In the second year of the Josh Harris ownership regime, the Commanders have seemingly found their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels and have an excellent chance to qualify for the postseason in Daniels’ rookie year. The club also scored a big win on the stadium front.
In Saturday’s early morning hours, the United States Senate unanimously approved the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. The legislation, which had already been approved by the House of Representatives, will become law once it is signed by President Joe Biden.
At that point, Washington, D.C. will have control of the 170-acre site upon which RFK Stadium – the longtime home of the Commanders, then known as the Redskins – sits. In turn, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser will have the opportunity to negotiate a stadium deal with the Commanders. Per Sam Fortier of the Washington Post, Bowser has made redevelopment of the area one of her top agenda items, and she wants the return of the Commanders to the nation’s capital to be part of her legacy.
The franchise played its home games at RFK from 1961-1996, during which time it won all five of its conference championships and all three of its Super Bowls. Most of the club’s stay at its current home, Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, overlapped with the generally disastrous ownership tenure of Dan Snyder.
Prior to the new legislation, the National Park Service’s lease with D.C., which was due to end in 2038, restricted use of the RFK site. Now, however, the District will have control of the site for 99 years and will be able to develop it in a mixed-use capacity, which includes the construction of a new stadium.
Although the bill itself does not contemplate the use of taxpayer dollars, it is eminently possible that a new stadium will indeed involve public funds, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests. And while Commanders executives have called RFK the “spiritual home” of the team, and while Harris himself has acknowledged the nostalgic desire to have his club return there, any deal that Bowser and the team strike would have to be approved by the D.C. Council, which is split on the issue of whether to use tax money for a stadium.
Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Wes Moore has reiterated his desire to have the Commanders stay where they are, albeit with a new stadium. In theory, Virginia looms as a potential destination, though Fortier notes that the Commonwealth has neither a definite site for a stadium nor a mechanism to obtain public funds for such a project.
Harris has previously noted that D.C. would be the ideal location for the Commanders because it would be the most widely accepted site among the team’s DMV fanbase. In the wake of yesterday’s Senate approval, Harris issued a statement on the matter, which can be found here.
Harris would like for the team to be playing in its new stadium, wherever it might be, by 2030.
When you hear all the ‘Pork’ added in bills that our Congress and their infinite wisdom adds…this is a prime example smh
The bill was approved on its own and not added as a package. Learn to read and understand government.
Perhaps you’re right but the CR package presented on Wednesday had funding for it…”Not using Tax payer dollars but the use of public funding”. Where do you think those public funding will eventually come from? If I had to bet it will end up being tax payers as most stadiums are when they initially claim it won’t be….Fund the govt to keep it open for necessities, we’ve got to stop adding to the national debt with junk. It’s going to catch up to all of us no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.
This bill is not only separate but also doesn’t include any funding.
Keep telling yourself that. Where do you think the money will actually come from if it’s not taxpayer dollars? These clowns always hold the locals hostage to pay up to build fancy stadiums you can no longer afford to take your family to.
Hopefully the plumbing is better at the new facility than it is at the one they’re at now!
link to youtube.com
Couldn’t sum up Synder’s ‘leadership’ better than that video.
Use of taxpayer funds to build or improve any billionaire sports franchise facilities is a failure of local governmental priorities!
Subsidizing the rich st the expense of ‘common peoples’ is contrary to the benefit tax dollars should be spent. Infrastructure for ‘the people’ that benefit ‘all’, not the few privileged!
The return to RFK will not be complete until this NFL club returns to its true and original name … the Washington Redskins.
A friend of mine came up with the name the Washington Natives. Go back to the original logo and you’re not insulting anyone while incorporating their long history.
But you’re right Chucky, they should be named the Redskins!!
That’s actually a pretty good name and idea!
Insulting them? They actually sued because they never wanted the name and logo stripped, it made them irrelevant.
Actually, the original name was the Boston Braves, but calling themselves “Boston” wouldn’t work too well in DC.
Why invest in new stadiums when it’s clear Goodell’s objective is to eventually play half the NFL schedule on foreign soil?
I actually like how the “Politico Pundits” here become keyboard warriors so quick. No one has actually pointed out that the U.S. Government shuts down every Friday at 16:00 (if not earlier) and opens on Monday at 07:00 (if not later). As a matter of fact, the average American M-F 8-5 laborer works 260 days a year while the House is in session about 147 days and the Senate 165 days. They did vote in a raise for the first time since 2008, but with a starting salary of $174,000 is that really needed.
The RFK Stadium Campus was able to be separated from the CR (Continuing Resolution) due to the fact that it followed the proper channels and needed to be passed by the 118 Congressional Session which has closed (officially on 1-3-25). The Stadium package had a committee, congressional hearings, and followed the rest of the appropriations process. Other portions of the CR were cut because they did not actually follow the process and were late additions or favors known as “Pork Barrel” or now just “Pork” which are direct expenditures. Neither the RFK Stadium Bill or any “Pork” have any place on a Continuing Resolution, as the CR is simply a bridge to the next Government Sessions.
So a question – were there Federal congressional hearings and committees when Seattle approved their new stadium (over a vote by citizens) or does this just happen in DC because there is no local capable government?
I ask as I don’t live there, only been there once likely never again unless I’m elected President which should worry most politicos cause they’d be heading to jail and a bunch of government workers would be looking for real jobs
You sir may question my ethics, my religion, my ability, bet never question my intelligence. As a person who has suffered a traumatic brain injury I draw the line at a person who is obviously inferior in intellect questioning my ability to discerne fact from fiction. So, please take your snide remarks and your feeble attempts to bully someone and slide them slowly and painfully up your posterior.
F… Joe Biden!!