DENVER, CO — State Senator Jordan Carter (D-Denver), Minority Leader of the National State Legislature, issued the following statement today regarding the Northern Virginia Stadium Act and Virginia's four DFL franchises:

"Colorado already settled our own stadium question. We built in small business protections — 35% of contracts to Colorado small businesses, local vendor right of first refusal, clawback enforcement, annual public reporting — because that was the right call for us. I'm not telling Virginia to copy our bill, and this isn't my decision to make. It's Virginia's.

"What I'll say is this: with four franchises already in the Commonwealth, Virginia's legislature should think decisively about how it handles stadium financing requests, because this bill won't be the last one. Whatever standard gets set, it should apply evenly to the next three teams that come asking.

"Separately — and this has nothing to do with Virginia's decision — the League has a real geography problem. No team in California. None in New York. Nothing in the Pacific Northwest or the Midwest. Those are some of the largest fan bases and media markets in the country, and four franchises are clustered in one Commonwealth instead. That's a conversation for the Commissioner's office and prospective ownership groups, but it's worth saying plainly: the DFL is leaving a lot of the map on the table."

Carter represents Colorado's Capitol Hill district in the State Legislature.