According to the Washington Post, congressman James Comer will propose legislation that can make way for the city of Washington, D.C. to build a new football stadium for the Commanders on the site of its former longtime home.
Comer sits on the House Oversight Committee, which oversees the capital city, and is considering drafting a bill that would allow the city to develop on the site of RFK Stadium, which is on federal land.
As reported by Meagan Flynn and Sam Fortier, discussions are still taking place because of how the current site is leased:
Two people familiar with the planned legislation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations said it involved a lease extension, with one of those people describing it as a 99-year lease extension and modification — which would broaden the city’s options for what it could do with the land.
The current RFK lease between D.C. and the National Park Service is slated to end in 2038 and restricts land usage to only sports, recreation and entertainment.
The Commanders have played in the D.C. suburbs since Jack Kent Cooke Stadium opened in 1997. The stadium, which then had the most capacity of any venue in the NFL, was renamed FedEx Field not long after Dan Snyder bought his hometown team. It also didn’t take long for the stadium to feel outdated as nearly every other franchise either moved into a new stadium or renovated its home to feature more premium seating and other amenities.
Snyder was not shy about trying to get a new stadium, meeting with officials throughout the DMV (D.C., Maryland and Virginia) for at least a decade. With structural debacles, obstructed view seating and plenty more problems, FedEx Field is often considered one of the worst, if not the very worst, stadiums in the NFL.
In late May, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he spoke with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about the potential for a new stadium in the city. Optimism around a return to the city has grown since Josh Harris agreed in principle to buy the Commanders from Snyder.
The RFK Stadium site has been dormant since the MLS franchise D.C. United left in 2017 for Audi Field, which is also in the city. The Commanders played at RFK from 1961 to 1996 while the second incarnation of the Washington Senators played there from 1962 to 1971 before becoming the Texas Rangers. (The Nationals played there as well for two seasons after relocating from Montreal before Nationals Park opened in 2008.)
That said, the Commanders would not be the only team in the area that’s looking for government support for new digs. Ted Leonsis, who owns the NBA’s Wizards and NHL’s Capitals, had discussions with Virginia about a new arena to replace the Capital One Arena in D.C.’s Chinatown.
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