The Commanders could soon play their home games in Washington, D.C. after spending nearly three decades across the river in Landover, Maryland, as they continue to work towards constructing a new stadium in the nation’s capital. While the proposal to build a $3.7 billion complex at the old RFK Stadium site still awaits approval from the Washington city council, mayor Muriel Bowser expressed her commitment to getting a deal done.
Bowser’s fervent push to finalize the stadium deal comes amid threats from President Donald Trump to squash the team’s move to Washington if it does not change back to its former nickname.
“Let me be clear, we’re on the 1-yard line and it’s time to get over the line,” Bowser told ESPNÂ on Monday. “I can’t even imagine having to start all over on this. There’s nobody waiting in the wings with $2.7 billion. And so this stadium is a catalyst, and it will attract other investments. Any impediment to it getting done should be discouraged. When you’re on the 1-yard line, you want to carry it over, right? That’s all you want. No fumbles, no interceptions — let’s just get it over the line. And that’s what we’re focused on.”
As far as a potential name change is concerned, Bowser said that is an eventuality she does not think the city has to plan for.
“What we have to do as a city is do our part,” Bowser said. “And so our part is we’ve come up with a great deal, we have a great plan, we’ve done the community outreach. Now is time for the council to approve it.”
Under the Commanders’ proposal, which arose in April, the team could start playing its home games at the new Washington stadium as soon as 2030. Owner Josh Harris has been an outspoken proponent of moving the team back to D.C. since he acquired the Commanders from Dan Snyder in 2023, and it took just two years for him and the franchise to get the wheels rolling on relocation.
The Commanders own their current home, Northwest Stadium, and can continue to play there until the new venue is ready for business. The naming rights deal at their present location expires in 2027, though.
The majority of the Commanders’ team history resides in Washington, where they played from 1937-96, first at Griffith Stadium and later at RFK Stadium. They moved outside of the district in 1997 after former owner Jack Kent Cooke reached a deal to send the franchise to Maryland, about nine miles as the crow flies from the old RFK site.