RFK Stadium Bill Could Clear Congress in Lame-Duck Session

The Commanders’ potential return to D.C. could hinge on some last-minute negotiations ahead of a Senate committee hearing next week. 

The RFK Stadium bill has been stuck in the Senate National Parks Subcommittee since the legislation was passed in the House in February, but it is slated to come up for a vote along with dozens of other bills on Nov. 19. Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, has threatened to block the bill unless the Commanders properly recognize  Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, who helped create the team’s former Native American imagery logo.

The talks between Daines’s office, the Wetzel family, and the Commanders have been underway for months and are continuing, two sources with knowledge of those discussions tell Front Office Sports.

After a Senate National Parks Subcommittee hearing in May, Daines said he’d be in favor of the former logo used from 1972 through 2020 in some way by the Commanders—something that sources previously told FOS would be a nonstarter for the team and the NFL. 

“I think this comes down to satisfying the legacy of Blackie Wetzel and specifically Ryan Wetzel as the family member representing the … Blackfeet tribe,” Daines said in May. 

Earlier this season, the Commanders held a private ceremony which included the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate Walter Wetzel’s logo design that is now on display on the 300 level of the stadium.

It’s unclear what—if anything else—would be needed to satisfy the family and Daines.

The Wetzel family and the Commanders were set to commemorate the creation of the former logo at a game earlier this season with a plaque unveiling, but that event was put on hold.

The RFK Stadium legislation would grant D.C. a 99-year lease for the land where the team’s former home stadium is still being torn down. The approximately 174 acres are currently controlled by the National Park Service and even if the Senate passes the legislation and President Biden signs it into law before his term expires in January, that doesn’t guarantee the Commanders will return to D.C. 

A stadium is just one option if D.C. gains control of the site—the area could host parks, retail, and housing, among the other options. But the lease would make the District a player alongside Virginia and Maryland for the Commanders’ next stadium. The Commanders left RFK Stadium for what’s now known as Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., after the 1996 NFL season. 

Northwest Stadium is arguably the worst stadium in the NFL and former owner Dan Snyder had looked to relocate the team to Virginia before he sold the Commanders for a record $6 billion ahead of the 2023 season to a group led by Josh Harris, cofounder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management.  

New ownership has spent millions to upgrade the fan experience at Northwest Stadium, which was acquired along with the roughly 200 acres in Landover as part of the sale. In August, Harris said 2030 was a “realistic target” for a new stadium. 

But Harris and the team’s co-owners have been mum on the plans for a new domed stadium in the D.C. area. The most straightforward option would be to build it next to Northwest Stadium, which could likely be funded by public subsidies from Maryland. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been vocal about his desire to keep the team in Maryland. 

Last year, Virginia lawmakers approved a stadium study and state lawmakers have had discussions with Commanders officials.