Washington Commanders ownership anticipates conversations with President Donald Trump about the team’s new stadium when he attends Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Stadium.
Yet, no formal request has been made about naming the new development after him, according to a team source who wished to remain anonymous because they’re not authorized to speak on the matter.
ESPN reported Saturday morning that Trump has had “back-channel communications” with a member of the Commanders’ ownership group, which is led by Josh Harris and includes 20 limited partners, about Trump’s desire to have the stadium named after him.
“That would surely be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an email to The Athletic, reiterating what she told ESPN.
In September, the D.C. Council approved a $3.8 billion deal to build a closed stadium on the site of the old Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, along with a sprawling mixed-use development that includes thousands of affordable housing units.
The deal was the culmination of years of lobbying efforts and previous failed attempts by the Commanders to relocate to the District. It wasn’t until Harris purchased the team for a then-record $6.05 billion from former owner Daniel Snyder that discussions began in earnest about a new stadium.
However, moving to the District was wrought with challenges. The RFK stadium site was and is owned by the federal government. The situation changed late last year when Congress passed legislation, signed by then-President Joe Biden, which allowed D.C. to control the land for a 99-year term and expanded its possible uses so the city could have a mixed-use development alongside a stadium.
A spokesperson for D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office declined to comment, and a spokesperson for D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson did not respond when contacted by email.
As part of the stadium deal negotiated between the team, Bowser and the D.C. Council, the city is contributing more than $1 billion for stadium infrastructure, parking garages, utilities and a transit study.
The Commanders are funding the design and construction of the stadium, but it will be owned by the city and leased back to the team for $1 per year. The team is responsible for maintaining the stadium and will receive most of the revenue from its operations. Over the life of its 30-year agreement with the city, D.C. will receive $674 million in parking revenues, parking taxes and sales taxes on merchandise, food and beverages.
The team, however, has exclusive rights to sell and receive all revenue from naming rights sponsorship for the stadium, which has become a lucrative source of funding for pro sports stadiums to offset stadium construction and maintenance costs.
SoFi will pay $625 million over 20 years for naming rights to the Los Angeles Chargers’ and Rams’ stadium in Los Angeles. Intuit, the financial software company, will pay $500 million for a 23-year naming rights deal to the Clippers’ new arena in L.A. and Allegiant Air is reportedly paying $20 to $25 million per year to have its company’s name on the Las Vegas Raiders’ stadium, which opened in 2020.
Trump will sit in the owners’ suite with Harris when he attends Sunday’s game between the Commanders and Lions. His visit will mark the first time a sitting U.S. president attends an NFL game at Northwest Stadium and the first time one attends any regular-season NFL game in 47 years. Trump was also at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in February.
“We are honored to welcome President Trump to the game as we celebrate those who have served and continue to serve our country,” Commanders’ president Mark Clouse said in a statement on Friday. “The entire Commanders organization is proud to participate in the NFL’s league-wide Salute to Service initiative, recognizing the dedication and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans, active-duty service members, and their families this Sunday.”
The game, however, will not be Trump’s first meeting with the team’s ownership. In May, Trump — alongside Harris, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Bowser — announced at the White House that Washington, D.C. would host the 2027 NFL Draft.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” Trump said during the Oval Office news conference. “It’s going to be something that nobody else will ever be able to duplicate, I don’t suspect.”
Two months later, in a post published on his social media website Truth Social, Trump threatened to derail the Commanders’ deal to build a new stadium if they didn’t change their name back to Washington Redskins, which had been denounced as a racist slur. The team switched to Commanders in 2022.