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FedEx is taking its name off the Commanders’ stadium, the team confirmed to Front Office Sports. The Landover, Md., venue has been called FedEx Field since 1999, when the company struck a $205 million deal through 2026.
FedEx is getting out of the deal two years early, meaning Washington will lose about $15 million in revenue unless it finds a new naming-rights partner. The Commanders plan to do that for the upcoming season, the team tells FOS.
“We thank FedEx Corporation for its longstanding naming rights sponsorship and their work with our team and community and look forward to their continued partnership within the Commanders family,” per a statement provided to FOS. “We have already started the process of identifying our next stadium naming rights partner – a partner who will play a crucial role in ushering in the next era of not only Commanders football, but also a robust slate of top live events and concerts.”
On Tuesday, the team announced plans and renderings to upgrade the current stadium, bringing total improvements from new ownership to more than $75 million. Washington is also “[working] diligently to explore options for the team’s future home,” read the statement.
FedEx founder Fred Smith was a minority owner in the Commanders from 2003 to ’21, which included a ’20 threat from the company that it would remove its naming rights unless the team agreed to change its name, which it did shortly after.
The Commanders are getting help finding a new naming-rights partner from the consulting firm Elevate, led by San Francisco 49ers president Al Guido, per The Washington Post, which first reported the news. Elevate helped the Titans land a 20-year naming-rights deal with Nissan that spanned two stadiums, a tactic Washington might replicate as it searches for a new home.
The Commanders are required to stay in their current stadium through 2027 but are exploring options for what comes next. The U.S. House is expected to vote on a bill Wednesday about the future of the team’s former home, the federally owned RFK Stadium. A successful vote would give Washington, D.C., control of the land and let the city decide whether to build a new stadium to bring the team back to the district or develop the space. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told FOS last summer that keeping the team in Prince George’s County is a “major priority.”
