District of Columbia leaders, urgently trying to complete a $3.8 billion stadium deal with the Commanders, are not spoiling for a fight with U.S. President Donald Trump, and instead want to finish the pact as soon as possible.
Trump threw a big new wrinkle earlier this week into the long-discussed pact at RFK Stadium, threatening to kill the deal should the Commanders not revert to their prior name. While the president’s powers to do that remain limited, what’s become clear is that the local officials are not eager to test that, if at all possible.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Monday that her support for the stadium pact is not tied strictly to the team’s nickname. That’s a significant shift from 2020 when she said that the team’s return to D.C., where it played from 1937 to 1996, was in fact dependent on changing the name, which it ultimately did in early 2022 to Commanders.
Phil Mendelson, D.C. Council chair, has made a similar pivot in recent days. On Monday, he said the team’s nickname was not at all a salient issue in the stadium debate, and that “zero District residents” had complained to him about the shift to Commanders. The next day, though, he, too, signaled that the team reverting to the prior name was not necessarily a problem.
“My guess is no,” Mendelson told WJFK-FM, when asked whether changing the name back would poison the stadium agreement. “It wouldn’t change it for me.” The chair, however, did say he believes the entire name issue is a “distraction,” and further asserted that Trump’s powers in the matter are minimal. Additionally, Mendelson said the toxicity of former team owner Dan Snyder was, in fact, a big part of the prior reticence of the D.C. government to reach a stadium deal with the Commanders.
The Commanders, meanwhile, have not commented at all since Trump’s remarks Sunday. Owner Josh Harris, however, has previously been steadfast about not changing again from Commanders.
Path to a Vote
WRC-TV reported Wednesday that the council and Commanders have reached an agreement on amended deal terms, a move that would help pave the way for a council vote before its August recess. Details on the changes, however, have not emerged, and the parties did not comment further.
While the stadium issue continues to play out, Bowser is still trying to build sufficient support among the council for the stadium deal, which initially called for $1.1 billion in public funds and Harris supplying the rest.
Mendelson has scheduled public hearings on the matter for July 29–30, and a council vote could happen as soon as July 31.
While Trump has made clear his desire for a team name change, Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has pushed for the stadium deal to get done as soon as possible. Comer was a key part of a prior agreement to transfer control of the RFK Stadium property from federal authorities to the D.C. government.
