DC, Washington Commanders Announce New Stadium in Nation’s Capital

The project will need a vote by the DC Council, which is scheduled to take it up this summer. Approval is far from guaranteed.

A view of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington on June 12, 2002. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—The Washington Commanders and the District of Columbia announced on April 28 an agreement to have the NFL franchise move back to the nation’s capital.

The Commanders will play at the site of the defunct Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which will be demolished. The team, formerly the Washington Redskins, played there between 1961 and 1996.

In addition to the stadium, which is scheduled to break ground in 2026 and open in 2030, the 180-acre campus will include mixed-use districts consisting of restaurants, housing, shops, and green space.

The $3.7 billion project will be partly financed by the Commanders, who will pour in $2.7 billion, making it the largest private investment in the history of the District of Columbia.

The new Commanders site was facilitated by Congress passing a bill late last year to lease the stadium campus from the National Park Service to the District of Columbia for 99 years.

“This new deal will help make D.C. beautiful by revitalizing the vacant and deteriorating RFK Memorial Stadium campus in our nation’s capital,“ Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which advanced the bill, said in a statement. ”It will unlock the city’s full economic potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in city revenue.”

The Commanders currently play at Northwest Field in Landover, Maryland. The team’s lease there is set to expire in 2031, though the agreement does not prevent the Commanders from moving to another venue.

During a press conference, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser had a simple message for the Commanders.

“Welcome home,” she said.

Bowser talked about the importance of the project for the nation’s capital.

“As our economy is shifting, it’s something our city really needs, because we need growth and we need jobs,” she said.

President Donald Trump celebrated the news.

“The new stadium deal is a HUGE WIN for Washington, D.C., and for the team’s incredible fan base. It will also boost economic development, create more jobs and, hopefully, lead to less crime in the area,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The project will need to be approved by the D.C. Council, which is slated to vote on it this summer. Approval is far from guaranteed.

The council’s chairman, Phil Mendelson, has expressed reservations.

“I learned of this only yesterday afternoon, and we need to know more,” Mendelson told News4 on April 17. “I have said many times that I support a stadium and welcome the return of our football team, but without the investment of public dollars.”

The Commanders’ return to the nation’s capital is another victory for Bowser in terms of having Washington’s professional sports teams play in the city as opposed to the suburbs in Maryland or Virginia.

The Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals were set to move to Alexandria, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington. But the plan, which was announced in 2023, was thwarted by the Virginia Legislature. This led Bowser to make a deal with Monumental Sports Entertainment, which owns the teams, to stay in Washington.

With the Commanders moving back to the District, all of the city’s teams will play inside the nation’s capital.