THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 56 lines
Virginians like major league baseball, according to a poll released Wednesday. They just don't want to pay for it.
Not by writing a check out of the state government's general fund of available cash, anyway. Plans to finance a stadium with money from a special sports lottery seem to have much broader support.
A poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research in Columbia, Md., shows that 69 percent of the state's registered voters approve of efforts to bring a major league team to Northern Virginia. Men like the plan more than women, the poll showed, but there is generally strong support throughout the state.
That support withers, however, when Virginians are asked to spend about $175 million to build a stadium for the team. Only 23 percent like that idea, compared to 63 percent who oppose it. The rest were undecided.
A group of investors is hoping to attract a team - particularly the Houston Astros - in time for it to play in Washington next summer and in a new Virginia stadium by 1999. Financing for that stadium has been a formidable hitch in the group's plans.
A special legislative committee is trying to craft a stadium financing plan, one that would likely have to include some help from the state budget. Lawmakers have already rejected the idea of just paying for the stadium with a check from the state government, but other options still exist.
One of those options - a special lottery game - seemed buoyed by Wednesday's poll. Half the Virginians asked said they would approve of a lottery game to provide the financing, compared to 40 percent who said they would not; 10 percent are undecided.
A suggestion that Northern Virginia counties raise their sales tax 5 percent didn't meet with citizen approval, the poll showed. Even in other parts of the state, people rejected the idea by almost a 3-1 margin.
``I think those numbers show we're right on track, because the sports lottery idea is where we're heading,'' said Mike Scanlon, spokesman for the investment group. ``We have a very impressive base of support that will only grow as more of this comes together.''
The telephone poll was conducted June 3 and June 4, and included interviews with 827 registered voters around the state. The results are considered accurate to plus or minus 3.5 points. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THE BACKGROUND
Under consideration: A Major League Baseball team in Virginia,
one that would carry the state name - the way the Texas Rangers or
California Angels do - and play in a proposed 45,000-seat stadium
somewhere near Washington, D.C.
A special legislative subcommittee is meeting. A recommendation
is due by July 1. The committee could bring a financing plan to the
full General Assembly in time for the team to open at RFK Stadium
next spring.
KEYWORDS: PROPOSED ARENA by CNB