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RFK Stadium bill passes Senate. What happens next?
The bill that gives D.C. control over the RFK Stadium site is still awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature after a successful last-minute effort to get the Senate to vote on the bill in the early morning hours Saturday.
WASHINGTON - The bill that gives D.C. control over the RFK Stadium site is still awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature after a successful last-minute effort to get the Senate to vote on the bill in the early morning hours Saturday.
The legislation makes the District an option for the Commanders to build their new stadium but the big question is what happens next?
FOX 5 spoke with a sports law expert who says we’re in rare territory when talking about a team looking to build a new stadium.
Usually, when a team is looking to build a new stadium without relocating the team, they’re deciding which city within a state to go to. But the Commanders will have three very different jurisdictions to choose from, so it’s likely going to be a competitive process.
The Commanders have said they’re grateful to have three different jurisdictions interested in hosting the team.
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If they haven’t started already, those jurisdictions are likely putting together their pitches to the team. But coming up with the right deal when talking about something as complex as building a new stadium is easier said than done.
It’s more likely than not that public funding would be part of whatever deal is struck with the team.
In D.C. for example, a handful of members of the Council would have to sign off. All agree that D.C. should have control of the RFK site but there’s disagreement on whether an NFL stadium should be there and, if there is, what public money should go towards it.
Council Member Charles Allen is against an NFL stadium right now.
"I don’t think spending hundreds of millions of your tax dollars for a billionaire’s stadium is the right investment. It sits dark more than 90% of the year. We don’t see the same return on investment for an NFL stadium that we do for an arena that is programmed year-round," Allen said. "That, to me, is the big distinction. It’s not the right investment I want to see the city make."
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But D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she wants a stadium at RFK and that D.C. is going to invest in infrastructure improvements to the site whether there’s a stadium there or not.
Melinda Roth is a sports law professor at George Washington University. She believes public money will be part of any deal offered by D.C., Maryland and Virginia but what that money looks like will require creativity — particularly from D.C. given its budget situation — and residents and council members who may be hesitant.
"I think part of the issue will be how to sell this to the residents of D.C. and part of that will be including and thinking outside the box like Mayor Bowser is in terms of what happens with such items as affordable housing, for example," Roth said.
The Commanders have not said anything publicly about the financing of a stadium.
There’s still no word on when President Biden will formally sign the RFK stadium legislation but when he does, that’s when the real work of trying to lure the team will begin.