LOVERRO: What the NFL wants, it usually gets

The NFL is a powerful force on Capitol Hill.

We’ve seen the league manage to avoid pitchforks and torches from lawmakers ostensibly concerned about everything from concussions to cheating. We’ve watched as the league protected toxic Washington football owner Dan Snyder for years, and then, when the stench became too much, deported him on a yacht with a bag full of money. 

Now the hope for a new Washington Commanders football stadium may depend on the capabilities of that powerful lobby.

The Commanders and those many fans who support a return to the RFK location for a new football stadium got a big boost Tuesday when the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which would allow the land owned by the Department of Natural Resources to be leased to the District, giving the city the control they need to pave the way for plans for a new stadium.

However, the bill still has to be approved by the full Senate in a very short window of time — before this session ends and the new Congress is put into place. The big challenge — opposition by Maryland senators Chris Van Hollen and outgoing Ben Cardin — remains.

The bills had been held up in committee because Montana Sen. Steve Daines took up the cause of the Wetzels, the Indian family that wanted some acknowledgment of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, who in 1972 helped design the old logo. 

The logo was discarded along with the Redskins name when the team made the change to Washington Football Club in 2020. Since then, they’ve renamed the team to Commanders, which most of the fan base hates.

Snyder had turned away the family several years ago when they sought ownership of the logo to repurpose in service of Indian issues. This year, it wound up costing the team and RFK supporters valuable months before the issue was finally resolved to the satisfaction of Daines and the Wetzels.

But the Maryland opposition in the Senate always remained a bigger problem, and now the team and the District are going to have to rely on the NFL to lobby Senate leaders to present the bill quickly in a form where the Maryland legislators could not stand in the way. 

Attached to a larger spending bill, for example, rather than as a stand-alone piece of legislation, which the Maryland contingent could stop from reaching the floor for a vote.

The District has no leverage to force that. The Commanders and, more importantly, the NFL, have stronger voices to push that procedure.

“Maryland has served as the proud home of the Commanders for over 20 years and, as the team looks to the future, Governor (Wes) Moore and others have put forward proposals to encourage them to stay here,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “Our priority is not to block the transfer of the RFK property from the National Park Service to the District of Columbia, but to ensure a fair process in the selection of a Commanders stadium site and prevent actions that unfairly tilt the scales in favor of one location over another at the expense of federal taxpayers.”

Van Hollen’s latest is consistent with what he’s said since his opposition was first reported in The Washington Times in July.

Sources say that Maryland officials’ primary concerns may be what happens to the site after the team leaves Landover. They may want some form of compensation or some deal where the Commanders tear down the stadium and sell the land back to the state or develop it. Maryland awarded $400 million in state bonds to Prince George’s County last year to redevelop the land near Northwest Stadium, where the team has played since 1997.

Money, though, will be hard to come by all around with any new stadium deal. 

After giving Monumental Sports and Entertainment owner Ted Leonsis $500 million to fix up his Capital One Arena and the surrounding area, the city is not in a position to give any money for a new football stadium and has virtually no borrowing power. That means they will have to create some form of quasi-government body, such as a stadium authority, not just for the stadium, but to use the entire 180 acres, to issue bonds or create a vehicle for financing.

The Commanders’ owners had to reach deep into their wallets to put together a record amount — $6 billion — to buy the team in 2023. Plus, owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer are on the hook for $1.3 billion for a new downtown arena for their Philadelphia 76ers NBA franchise — if the arena there gets city council approval. Council members told 76ers officials last week that the team will have to come up with more than the $50 million It set aside for local businesses, social and educational programs — like another $50 million.

That may be a preview of issues the Commanders will face in the District from a very divided city council. Then, of course, there will likely be neighborhood opposition, all of which could delay any stadium project that Harris has targeted for a 2030 completion date.

The Associated Press reported last week that the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium costs have jumped from the initial $1.5 billion estimate to north of 2.1 billion, with $560 million in cost overruns. Delays cost money.

Maryland still remains the path of least resistance. The District hopes the NFL can clear its path quickly for a new home for the Commanders.

• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.