Featured image credit: All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia/CC BY-SA 2.0/Edited for size
The District of Columbia and the Washington Commanders are close to securing a $3bn (£2.2bn/€2.6bn) deal to bring the NFL team back to the District with a new stadium.
The venue would be built on the site of the defunct Robert F. Kennedy Stadium which served as home to the franchise from 1961 to 1996.
Since 1997, the Commanders have played at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland and have a lease at the venue until September 2027.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Commanders have the framework for a deal in place that would see the team paying the vast majority of the costs to build a new stadium.
The Commanders would put up as much as $2.5bn while the government would provide up to $850m, as reported by NBC.
D.C.’s funding would go towards eligible capital costs associated with the stadium and a surrounding 180-acre campus, including parking structures.
The District’s investment would be in instalments, with the first $500m set to be paid between 2026 and 2030.
The other $350m would be paid in 2032 through taxes generated from the new development to cover the costs of the stadium.
The deal calls for the stadium and its parking to be completed by the third quarter of 2030, with Commanders owner Josh Harris clear that he wants it to be ready for the 2030 NFL season.
A return to D.C. has included efforts by Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to lobby lawmakers to pass legislation transferring the land from the federal government to the District.
Last month, Events DC announced the start of concerted demolition work at RFK Stadium after former US President Joe Biden passed the land transfer bill.
Goodell has suggested that the NFL’s preference would be for the Commanders to return to DC, stating that a venue on the RFK Stadium site would be a “huge economic driver”.
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