Despite a "tumultuous" seven-year tenure, Redskins President BRUCE ALLEN's biggest challenge lies ahead in "brokering a deal for a new stadium, a billion-dollar-plus project expected to open" by '27 when the team's FedExField lease expires, according to Clarke & Schneider of the WASHINGTON POST. Renderings for a 60,000-seat, "semitransparent venue ringed by a moat" were revealed last year as part of a CBS "60 Minutes" segment on Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels. Allen said that the "vision for the project remains the same," although its location "isn't settled." Neither is the "projected cost or financing plan." If Allen can "deliver a successful stadium deal, he'll impact the franchise in a way his father," late Pro Football HOFer and former Redskins coach GEORGE ALLEN, "never could -- increasing revenue and ideally, if it's a high-tech venue with millennial appeal, energizing and replenishing an aging, weary-of-losing fan base for decades to come." Allen, who is taking the lead in the negotiations, said, "We see this decision as one of the biggest decisions this franchise is going to make." Whether the stadium is "built in Northern Virginia, on the site of RFK Stadium in the District or remains in Maryland, the Redskins' next stadium" will be Owner DAN SNYDER's legacy. Allen "enters the most critical phase of the effort -- negotiations for a site -- on unfamiliar and uncomfortable ground, regarded as a villain by many longtime fans for the ugly way in which" GM SCOT MCCLOUGHAN was fired. For the Redskins to "seal a deal for a stadium site, Allen must win over lawmakers who answer to many of those angry fans as well as taxpayers who care little about the NFL or the fortunes" of the team. If he succeeds, Allen "may prove himself to be the best hire Snyder has made since buying the team" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 4/21).
