Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Northwest Stadium will not suffer the same dilapidated fate as the District’s RFK Stadium after the Washington Commanders shared plans to move back into the city following a nearly 30-year tenure in Landover.
Mr. Moore said the organization agreed months ago to demolish Northwest Stadium within 90 days after the first game is played at the new home field.
That possibility was set in motion Monday when managing partner Josh Harris joined D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to announce a blockbuster $3.7 billion deal at the former RFK Stadium site. The deal still needs final approval from a divided D.C. Council.
The governor went on to say the Commanders will secure and maintain the 200-acre site while it’s redeveloped, and will have gone through all necessary approvals beforehand to avoid creating “blight in the community.”
“In other words, we will not be left with another RFK Stadium,” Mr. Moore said, referring to the decaying stadium that has sat empty in Northeast since 2017.
The governor also expressed little surprise about news that the Commanders’ proposed return to the team’s “spiritual home” at the RFK site — the home stadium for the team when it was one of the league’s marquee franchises and made five Super Bowl appearances with three victories.
Prince George’s County Council Chair Edward Burroughs III told The Washington Times that while he was “disappointed” by the announcement, he said the Commanders had been signaling this was the team’s desired direction for some time.
“The county tried to keep the team here, but we also began to put plans in place in the event the team chose to leave,” Mr. Burroughs said. “Our revitalization plans for the Blue Line Corridor will proceed without the stadium, and I believe what’s to come might actually be more uplifting and beneficial for residents.”
Mr. Moore said the Commanders are funding a study for what to do with the Northwest Stadium site in the event they do leave.
The announced deal in the District includes a $2.7 billion investment from the Commanders for construction of a 65,000-seat, enclosed stadium that could potentially host a Super Bowl one day.
Another $681 million will come from D.C. taxpayers, though city officials said that number is closer to $1 billion once infrastructure projects are completed.
Ms. Bowser said the city will also redevelop the remainder of the 174-acre RFK site with new housing, shopping and recreational amenities along the western edge of the Anacostia River.
The project is scheduled to break ground in late 2026, with the stadium aiming to be open in time for the 2030 season.
But all that’s dependent on approval from the D.C. Council.
Chairman Phil Mendelson has long said he wants no public dollars to go toward a potential stadium project, especially if its use is limited to a few weekends each year.
He said he has yet to see the fine print on the deal Ms. Bowser made with the Commanders during a Monday appearance on local sports-radio station 106.7 The Fan.
“If this was before the council today, they would not go for it,” he told hosts Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier on their afternoon show.
Mr. Mendelson said too many unknowns about the future of the District’s finances — which is supposed to cut roughly $1 billion from its current fiscal year as part of federal stopgap legislation — would likely give some councilmembers pause.
Four council members attended the press event on Monday announcing the new deal. Seven local lawmakers need to support the stadium deal for the proposal to pass.
