Maryland Pitches Major Development to Keep Commanders

Maryland is interested in keeping the Washington Commanders — but won’t seek to match Virginia’s offer of $1.2 billion in public funding.

“We’re not going to get into a bidding war over them,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on Tuesday.

The state is pitching a new stadium and surrounding development at the site of their current home, FedEx Field, with hundreds of millions in public funds.

• Maryland and Prince George’s County have proposed a new stadium as part of a development along a 5-mile corridor that would advance team president Jason Wright’s social justice goals.
• The proposal includes a practice facility, team headquarters, hotel, entertainment district, and community hub.
• The team currently owns the FedEx Field site in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Testifying to state legislators Tuesday, Prince George’s County executive Angela Alsobrooks called for county residents to not be “left behind like we were in 1997, when a stadium opened with no infrastructure to sustain and no infrastructure to benefit the surrounding community.”

D.C. Still Possible?

While Maryland and Virginia can offer more in public funds, Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser has said she would like to bring the team back to the capital, which it left in 1997. 

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents Washington, plans to introduce federal legislation to sell the RFK Stadium land where the team used to play to the city.

However, federal legislators may be getting cold feet due to sexual harassment allegations related to the Commanders and team owner Dan Snyder.