Nearly $4 billion deal reached to bring Washington Commanders back to D.C.

Move will end team’s 30-year tenure in Prince George’s County

The Washington Commanders and Washington, D.C.,. have reached a nearly $4 billion deal to build a 65,000-seat stadium at the old RFK Stadium site, with plans to open the venue in 2030, city and team officials announced Monday.

The agreement must still be approved by the D.C. Council.

The Commanders plan to contribute $2.7 billion, with the city vowing to invest roughly $1.1 billion over the next eight years for the new stadium and redevelopment of housing, a sportsplex and other venues nearby.

“Welcome home,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said while sitting between Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at a Monday morning news conference.

The new stadium would be built on a 180-acre site and would include a roof so it could host events year-round, according to city leaders.

“We want to bring the Commanders home with a new RFK that our fans will love, our opponents will fear,” Harris said at a news conference. “It’ll be loud. We want to make it about football, but also about the city and the community, and we want to host the biggest and best events in the world.”

The Commanders plan to build restaurants, entertainment venues and hotels around the stadium. The team said it will add 5,000-6,000 housing units near the new sports venue with at least 30% of them being affordable housing.

“This land has been blighted and underutilized for too long, and what our deal with the Washington Commanders provides is the fastest and surest route to developing the RFK campus and not just delivering sports and entertainment, but delivering housing, jobs, recreation and economic development,” Bowser said.

District officials said the city will continue to operate recreational fields near the RFK site. Nearby those fields, D.C. will build a new sportsplex for kids’ sporting events and tournaments, according to a news release from the mayor’s office. The city’s budget for fiscal 2026 includes $89 million for those plans.

Bowser said that indoor sportsplex is aimed at helping D.C.’s student athletes who currently have to travel outside the city for sports, such as track, gymnastics and cheer.

Earlier in the day, Bowser posted a short video on social media, voiced by team legend Joe Theismann, announcing ourrfk.dc.gov as the website to follow for more details.

“The time is now,” Theismann said. “Let’s bring Washington back to D.C.”

Where’s the money coming from?

Under the proposed deal, the team would invest at least $2.7 billion into the stadium.

D.C.’s government would invest $500 million into stadium costs. That money would come from the sports facilities fee, which means the city won’t need to make cuts from its budget, according to city leaders.

D.C. would also issue $175 million in bonds to redevelop stadium parking, with the bonds paid off by stadium activities.  Events D.C. would also invest $181 million for parking garages, which the group will own. The redeveloped RFK Campus would have around 8,000 parking spots.

The city also plans to invest $202 million in the roads and infrastructure around the new stadium site. That funding will help pay for a study by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which has an existing subway station at the site.

City officials said the stadium would create 2,000 permanent full-time and part-time jobs as well as 14,000 construction jobs. The stadium is projected to generate an estimated $4 billion in total tax revenue over 30 years.

Those new jobs and revenue would come as the District looks to cushion the blow of the loss of tens of thousands of federal jobs.

“Right now, as our economy is shifting, it’s something our city really needs because we need growth and we need jobs,” Bowser said.

When asked about taxpayer contributions, Bowser emphasized the team’s contributions.

“This is a massive investment, and the largest private investment in the District’s history,” Bowser said.

She also brought up benefits to the city, such as owning both parking garages and developing the area around the stadium. She compared the infrastructure investments to the redevelopment efforts at St. Elizabeths Hospital’s East campus.

Bowser was also asked about the timing of the stadium deal, as D.C. makes cuts in response to Congress cutting the District’s budget in March.

“I call it a fake budget crisis because we have the money,” Bowser said. “So if we have to cut services because they don’t … fix their snafu, then that’s a problem. But we know we’re going to keep pushing it, but we can’t stop because no matter what happens with fiscal year ’25, fiscal year ’26 is coming.”

What comes next?

RFK Stadium is currently in the process of being demolished — a lengthy project expected to take about 22 months.

Critics didn’t want a new stadium at the site. Locals have said they would rather see housing than another stadium.

“We envision a giant neighborhood in that area, that doesn’t exist currently, with maybe homes for 30,000 people,” said Adam Eidinger, one of the organizers of the “Homes Not Stadiums” effort.

Precisely what to do with the site has been up for debate since the stadium closed in 2017.

Leaders with the team and the city have reiterated the planned infrastructure improvements would benefit the community — not just the stadium.

“This project is about so much more than building a stadium,” Harris said. “It’s about a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a catalyst for long-term, transformational economic growth here in D.C., that means thousands of new jobs, billions of new tax revenue, thousands of new homes, partnerships with local businesses, and the creation of about 90 acres of mixed-use development.”

More taxpayer money benefits pro sports owners amid ‘stadium construction wave’

The team has been seeking a new stadium for several years, and that search moved to a new level when Josh Harris’ group bought the Commanders from previous owner Dan Snyder in July 2023. Spots across D.C., Virginia and Maryland were all under consideration, as WTOP previously reported.

Getting back to the franchise’s former home is a path that included Harris and Goodell lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill in December to pass legislation to transfer the 170-plus acres of land from the federal government to D.C. It made it through Congress at the 11th hour, and former President Joe Biden signed it into law in January.

The Commanders’ lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover runs through 2027. The team will continue to play in Maryland until 2030, with Harris previously calling 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium. The team had committed to covering the cost of redeveloping the site at Northwest Stadium.

Nostalgia in the air for RFK Stadium

RFK Stadium was one of the most iconic sports venues in D.C.

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.

“That was the Washington that I remembered when on Sundays, everything stopped,” Harris said. “Everyone was glued to their TV or in the stadium, and we’ve already seen a reawakening of that spirit, but we want to bring it back now.”

Goodell said he grew up in D.C. and attended games at RFK Stadium — which he called a “special place.”

“Many of our early memories as a football fan were formed there, watching the great teams and sharing the experiences with my family and the tremendous fans of this team,” Goodell said. “A generation of fans growing up rooting for the team did not have that experience, but the next ones will, and I could not be more excited for them.”

It has seen its fair share of history — from exhilarating moments in sports to unforgettable concerts and political events. It all started back in 1961, when the stadium opened its doors as a state-of-the-art sports complex. It was originally called “D.C. Stadium,” then later renamed in honor of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy after his 1968 assassination.

For decades, RFK was the heartbeat of D.C. sports. Washington’s NFL team would play at the stadium from 1961 until it moved to FedEx Field in Landover in 1997.

But the stadium did not immediately go quiet: It hosted the Washington Nationals when they moved to D.C. in 2005 and the D.C. United soccer team made RFK its home for years. RFK also hosted concerts by legends such as The Rolling Stones and U2.