Site provision in federal bill may spur commanders’ return to D.C.

Washington commanders took a significant step toward returning to the site of their glory days in the nation’s capital, thanks to a provision added to a spending bill Tuesday that will be voted on later this week.

The bill would transfer control of the land where RFK Stadium still resides from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The House has already passed the bill, but the Senate is expected to vote on it later this week.

If approved, it would greatly increase the commanders’ chances of returning to the city. The franchise played at RFK Stadium from 1961 to 1996 and was known for having one of the best home-field advantages: Excited fans could even bounce a section of the stands.

The site has great sentimental value because it is where Washington played during its Super Bowl appearances from 1982 to 1991, winning three titles. The organization also reached the Super Bowl after the 1972 season.

Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the bill, called the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. It was introduced by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).

“As a city, we have worked for years to gain control of the RFK campus,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told the Associated Press. “We are celebrating this moment and we are looking to the future of a field of possibilities on the banks of the Anacostia.”

Washington has long been in talks with area officials about building a stadium. Several team sources said just a year ago that the probability of returning to the RFK site was less than 30 percent. Although obstacles remain, those odds have increased (and perhaps more than doubled) and it has become a race between two locations, with its current home in Landover as the other option. Maryland continues to make strong efforts to retain commanders.

Washington has played in Landover since 1997, although it has never been embraced in the same way as RFK Stadium, in part because the team has won only two playoff games since it opened.

The Commanders own the land in Maryland but have a contract to play there until the beginning of the 2027 season, although it can be renewed to extend the stay. Harris has said he would like to open a new stadium in 2030. Harris and several co-owners in his group grew up fans of the team and have said how much RFK Stadium meant to him.

“It has to happen soon,” Bowser told ESPN in an interview earlier this month about a stadium resolution. “We are very eager to put that land to productive use.

“We just have to finalize and execute the transfer with the federal government and we have to come to an agreement with the team. We don’t have an agreement with the team. What is before Congress is whether the district should invest our dollars and have it the national park service is really great.

Even if Congress passes the bill, the D.C. Council would have to approve plans for the site, which would likely also include housing and a youth recreation center, among other projects.

Bowser also said Harris’ purchase of the team from Dan Snyder in July 2023 has helped city officials.

“There were a lot of objections to the previous ownership and the direction they took the team,” Bowser told ESPN. “I would say that’s almost forgotten. The spirit of victory is good too.”

If Washington returns to town, he may build a domed stadium. Bowser said their preference would be for the facility to be used “most days of the year,” and that they would want to attract events like the Super Bowl, the World Cup or even a Taylor Swift concert.

In a statement, Comer called it “landmark legislation.”

Comer said if the bill passes, it will “unleash the district’s full potential, create significant new jobs and add millions in additional municipal revenue to the nation’s capital.”

“Without Congressional action, this land would remain vacant, leaving ongoing maintenance costs and responsibilities a burden on the American taxpayer,” Comer said. “Now is the time to get the federal government out of the way and empower local officials to clean up the RFK site, invest and create new economic opportunities.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.