Josh Harris grew up attending NFL games at RFK Stadium in eastern Washington D.C. to cheer for the home team.
The Commanders, that team’s name now, and Harris, now the team’s majority owner, formally announced their intentions to build a new stadium on the RFK site, control of which passed from Congress to the local government of the District of Columbia in January 2025.
Harris, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took the stage at the National Press Club in the nation’s capital Monday to a standing ovation to formally announce the deal for the 65,000-foot venue that still requires approval of the city council. Four city council members were in attendance on Monday, but seven votes will be needed to pass locally.
“Now we want to bring the Commanders home with a ‘new RFK’ that our fans will love, our opponents will fear – it’ll be loud,” Harris said. “We want to make it about football, but also about the city and the community. We want to host the biggest and best events in the world.
“Let’s come home. This project is about so much more than building a stadium. It’s about a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a catalyst for long-term, transformational economic growth here in DC.”
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The states of Maryland, where the Commanders currently play their home games at Northwest Stadium in nearby Landover, and Virginia, where the team’s practice facility is, also tried to woo the franchise in recent years. Washington’s lease at their current stadium site expires in 2027 – although they can keep playing there until a new stadium is built – and the new RFK-site stadium will try open by 2030.
“I want to start by saying: welcome home,” Bowser said to kick off the news conference.
Multiple outlets have reported the cost estimate for the new state-of-the-art stadium at the site where the Commanders played their home games from 1961 to 1996 is $3.6 billion. The team is putting $2.7 billion toward the plan (the largest single private investment in DC history) for the stadium, and 90 of the available acres would be used for mixed-use development that includes housing, retail and recreational facilities along the Anacostia River. The local government would contribute $500 million, according to the plan, which could complicate the deal as it sits on the one-yard line.
“My position has been that there should not be public dollars…paying toward a stadium,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) told the Washington Post earlier in April.
An estimated 5,000-6,000 housing units, including at least 30% for affordable housing, along with space for restaurants, hotels and public parks will also be built on the land. An estimated 14,000 jobs in connection with the stadium construction will become available. Two parking garages, with 8,000 spaces and room for tailgating, would be owned by the District. With a roof (retractable or permanent, that has not been finalized), the venue could host events year-round and attract major tentpole events such as the Super Bowl or the NCAA’s Final Four.
“Without exaggeration, this will be the best stadium in the world when it’s built,” Harris said.
Bowser said the government’s job is to advance a budget that is bold and invests in growth and starts with a catalytic investment at RFK.
“If you need to add revenue, as we do, you can’t leave 180 acres vacant,” Bowser said. “If you need to add jobs, as we do, you can’t wait for an anchor to show up to start developing there. When you need to attract business, you have to be about business.”
“I think this is the best thing for D.C,” Harris said.
The reputation of former owner Dan Snyder changed the attractiveness of hosting the franchise for the three locales. Once Harris and his partners purchased the team, that changed. Harris, however, clearly always preferred the D.C. option and said in his introductory news conference as owner two years ago that the image of the DC community flocking to RFK on Sundays is a seminal one in his brain.
“We want to say thank you for not just buying our team – some would say saving our team,” Bowser said. “We want to thank you for making a transformational investment in Ward 7, in our city, especially now, at a time we need it the most.”
Bowser said this has been a goal of her throughout her 10-year mayoral tenure, and she recently negotiated the extension and reinvestment of the Washington Capitals and Wizards in their downtown arena as owner Ted Leonsis attempted a move to Northern Virginia. She described negotiations with the Commanders a “cooperative process.” Talks progressed over the past few months.
“We were joined in our goals to advanced a deal that we could be proud of, a development that would serve for generations to come and support the best professional sport franchise in the world,” Bowser said.
She continued: “It’s something our city really needs. Because we need growth and we need jobs.”
After passing the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate National Parks Subcommittee held up the necessary legislation because of Sen. Steve Daines’ (R-Montana) objected to the changing of the team’s logo. Daines eventually relented in December 2024 and former President Joe Biden signed the bill into law the following month.
Harris and Goodell, who grew up in the nation’s capital, extensively lobbied Congress to pass the necessary measure to give D.C. control of the land where the Commanders experienced their best run of success with three Super Bowl victories between 1982 and 1991. Like Harris, Goodell attended games at RFK in his youth.
“It was a special place…A generation of fans growing up rooting for the team did not have that experience,” Goodell said. “But the next ones will. And I could not be more excited for them.”
At the end of the news conference, Harris, Bowser and Goodell all signed a Washington helmet to commemorate the occasion.
On Monday morning, the Commanders posted on social media a video narrated by franchise legend quarterback Joe Theismann that announced the deal.
“The time is now,” Theismann said. “Let’s bring Washington back to D.C.”
