D.C. Council advances Commanders’ stadium deal in first vote

By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com

The D.C. Council, on Aug. 1, voted 9-3 to approve the city’s Washington Commanders stadium deal in its first vote. The bill has advanced from its first reading to a second and final reading, where the council must vote once more to fully approve the deal.

The new stadium is not expected to open until 2030. 

“This bill is about much more than football in a stadium,” said Councilman Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7) during the livestreamed D.C. Council legislative hearing on Aug. 1. “It’s about righting the historic imbalance of investment across our city. We can lead, we can show our residents and our future investors that we’re serious about inclusive growth and equitable development.”

The deal is expected to create around 2,000 permanent full- and part-time jobs and 14,000 construction positions—many of which could benefit Black residents in the District, particularly those living near the stadium in Wards 7 and 8. D.C. Health Matters reports that in both wards, 87 percent of residents are Black.

“As someone who grew up in this burgundy and gold town, who knows what it feels like when development happens to us instead of for us, stadium deals make my stomach turn,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4). “With the federal government bent on making this deal happen, we don’t always get to choose the game, but we choose how we play it, so we played it hard.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) reported that the deal had been reworked and agreed upon on July 24. The modified deal is what the council approved on Aug. 1, after several discussions and hearings.

“This was a play in three acts,” said the council in a statement on Aug. 2, explaining what led up to the vote. “The first act was the last-minute effort by the prior Congress and President Joe Biden in late 2024 to transfer the RFK (Robert F. Kennedy) site from federal to District hands. The second act was an agreement by the Commanders and the mayor regarding how to use the RFK site for a variety of purposes, including bringing the Commanders home to D.C. The third act was the Council ensuring that the new RFK plan was a better deal for D.C. and consistent with key values held by councilmembers and the public.”

The council maintains that the original RFK stadium deal, as outlined in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) proposed Budget Support Act, was lacking. In response, they introduced a bill to separate budget discussions from stadium negotiations to ensure time for review and meaningful deliberations.

Concerns included inadequate financial return, unclear construction timelines, and a lack of labor and community benefit agreements. The new deal includes $260 million in parking revenues from non-stadium-event days, $112 million in parking taxes, a $50 million Community Benefits Agreement, and $600 million redirected to Metro improvements.

“The Commanders agreed to project labor agreements and labor peace agreements for the stadiums, plus project labor agreements covering the stadium hotel and additional hotel in the development, and labor peace agreements covering stadium parking and a majority of all hotels,” said Lewis George. “Our tax dollars are building this thing, our people better be the ones getting paid good wages to build it.”

The deal is also expected to bring 6,000 new homes, including 1,800 affordable units, and generate $26.6 billion in redevelopment tax revenue.

The mayor and the Commanders originally reached an agreement on April 28. The council was expected to approve it by July 15 but could not due to a delayed budget process and council concerns.

The second and final council vote is expected on Sept. 17.