The Commanders’ planned return to the District of Columbia took a giant step Friday as officials approved plans to build a $3.8 billion stadium and mixed-use development at the grounds of RFK Stadium, the team’s former home. 

The Council of the District of Columbia passed the stadium bill by a 9–3 vote, one more than was necessary, confirming prior expectations among many area leaders. The assent followed a flurry of critical activity in recent days, including a recently sweetened offer from the Commanders as team president Mark Clouse and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser testified Wednesday before council members, a second lengthy public hearing this week, and a prior restructuring of the funding plan by council chair Phil Mendelson.

Ultimately, the District will supply about $1.1 billion toward the project, while the Commanders are due to fund at least $2.7 billion and are responsible for all cost overruns. The latest changes also call for additional community support from the team, as well as heightened consideration of environmental matters in the project. 

“The mayor called this a BFD. I’d rather say this is a BBD, a big, beautiful deal,” said council pro tempore Kenyan McDuffie. “It’s not been easy, but I really appreciate the fight to get this bill to where it is.”

Crucial Changes

Key swing votes arrived early Friday from two council members—Zachary Parker and Janeese Lewis George—after they helped secure a further agreement with the team to hire a majority of D.C. residents to work on not just the stadium construction, as had been planned, but also for the larger mixed-use development. Parker had previously engaged in some of the most contentious questioning of Bowser in Wednesday’s hearing, with labor-related issues at the center of much of it. 

After the vote, though, those preexisting political tensions were largely forgotten.

“The era of a crumbling sea of asphalt on the banks of the Anacostia is finally coming to an end,” Bowser said in a statement. “In its place, we will bring our team home and deliver a state-of-the-art, Super Bowl–ready stadium for our Commanders. … We will build a campus that makes our city proud for generations of Washingtonians to come.”

There will be a second vote on the stadium bill in September, and there will likely be further amendments between now and then—particularly after the council returns from an August recess. The initial vote, however, confirms a solid base of support in place after the plan was first announced in April.

The development of a new, domed stadium on the District’s east side will aid a long-neglected area, help the area retool its economy amid ongoing reductions in the federal workforce, and also allow the Commanders to keep up with an accelerating facility development wave elsewhere in the NFL. 

“This is a historic moment,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said. “This project is about more than delivering a world-class stadium worthy of our players, fans, and the region. It’s about revitalizing a critical part of our city, creating thousands of jobs and unlocking long-term economic benefits for the District.”

The Commanders and the District, meanwhile, intend to use the forthcoming facility to bid for major events such as the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup and a Super Bowl as early as 2032.

The NFL player who is widely seen as next in line to become the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback may be losing momentum toward reaching that goal anytime soon.

Hours after The Athletic reported that the star Cowboys defensive end was “considering drastic measures,” Parsons posted a note to social media detailing the nature of negotiations with the team, and finally saying he had requested a trade.

“I no longer want to be here. I no longer want to be subjected to close door negotiations without my agent present. I no longer want shots taken at me while laying it on the line,” Parsons wrote.

Parsons, 26, is entering his fifth season, set to earn $24 million in the final year of his rookie contract. He has been seeking a new deal that most insiders believe will surpass the three-year, $123 million pact Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt recently signed, which has an average annual value of $41 million in new money and made Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

Amid contract negotiations, Parsons opted not to hold out or so far sit out of any practices at training camp. Parsons said in his note that he had spoken directly with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over multiple days in March, and that his contract came up, but a deal was not done and he asked Jones to contact his agent. However, when Parsons’s agent, David Mulugheta, pushed back and attempted to negotiate further, Dallas declined to engage with him.

Parsons says the team has still refused to talk to Mulugheta about his contract.

Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had a contentious negotiation of his own last year, posted this on X/Twitter shortly after Parsons’s note: “Never fails dawg. Just pay the man, what you owe em. No need for the extra curricular.”

A record deal for Parsons would give the Cowboys the highest-paid quarterback and non-quarterback in the NFL, as the four-year, $240 million extension Dak Prescott signed last year still carries the league’s highest average annual salary in new money at $60 million per year.

Khalil Mack is the last premier edge rusher who was traded in his mid-20s. He was dealt by the Raiders to the Bears in 2018 for two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick, and he signed what was then the richest contract ever for a defensive player: six years, $141 million.

CHICAGO — An MLB All-Star Game back at Wrigley Field, widely expected for months and formally pursued by the Cubs for eight years, is finally happening. 

