House passes RFK bill as FedEx pulls name from Commanders’ stadium

The U.S. House passed a bipartisan deal Wednesday backing the District mayor’s plan to offer a new, rebuilt RFK Stadium as the future home of the Washington Commanders, with the congressional action coming just hours after the stunning announcement that FedEx will take its name off the team’s aging home field in Landover.

The RFK Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed the House 348-55 with support from both sides of the aisle. Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, sponsored the bill with the support of Democratic Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting representative.

The bill would lease the crumbling stadium’s campus to the District at no cost, though the city would be responsible for any environmental or construction charges.

The legislation is expected to pass in the Senate and be signed by President Biden.

“This bill is a win-win for the federal and D.C. governments,” Ms. Norton said Wednesday. “This bill would allow D.C. to transform the campus from acres of asphalt to a complex focused on community sports, recreation, park space and cultural amenities.”

The legislation would allow the National Park Service to lease the RFK site to the District for 99 years — the current lease expires in 2038 and limits development at the campus. District officials say they could construct a new stadium, public parks, commercial buildings, or mixed-use developments.

“Tonight’s vote was a huge step forward in our efforts to unlock the full potential of the RFK campus — for our residents and visitors, the community, and D.C.’s comeback,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. The mayor has been an ardent supporter of building a stadium at the site.

“The Washington Commanders belong in Washington,” she wrote on X in October. “Let’s get back to winning. Let’s get back to RFK.”

Some residents in Kingman Park, the neighborhood next to the stadium, have said they’re concerned with the mayor’s plans. An October survey from the community group RFK Future found that 70% of respondents did not want a new stadium. They’d rather see a park, athletic facilities, and youth sports fields in the area.

Wednesday’s vote raised alarm bells among Kingman Park’s anti-stadium advocates.

“The movement of the legislation by Congress proves that our community is facing the most significant change to our everyday life in a generation,” said Ebony Payne, advisory neighborhood commissioner and board member with the Friends of Kingman Park. “My focus will remain on ensuring what is best for our children and families is put at the forefront of any future development plans.”

Whether in the District, Maryland or Virginia, the Commanders are actively pursuing a new stadium.

The franchise’s facilities, including the stadium in Landover, were ranked worst in the league in a survey released Wednesday by the NFL players’ union.

FedEx announced Wednesday that they would no longer sponsor the stadium, instead focusing their resources on other NFL opportunities.

“We believe the future is bright for the Washington Commanders, and we look forward to watching the team evolve under their new ownership,” the company said in a statement.

The Commanders opened the Landover stadium in Prince George’s County in 1997. Two years later, then-owner Dan Snyder sold the stadium’s naming rights to FedEx for more than $7.5 million per year.

The Commanders moved quickly Wednesday to tamp down the fallout from the loss of the team’s longtime naming rights partner.

“We have already started the process of identifying our next stadium rights partner — a partner who will play a crucial role in ushering in the next era of not only Commanders football, but also a robust slate of top live events and concerts,” the team said in a statement.

The Commanders announced $75 million in renovations for the stadium this week, with a focus on infrastructure improvements. The franchise will play its home games in Landover until at least 2027.

The future beyond that is murky. The team could choose to stay in Landover, build a new stadium in Maryland or move to Virginia or the District. Maryland lawmakers still hope to keep the NFL team from moving to neighboring jurisdictions.

Public officials in each jurisdiction are trying to court the Commanders. Maryland promises a revitalized area around the Landover stadium, while the District calls upon the glory days at RFK Stadium.

Some Maryland lawmakers in the House voted no on the RFK bill, saying it gives D.C. officials an unfair advantage in the race to land the team.

“I fully support fair competition to host sports teams, but we can’t encourage it at the expense of federal taxpayers to benefit a multibillion-dollar industry — and jeopardizing thousands of jobs Maryland families depend on in the process,”  Rep. David Trone, Maryland Democrat, said in a statement.

“I believe Prince George’s County in Maryland should be able to compete on a level playing field to keep the Washington Commanders,”  Rep. Glenn Ivey, Maryland Democrat, said on the House floor. “It is most certainly not a level-playing field when one interested jurisdiction receives a free transfer of federal government-subsidized land.”

In Virginia, state lawmakers and Gov. Glenn Youngkin are working to establish a stadium authority that would allow public bonds to finance an arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Alexandria. Though state lawmakers killed legislation for an arena, the proposal has become the centerpiece of budget negotiations in Richmond.

A stadium authority in Virginia could ease any plans to build an NFL home in the state, as the framework would already exist.

The Commanders are keeping options open in all three jurisdictions — the RFK legislation means a move to the District is still on the table.

“We have long said that we believe D.C. should be in a position to have authority over the land at RFK, and this is another step to making that happen,” a Commanders spokesperson said in early February when the RFK bill passed through committee. “We are pleased to have multiple jurisdictions that want to be home to the Commanders.”