The Commanders might quickly play their residence video games in Washington, D.C. after spending almost three a long time throughout the river in Landover, Maryland, as they proceed to work in the direction of developing a brand new stadium within the nation’s capital. Whereas the proposal to build a $3.7 billion complex on the outdated RFK Stadium website nonetheless awaits approval from the Washington metropolis council, mayor Muriel Bowser expressed her dedication to getting a deal achieved.
Bowser’s fervent push to finalize the stadium deal comes amid threats from President Donald Trump to squash the staff’s transfer to Washington if it doesn’t change again to its former nickname.
“Let me be clear, we’re on the 1-yard line and it is time to recover from the road,” Bowser told ESPN on Monday. “I can not even think about having to start out throughout on this. There’s no person ready within the wings with $2.7 billion. And so this stadium is a catalyst, and it’ll entice different investments. Any obstacle to it getting achieved needs to be discouraged. If you’re on the 1-yard line, you need to carry it over, proper? That is all you need. No fumbles, no interceptions — let’s simply get it over the road. And that is what we’re targeted on.”
So far as a possible title change is anxious, Bowser mentioned that’s an eventuality she doesn’t suppose the town has to plan for.
“What we’ve got to do as a metropolis is do our half,” Bowser mentioned. “And so our half is we have provide you with an excellent deal, we’ve got an excellent plan, we have achieved the group outreach. Now could be time for the council to approve it.”
Beneath the Commanders’ proposal, which arose in April, the staff might begin enjoying its residence video games on the new Washington stadium as quickly as 2030. Proprietor Josh Harris has been an outspoken proponent of transferring the staff again to D.C. since he acquired the Commanders from Dan Snyder in 2023, and it took simply two years for him and the franchise to get the wheels rolling on relocation.
The Commanders personal their present residence, Northwest Stadium, and might proceed to play there till the brand new venue is prepared for enterprise. The naming rights deal at their current location expires in 2027, although.
The vast majority of the Commanders’ staff historical past resides in Washington, the place they performed from 1937-96, first at Griffith Stadium and later at RFK Stadium. They moved outdoors of the district in 1997 after former proprietor Jack Kent Cooke reached a deal to ship the franchise to Maryland, about 9 miles because the crow flies from the outdated RFK website.