D.C. Mayor Declines To Match $1B Bid for Commanders

The Washington Commanders are looking for a new home, and while Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser sees the importance of bringing the team to the district, she says it will not be able to match Virginia’s bid.

Virginia has offered the Commanders $1 billion and a cut of sales tax revenue to play games there. Maryland, where the team currently plays, is also offering hundreds of millions of dollars to keep them.

The Commanders’ headquarters and training facilities are located in Ashburn, Virginia.

• The team’s contract at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, ends in 2027. It moved to the stadium in 1997 from Washington’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
• Bowser said that if the team returns to RFK, the city wouldn’t hand over the development rights, but instead would develop the grounds itself. 
• The Commanders would also have to finance the stadium on their own and receive approval from the federal government.

Commanding the Capitol

Bowser is seeking reelection in June for her third term, and while bringing the stadium to the city is important, she’s also prioritizing public safety and homelessness.

“At some point, I’m going to move on from it,” Bowser told Bloomberg about the stadium. “I can’t win the political fight it would take to do it all.”

There are three Virginia locations the Commanders are looking at for a new venue — one in Loudoun County and two in Prince William County. All are at least 27 miles away from the Capitol.