
The Diamond is used for baseball games, while the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center is an indoor facility that mainly hosted basketball.
Behind The Diamond is Sports Backers Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 3,250. It has a full running track and a field that can be used for soccer, lacrosse or other outdoor sports.
Is Sports Backers involved?
No.
While the stadium is named for Sports Backers, a local nonprofit that promotes active living, it is not owned by the group.
Sports Backers had their offices there for years but relocated to a new headquarters along the Fall Line Trail in 2025. They have no ownership stake in or influence over what happens with the property.
Who owns the stadium?
VCU owns Sports Backers Stadium, which is used for its soccer and track teams as well as other athletic activities.
The school is moving those teams, as well as other sports operations, to a new Athletic Village nearby on Hermitage Road.
Why is the stadium important?
The city controls every parcel of land needed for the larger Diamond District except for Sports Backers Stadium, meaning the full vision of the site can’t be realized without it.
The new baseball stadium, CarMax Park, has already been built directly next to The Diamond, but development of condos, offices, retail and the rest of the project can’t get fully underway until Richmond’s Economic Development Authority purchases (and tears down) Sports Backers Stadium.
That development is supposed to generate revenue to pay off the bonds that were sold to build the baseball stadium.
What is the plan for the stadium?
At an October ceremony with Mayor Danny Avula and Flying Squirrels owner Lou DiBella, VCU Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin publicly committed to selling the stadium to the EDA for $25 million.
However, that sale has not yet occurred.
Sharon Ebert, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer, said at a City Council committee meeting last week that VCU told the city it did not want to complete the sale until it also finalized a contract to play its college baseball games at CarMax Park.
“We were ready to execute the purchase and sale agreement,” Ebert said. “They said, ‘No, no, no, we want to also have the lease agreement.’”
How is VCU’s baseball lease going?
Not well. At the October 2025 event, the three parties (the city, Squirrels and VCU) jointly committed to leasing the new stadium to VCU for baseball games. VCU would pay $410,000 yearly to the city in rent and $300,000 yearly to the Squirrels to assist with maintenance costs.
But in January, with the deal still not closed, the Squirrels said they had ended negotiations with VCU.
VCU President Michael Rao issued a statement on the negotiations in January.
“We are optimistic about bringing to closure the final details and are committed to doing so because our partnership with the other players on this project is important,” he wrote.
At the time, VCU declined to answer follow-up questions on the negotiations.
Why did City Council have to approve an additional loan to the project?
The initial bonds to finance the Diamond District did not include the funds to purchase the Sports Backers Stadium property.
At a February meeting, Ebert said that money wasn’t included because there was no agreement with VCU at the time.
“At the time we were negotiating with VCU, they were not ready yet to come to the table,” Ebert said. “They insisted that we had a final lease agreement with them to lease them the use of the CarMax Park stadium for college baseball.
“At the same time they also wanted this document, the purchase and sale agreement of the Sports Backers Stadium, and they kind of held them together.”
This February, the City Council voted to move $14.7 million out of the city’s Contingency Reserve fund to loan to the EDA in order to cover the purchase, but the purchase has not yet been made.
What’s next?
Both the city and VCU have said publicly they’re committed to getting the deal done, but as of now the land remains in VCU’s possession.
Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.
