President Joe Biden signed into legislation a bill that transfers the land that features the outdated RFK Stadium from the federal authorities to metropolis management, the following step to potentially pave the way for the NFL’s Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital.
Giving the District of Columbia management of the land for the following 99 years permits for the decaying husk of the outdated stadium to be torn down and the positioning redeveloped for any variety of issues. One of many potentialities is a soccer stadium and surrounding leisure choices on the franchise’s former dwelling.
“It’s a good day for D.C. once we lastly have management of our personal future on the RFK campus,” Mayor Muriel Bowser stated in a statement after attending the invoice signing for the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. “We’re prepared and optimistic about unlocking the total potential of this house, and with greater than 170 acres of land we are able to do all of it — ship housing, financial alternative, inexperienced house, recreation, sports activities and extra.”
Bowser referred to as this second “the outcomes of years of tireless and strategic advocacy, extraordinary collaboration and bipartisan management.”
The decision made it by means of Congress within the early morning hours of Dec. 21 simply earlier than the vacation recess after it was faraway from the year-end spending invoice in a twist that threatened the efforts by Bowser and others made over the past 18 months. Controlling proprietor Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill in early December in assist of the measure.
Taking part in in Washington once more is not any certain factor. The Commanders are additionally contemplating different locations within the district, Maryland and Virginia to construct a stadium within the coming years.
Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs by means of 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a brand new stadium.
The group performed at RFK Stadium, 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol, from 1961-96 earlier than transferring to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, together with Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington soccer followers throughout that period, which included the glory days of three Tremendous Bowl championships from 1982-91.
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