The league, the club, and Illinois officials confirmed Friday that the Chicago ballpark, the league’s second-oldest behind Fenway Park, will host the 2027 MLB All-Star Game. The event will be the first at Wrigley Field since 1990, when the ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood were in a very different condition, and the fourth in the facility’s 111-year history. 

Since Tom Ricketts and his family acquired the Cubs in 2009, they have spent $1 billion to upgrade Wrigley Field and transform the Wrigleyville neighborhood, particularly through an aggressive, multiyear renovation effort called the 1060 Project. The area now features a new gathering space adjacent to the ballpark called Gallagher Way and a series of new hotels, restaurants, and shops. The club’s renovations also included substantial improvements within the ballpark. 

What was previously a somewhat downtrodden area has become a thriving entertainment district, mirroring the mixed-use developments widely seen elsewhere in sports. As a result, the 2027 All-Star Game, in part, will be a celebration of what Wrigleyville has become.

“There are many reasons why this is the perfect place for the All-Star Game,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a Friday morning event at Wrigley Field to herald the securing of the game. “For over a hundred years, this has been the beating heart of the baseball world and a shining emblem of our nation’s favorite pastime. There’s no place like it.”

The final, critical piece of securing the Wrigley Field bid for the event was the recent approval by city officials of $32.1 million in perimeter security enhancements that were critical to the bid. Wrigley Field has a much closer placement to area streets compared to modern ballparks, and the new measures include upgrades such as anti-terrorism bollards.

“All Cubs fans are very proud of Wrigley Field, and we can’t wait to show fans who have never been here before what kind of experience this place is, what kind of a special ballpark we have, and what an incredible neighborhood we have,” Ricketts said. 

Larger Events

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred lauded Chicago’s ability to host an All-Star Game that has continued to grow into a weeklong celebration that, in addition to the game itself and Home Run Derby, now includes supplemental functions such as the league’s draft, MLB All-Star Futures Game, and HBCU Swingman Classic, among many others.

“I think we’re overdue in terms of being at Wrigley,” for the All-Star Game, Manfred said. “The Ricketts family, the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois made a tremendous investment, not just in the ballpark, but the area around it, and I think it’ll be a fantastic venue.”

The entire 2027 MLB season, however, could be threatened if accelerating labor tensions between the league and the MLB Players Association are not resolved.

“My contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the ’27 season,” Manfred said. “I’m optimistic that we’ll find a way to make a deal.”

Other All-Star Games

Before the 2027 MLB All-Star Game, Philadelphia will host next year’s Midsummer Classic, with that long-planned event designed to coincide with celebrations for the 250th anniversary of American independence. 

The race for 2028 and beyond, however, remains wide open. There is a possibility that San Francisco’s Oracle Park, the 2007 game host, will get the nod for that year, particularly if MLB and the MLB Players Association complete a deal with Olympic officials for big leaguers to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. 

Meanwhile, Baltimore, Boston, and Toronto—each of which last hosted the game in the 1990s—are all angling to bring the league jewel event back to their markets.

Now just one month away from Bill Belichick’s coaching debut at North Carolina, demand to see the NFL legend is setting records in and outside Chapel Hill.

With UNC selling out of football tickets faster than it ever has in program history, the secondary market around the Tar Heels is reaching unprecedented heights.  

The average resale price for UNC’s six home games this season is $162, which is up 153% over last year, and the highest since at least 2019, according to data TickPick provided to Front Office Sports.

Tickets for Belichick’s first game, when the Tar Heels host TCU on Labor Day, are reselling for an average of $152, which is up 192% compared to UNC’s 2024 home opener. That game will close out the first full weekend of college football, as ESPN puts Chapel Bill in prime time for the first of many national TV spotlights on the program this fall.

Road Record

UNC’s first road game under Belichick is just 130 miles away from Chapel Hill at Charlotte, which has become the most expensive game in the Conference USA program’s history.

On TickPick, the average purchase price to see Belichick in action on Sept. 6 is $177, and the get-in price is $130, the latter of which is more than double the total resale cost of attending every other Charlotte home game this season ($57).

Charlotte, which started its football program in 2013, plays in the 18,000-seat Jerry Richardson Stadium. So far, it has made tickets for the UNC game available only through season and flex ticketing plans. The school’s website says more UNC tickets will go on sale Aug. 5.

The Belichick Effect

Beyond increased ticket sales and an anticipated TV ratings boost, Belichick has given the ACC a much higher profile than the conference typically has, recently drawing huge crowds at preseason media days.

A docuseries featuring Belichick and UNC football is also slated to be released on Hulu later this year, multiple sources previously told FOS.