Bill provision may aid Commanders' return to D.C.
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John Keim, ESPN Staff Writer
The Washington Commanders took a significant step toward returning to the site of their glory days in the nation’s capital, thanks to a provision added into a spending bill Tuesday that will be voted on later this week.
The bill would transfer control of the land where RFK Stadium still resides from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The House has already passed the bill, but the Senate is expected to vote on it later this week.
If approved, it would greatly increase the chances of the Commanders returning to the city. The franchise played at RFK Stadium from 1961-96 and was known for having one of the best home-field advantages — excited fans could even make one section of the stands bounce.
The site carries great sentimental value because it’s where Washington played during its Super Bowl appearances from 1982-91, winning three titles. The organization also reached the Super Bowl after the 1972 season.
Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the bill, called the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. It was introduced by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky).
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“As a city, we have worked for years to get control of the RFK campus,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told the Associated Press. “We’re celebrating this moment, and we’re looking to the future of a field of possibilities on the banks of the Anacostia.”
Washington has long been in talks with area officials about building a stadium. Multiple team sources said as little as a year ago the likelihood of returning to the RFK site were less than 30 percent. Though hurdles remain, those odds have increased — and perhaps more than doubled — and it has become a two-locale race, with their current home in Landover as the other option. Maryland continues to make a strong push to retain the Commanders.
“Our position on the stadium hasn’t changed. We are not afraid of competition,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. “We are confident that Landover is still the best, and fastest, path to a new stadium for the Commanders.”
Washington has played in Landover since 1997, though it has never been embraced in the same manner as RFK Stadium, in part because the team has won just two playoff games since it opened.
The Commanders own the land in Maryland but have a contract to play there until early in the 2027 season, though it can be renewed to extend the stay. Harris has said he’d like to open a new stadium in 2030. Harris and multiple co-owners in his group grew up a fan of the team and has said how much RFK Stadium meant to him.
“It needs to happen and like soon,” Bowser told ESPN in an interview earlier this month about a stadium resolution. “We’re very anxious to get that land into productive use.
“We just have to finalize and execute the transfer with the federal government and we have to come to terms with the team. We don’t have an agreement with the team. What’s in front of the Congress is if the district should invest our dollars and make that national park service land truly great.”
Even if congress passes the bill, the D.C. Council would have to approve plans for the site, which likely would include housing and a youth recreation center, among other projects, as well.
Bowser also said Harris buying the team from Dan Snyder in July 2023 has helped city officials.
“There were a lot of objections raised to the previous ownership and the direction they took the team,” Bowser told ESPN. “That’s almost forgotten I would say. The spirit of winning is also good.”
If Washington returns to the city it’s possible it would build a domed stadium. Bowser said her preference would be for the facility to be used “most days of the year” — and they would want to attract events such as the Super Bowl, World Cup or even a Taylor Swift concert.
In a statement, Comer called it a “landmark legislation.”
Comer said if the bill passes it will “unlock the district’s full potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in additional city revenue for the nation’s capital.”
“Without Congressional action, this land would remain vacant, leaving ongoing maintenance costs and liabilities to burden the American taxpayer,” Comer said. “Now is the time to get the federal government out of the way and empower local officials to clean up the RFK site, invest and create new economic opportunities.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.