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The Washington Commanders unveiled plans for a new $3 billion stadium on Monday and once the project is finished, it sounds like there’s a good chance that the NFL will be putting a Super Bowl in Washington, D.C., for the first time.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance for the team’s stadium announcement and at one point during the event, he was asked if the new stadium would “increase” the chances of D.C. getting a Super Bowl.
“I didn’t come here to announce that, but I would say dramatically,” the commissioner said.
The Commanders are hoping their $3 billion stadium can open in time for the 2030 season, and if that happens, Washington would be eligible to host a Super Bowl as soon as the 2031 season (A new stadium has to have been open for at least one full season before it can host a Super Bowl). Under that timeline, the nation’s capital could potentially host Super Bowl LXVI in February 2032.
The new stadium is expected to be a dome with a translucent roof.
NFL owners generally vote on the location of the Super Bowl several years in advance. As things currently stand, the next three Super Bowls are spoken for with the locations looking like this:
- Super Bowl LX (2025 season): Bay Area (February 2026)
- Super Bowl LXI (2026 season): Los Angeles (February 2027)
- Super Bowl LXII (2027 season): Atlanta (February 2028)
Nashville and Las Vegas are currently viewed as the front-runners to land the next two Super Bowls after the one in Atlanta, which would cover the 2028 and 2029 seasons. After that, the host city for 2030 is obviously still up in the air, but D.C. could then host in 2031.
Over the past 20 years, any time a city has built a new stadium, that city has eventually gotten to host at least one Super Bowl. Nine stadiums have opened since 2005 and each of those venues have all hosted at least one Super Bowl, including MetLife Stadium in New York and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (Although this streak could end when Buffalo’s new stadium opens in 2026, because Buffalo almost certainly will NOT be getting a Super Bowl).
The Commanders new stadium is expected to have 65,000 seats and the team will be kicking in $2.7 billion of the estimated cost. Although the stadium itself is expected to cost around $3 billion, the entire project, which includes retail, housing and green space, could cost as much as $3.7 billion.
