With plans already funded to improve their home and an eye on how their neighborhood has improved over the years, the Ravens want to extend their lease on M&T Bank Stadium by at least 15 years and as long as 25 years.
“We felt it was important to show a commitment to the community, the city, the state, our fans,” said Chad Steele, the team’s senior vice president of communications.
The state Board of Public Works will consider a new lease between the Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority at its meeting Wednesday, and the team is expected to take advantage of state funds approved last year to improve facilities.
According to the authority, “the general commercial terms of an agreement related to the renovation of the stadium were presented and approved by the National Football League” on December 14. Then, on December 27, the authority’s board of directors met to consider a new lease. according to the Ravens.
“MSA is extremely pleased with the proposed new stadium lease agreement with the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium which continues our strong partnership with the team through the end of the 2037 NFL season with two 5-year extension options.” the authority said in a statement. Monday night.
The team’s current lease doesn’t expire until the end of 2027, but the team seems eager to start improving their home of 24 years. The Public Works Board’s agenda item noted that the new deal was negotiated “in anticipation” of a request that the board issue bonds “for improvements and renovations to the football stadium in the near future.”
The Maryland General Assembly in its last session authorized the stadium authority to borrow up to $1.2 billion — split evenly between M&T and the Orioles’ Camden Yards — for improvements to its two professional sports facilities. Governor Larry Hogan signed the measure into law in April.
According to the stadium authority, while the new lease agreement is “fundamentally the same as the agreement currently in place, it offers increased protections to the MSA, additional revenue opportunities for the team that are in line with current stadium trends, and opportunities to collaborate on improvements. that will enhance the fan experience.”
In the summer of 2021, the Ravens had entered preliminary talks with the stadium authority about “an extended lease” Dick Cass, then the president of the Ravens, told The Baltimore Sun in January of the following year. He said the team did not want to delay plans to upgrade the stadium with amenities such as additional premium seats in the lower bowl and better access to new developments in the Warner Street corridor.
Both Steele and the stadium authority declined to specify what improvements the Ravens have planned. Steele highlighted new developments in the corridor, including a recently opened Top Golf facility and a planned concert venue.
“I went there when Marshal Yanda was here. He had an event at Top Golf,” Steele said of the former Ravens guard who was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor in December. “I had been to Top Golfs in other places. They did a great job on it, it’s beautiful. Exciting things are happening down there.”
Last year, the Ravens hired Populous, a Kansas City architectural firm to recommend improvements to M&T. It’s the same firm that designed a $120 million renovation project that was completed in 2019 and added new high-definition video boards and suites to the four corners of the stadium.
The lease prohibits the Ravens from moving and requires the team to play all of its home games at M&T with “limited” exceptions. The team will not pay rent but will continue to pay operation and maintenance costs, either directly or reimbursed by the authority. With limited exceptions, the Ravens will keep the revenue from the stadium.
As the Ravens look to close on their residence, the Orioles near the end of their current lease: The team’s lease, originally scheduled to expire at the end of 2021, has been extended through December 31, 2023. You have until February 1 to exercise a one-time five-year extension.
The family of O’s owner, Peter Angelos, who has become incapacitated by illness, has been waging a bitter legal fight for control of the team and your other assets. But his eldest son, John Angelos, the Orioles’ president and CEO, told staff he intends to sign a new lease with the stadium authority to keep the team in Baltimore.
Your Raven neighbors would certainly appreciate that.
“For a long time we have felt that Camden Yards has been an anchor for Baltimore and downtown, along with the stadium, along with what happens downtown,” Steele said. “It’s a great benefit for the city and the state, as it generates a ton of revenue. We wanted to make sure we were part of that positive economic impact.”
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