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A Senate panel passed a bill Tuesday morning that opens a path for the Washington Commanders to return to D.C. at a new facility at the site of the old RFK Stadium.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the bill 17-2 to transfer the over 100 acres of federal land around RFK Stadium back to the District and to allow for development around the stadium site.
The bill has bipartisan support but still needs to be approved by the full Senate. If that doesn’t happen during the lame-duck session, a new legislative effort will have to begin in 2025.
After the vote concluded, Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the committee’s chairman, said, “Let’s go, Commanders!”
The deal has the support of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the House also passed the bill earlier this year.
Bowser told WTOP that the over 100 acres will be used in part to rehome the Washington Commanders and other entertainment opportunities, as well as creating retail, housing and hotel space.
“We know that the Senate will be taking many important votes before the end of the year, and we know it should, and we expect it to pass this session,” she said. “It is about civic pride, and this is our team. This is the Washington Commanders, after all, and they should be playing in Washington.”
But Maryland’s congressional delegation and Gov. Wes Moore opposes efforts to move the Commanders from their state to the District.
The Commanders moved to Landover in 1997 and the team’s lease expires in 2027.
Virginia has also made efforts to attract the team to the Commonwealth, where they have a practice facility.
The legislation that advanced Tuesday had been held up by Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who had urged the team to do more to honor the legacy of its original logo, which was created by a Native American family in Montana.
Daines said he spoke with the family of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel on Tuesday morning, the man who inspired what he called an “iconic logo.”
“There’s good faith negotiation going on. There’s trust being built,” Daines said of discussions between the family and the Commanders.
Daines notes there’s “great pride in this logo” and the family wants to see it honored. The logo is a portrait of Blackfoot Chief John Two Guns White Calf.
The team retired its original name and logo in 2020.
As for the old RFK stadium, it has been deteriorating for years and will ultimately be scheduled for demolition. The Commanders’ lease at Northwest Stadium ends in 2027.
WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer and Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
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