Josh Harris held a “welcome to my life” press conference before the Washington Commanders’ last preseason game — and it wasn’t all roses and sunshine.
Granted, these were billionaire problems the team owner was talking about, but his to-do list seemed a little overwhelming.
I give him credit. He was calm and cool when asked about some very complicated and very expensive issues he and his ownership group are facing in the cleanup of the Dan Snyder toxic waste barge.
The team name, for instance. Think about it — Harris and company paid $6 billion for a product whose customers, for the most part, hate the name of the product.
How frustrating must that be?
“I just think that we’ve been very clear, for obvious reasons the old name can’t come back,” he told reporters. “But right now we’re focused on things that unify … the city around our football team. The first objective is we got to start winning football games. We need everyone supporting the team and not things that might drive people apart.
“Secondly, we’re trying to find a new home,” Harris said. “And again, unifying the city around that is important. And the name is one of those things that, a lot of opinions. But I’ve certainly not forgotten. Like I said, I grew up here. OK, so I understand it. And we’re going to start to do things that bring us back to our heritage, honoring our past. You saw the gold pants. Those are easy things to do. So, we are doing research and we’re thinking about it, but like right now we’re prioritizing the things that we’ve talked about and that’s kind of the rationale for it.”
I don’t know. They managed to change the name of the stadium pretty quickly, going from FedEx Field to Commanders Field to now Northwest Stadium in a matter of months, in a new naming rights deal with Northwest Federal Credit Union. How hard can it be?
Then there is the new home Harris referred to, finding a place to build a new stadium not named Northwest Stadium.
What seems to be the preferred location for many, the old RFK stadium site, faces many complications, from ownership of the land held hostage in the U.S. Senate to financing (the District is spending $500,000 to see if they can find a way to help pay for a $2 billion stadium). All that is before Harris, who is also in the middle of trying to build an arena for his NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers, and his group can consider tackling the unpopular Commanders nickname.
Harris said 2030 is a realistic goal for a new stadium, but that the are political and practical hurdles to clear first: “There’s land zoning, a whole lot of other things. A lot of it’s not within our control, so there’s no way to predict a specific date, but I think that’s a reasonable target.”
More and more, a new stadium in Maryland next to the existing (now) Northwest Stadium site seems like the path of least resistance.
Harris seemed genuinely optimistic about Washington’s chances of hosting a future NFL draft (another of the league’s offerings that has turned into a multi-day, fan-friendly extravaganza).
“I think we’re going to get that done,” he said. “We’re talking to the league about it. It’s a question of timing, and it’s going to be a few years off.”
Not that Harris needs more complications for his to-do list, but I think hosting the NFL draft in the District is a lot more than a few years off. Turns out the Ravens are also very interested in hosting the draft in Baltimore.
“We’ve begun talks with the NFL,” Ravens team President Sashi Brown told reporters in March. “The draft has become such a major tentpole event for the league. A lot of cities are interested.
“We think Baltimore’s a great venue for it,” Brown said. “We’re also talking to folks who are developing the Inner Harbor. We’d certainly have to convince the NFL, but we’ll put that pressure on ourselves to try and bring one to Baltimore in the relatively near future.”
Sources say that once the Ravens are finished with their $600 million in M&T Bank Stadium renovations, they are hoping to host the NFL draft in the next available date open — 2027, the same year the Commanders want to host the event.
It is very unlikely that the NFL will bring the draft to two cities so close to each other without some time to pass — at least 10 years. Will the league bypass Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti — in the club for 20 years now — in favor of the new guy?
See, it’s not easy being a savior.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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