THE Washington Commanders’ new stadium deal could be in shambles.
The NFL team has planned for a new domed stadium, but political disagreements could squash the proposal.
The Washington Commanders have received a brutal update from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, middle, over the team’s new stadium proposed deal[/caption]
The Commanders have bid to build a $3.8 billion domed stadium that would seat 65,000-plus fans at the site of their former home, RFK Stadium.
But tensions have brewed since the Commanders and Josh Harris first revealed the plan to return to the District less than three months ago.
There hasn’t been enough support from the D.C. Council for more than $1 billion in public funding for the development.
Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke about the possible axing of the deal.
“I think that everybody should be treating this urgently,” Bowser said on Washington’s local radio station WTEM-AM.
“Nobody should have the nonchalance that I’ve heard from some, the ‘Oh, what’s a month? What’s two months? What’s three months?’
“I think it introduces a level of uncertainty and risk that’s intolerable for most business organizations.”
Bowser then sounded the alarms with her answer about the worry about the Commanders’ deal on a scale of zero for “not concerned” to five being “very concerned.”
She answered with a four and then said, “When you’re a big-city mayor, you’re concerned about everything—I’ll put it at a four.”
Bowser’s concerns come after a decision made last week by the council and its chair, Phil Medelson, to separate consideration of the Commanders’ funding from a broader deliberation of the upcoming city’s budget.
The development hurts the chances for the council to approve funding by July 15 to approve the stadium.
The stadium has been proposed to open in 2030.
Mendelson believes the July 15 deadline isn’t realistic due to the process of the agreement and that the Commanders won’t need public funds until early 2026.
This week, the Commanders hosted a dinner for council members in Georgetown to answer questions about the stadium effort.
It’s believed that “that there are four solid “yes” votes on the council for the stadium funding, three short of the needed threshold,” per Front Office Sports.
RFK Stadium, once the Commanders’ home for 35 years, has been abandoned since 2019[/caption]
The Commanders, then the Washington Redskins, played in RFK Stadium from 1961 to 1996.
The franchise won three Super Bowl titles during that span.
The Commanders then moved to Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, as they hope to return to DC after 34 years away.
The demolition process of the vacant RFK Stadium began in January and is expected to finish in the summer of 2026.
