Washington’s NFL franchise is set to return to the US capital as part of an agreement between the organization and the District of Columbia government to build a new stadium as part of a project totaling nearly $4bn.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday the District of Columbia and the Commanders reached an agreement to construct a new home for the football team in the city at the site the old RFK Stadium, the place the franchise called home for more than three decades. It would open in 2030, with groundbreaking expected next year, pending DC city council approval.
The Commanders are contributing $2.7bn, with the city investing roughly $1.1bn over the next eight years for the stadium, housing, green space and a sportsplex on 170 acres of land bordering the Anacostia River. The stadium itself will take up just 16 of those acres.
The team and the mayor announced the move in a video posted on social media, narrated by Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann, who spoke about his experience playing at RFK Stadium and how the new one will benefit the city.
“Let’s bring the Commanders home,” Theismann said. “The time is now. Let’s bring Washington back to DC”
City and team officials along with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell unveiled the plans at an event at the National Press Club in front of a backdrop reading, “Welcome home.” Mambo Sauce’s Welcome to DC blared from speakers as Goodell, Bowser and controlling owner Josh Harris entered to cheers.
Commanders ownership has been considering places in Washington, Maryland and Virginia since buying the team from Dan Snyder in 2022. The most recent progress came when congress passed a bill transferring the RFK Stadium land to DC that was signed by Joe Biden in early January, after lobbying on Capitol Hill by Harris and Goodell late last year.
Washington have played in Landover, Maryland, since moving there in 1997. The Commanders’ lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover runs through 2027. Harris has called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.
The team played at RFK Stadium, two miles east of the US Capitol, from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.
