The Washington Commanders are officially returning to the District of Columbia.
The D.C. Council, in an 11-2 vote late Wednesday afternoon, gave second and final approval for a $3.8 billion project that will build a covered 65,000-seat stadium on the old RFK Stadium site, along with a massive mixed-use development project in the surrounding neighborhoods that will create multiple entertainment and dining areas. The team also committed to building 5,000 to 6,000 affordable housing units for city residents.
See you in 2030. #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/8nCY3Fkx7v
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 17, 2025
Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement Wednesday that the stadium project will be “transformative” and “bring lasting economic growth to the city. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and collaboration between Mayor (Muriel) Bowser, Chairman (Phil) Mendelson, the Council and the countless community, business and labor leaders whose voices and input helped shape the process every step of the way.”
Wednesday’s vote capped a whirlwind two-year process that crystallized when Harris bought the Commanders from ex-owner Daniel Snyder in 2023 for a then-NFL record $6.05 billion. There was no appetite on the Council to work with the team on a new stadium in the District while Snyder owned the team. His departure created the runway for discussions between Harris and representatives not just in D.C., but in Maryland and Virginia as well.
But, getting a new stadium inside the District still was the longest of long shots as long as the city didn’t control the 180-acre parcel that includes the RFK site. That was the case until just before Christmas last year, when extensive lobbying efforts by Harris, Bowser and the NFL produced a seemingly miraculous, and unanimous, vote by the U.S. Senate to transfer control of the land from the federal government to D.C. That made the District the prohibitive front-runner to work out a deal with the team for a new stadium.
“It is no secret that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Ward 7 Councilman Wendell Felder, a staunch supporter of the project who represents neighborhoods at and around RFK. “Since I’ve been a Council member, I’ve said this repeatedly — Ward 7 is the only ward in the District of Columbia that does not have an anchor. Today, I’m proud to say that today’s vote will change that.”
The Commanders were adamant that they wanted a deal approved this year, which should allow them to break ground on the new stadium in 2026 and complete it by 2030. The team also wanted the stadium done by then so it could make a bid for the Women’s World Cup final in 2031. The stadium could also put D.C. in the mix to host its first Super Bowl as early as 2032; NFL guidelines stipulate a stadium be in use for two full seasons before hosting a Super Bowl.
Commanders officials have said that they hope to have up to 200 events a year in the stadium, including potential Final Fours, major concerts, wrestling and MMA matches, along with other major events that would make the new stadium one of the busiest for a primary tenant NFL team in the league.
The vote followed last-minute requests from several Council members via amendments to the bill that passed last month, in a 9-3 vote.
The Council voted down a series of proposed amendments to the bill, many from At-Large D.C. Council member Robert White, which would have increased or created funds that would be earmarked for local residents in the neighborhoods. And the Council voted down what the team considered White’s most contentious amendment, which would have allowed the city, beginning in 2050, to claw back any land that wasn’t yet developed by the team. The Council also voted down a proposed amendment by Ward 3 Council member Matthew Frumin that would have instituted smaller financial penalties, capped at $30 million, on the team if it failed to develop any land.
D.C. Council votes down amendment from Councilmember Robert White that would have allowed the city to claw back any lands that the Commanders fail to develop, as detailed in the existing deal, by 2050.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) September 17, 2025
Commanders president Mark Clouse, in a letter to the Council Wednesday morning, noted the team’s “deep concern regarding the last-minute new demands proposed by the Council mere hours before the final vote,” calling them “unworkable and impractical … which we simply cannot agree to as it jeopardizes the deal.”
Clouse said the proposals would “significantly impact our ability to deliver this project as envisioned and will restrict the value this project would deliver. These amendments could limit or even preclude construction, reduce RFK’s ability to attract major events, limit the city’s ability to deliver on its proposed housing, and hinder CBE (Certified Business Enterprise) participation in the project. Additionally, unions have stressed their discomfort with the proposed changes and are lobbying against any further amendments to the deal. Most do not want these amendments to impact our ability to deliver a world-class stadium with premier mixed-use development.”
But the Council passed the bill on second reading, with very few substantive changes to the bill from its initial passage in August.
“Never thought I’d see it in my lifetime,” said Charles Mann, who played defensive end for the franchise during its glory years. He was not only at the hearing to show his support for the new stadium project, but to lobby for his construction and project management company, Charles Mann Enterprises, to get work at the Commanders’ stadium project. Mann’s company is based in Southeast D.C. and is currently engaged in various projects around the city, including the renovation of Capital One Arena, and projects at Dulles International Airport and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
“I don’t expect anything, but I am a CBE since 2017 … and, yeah, I expect to get work if there’s work there,” Mann said before the vote.
Among the planned developments in the project are:
• A “Plaza District” that would be the main entertainment area, with housing, hotels, restaurants and retail shopping. The Commanders will be the de facto Master Developer for the Plaza District.
• A “Riverfront District” development along the Anacostia River, which would also have housing, retail and restaurants.
• A “Kingman Park District,” which will provide additional housing and recreational opportunities for the existing community near the stadium.
• A “Recreation District” that will maintain and renovate the existing Fields at RFK, a 27-acre sports complex adjacent to the stadium built in 2019 that has three turf fields for baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer. The indoor SportsPlex will allow D.C. athletes competing in gymnastics and indoor track to play and practice there, rather than having to go to venues in Maryland and Virginia.
• An “Anacostia Commons” development of the 30-acre stretch of riverfront community, which is anchored by the Anacostia River Trail. Thirty percent of the entire campus will be set aside for green spaces and parks.
Since 1997, the Commanders have played at what is now called Northwest Stadium. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
The Commanders left RFK after the 1996 season and have spent the last three decades playing at what is now called Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. At the time, the new 85,000-seat stadium, a dream of the team’s late owner, Jack Kent Cooke, seemed like a panacea, a new building that would replace the rapidly aging RFK. Instead, what was known for most of its time as FedEx Field became a symbol of the football team’s external and internal decay, an unending punch line of jokes about leaking pipes, collapsing stands and a horrific on-field product.
With Harris, a new front office and coaching staff, and second-year franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels in place, though, things have changed dramatically, seemingly overnight. The capper came Wednesday afternoon.
“For me, it’s been 11 years,” Bowser said Monday, talking with local business owners hoping to be part of the massive project. “It’s an overnight success.”
(Photo: Denny Medley / Imagn Images)