Mayor Bowser's legacy in D.C. is the sports city she has helped build

Washington Post

29-04-2025

At her own personal Super Bowl, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) raised both hands and pumped her fists. She waved like a royal, then returned the applause back to a room that was filled with her loudest supporters placed in the most prime locations. She celebrated all the way to her seat, flanked by Washington Commanders majority owner Josh Harris and Roger Goodell, commissioner of the whole NFL. Because she did it.
She will go down as the mayor who not only saved two of the city's sports franchises, but the one who (possibly) brought football back to the District. The Commanders and the city agreed on a deal to build a new stadium and further develop the neighborhood surrounding the old RFK site. And this comes on the heels of Bowser striking a deal with Ted Leonsis, the head of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, to keep the Capitals and Wizards in the Gallery Place/Chinatown neighborhood for the next quarter of a century.
All that's needed now to move forward with the $3.7 billion deal and cement Bowser's legacy as the Mayor of Sportstown, USA, is the approval of the D.C. Council, but that was such a trifling, little detail Monday morning as dozens and dozens of overjoyed football fans celebrated the city's favorite sports franchise possibly coming back home.
If she wanted to, Bowser could have lapped the grand room at the National Press Club, high-fiving every legend in the room from Joe Gibbs to Eleanor Holmes Norton. She didn't, but after starting her remarks with a callout — 'Promise made,' to which plenty in the crowd roared back: 'Promise kept!' — Bowser could have then simply dropped the mic and walked off stage, staring down any journalist who would dare question how her promise might impact the real residents of the neighborhood. Instead, Bowser remained dignified during the single most important day of her career. But make no mistake, this was her trophy.
She did it.
In her decade leading the city, Bowser has taken plenty of shots for what has gone wrong under her watch. Some of the criticism is fair; other issues have been out of her control (unless of course she's personally responsible for rodents overrunning the city).
Bowser is the hometown elected official, the city's chosen champion, and she has prioritized arenas and stadiums as the foundation of her legacy. So Monday felt as significant as a Super Bowl win. Because with all of its anticipation of a shiny, new stadium sold out by Commanders games or Beyoncé concerts, any and everything seems possible.
'Washington sports teams should play in Washington,' Bowser has said. 'The sports economy, sometimes it gets minimized to, like, fun and games. But it's dollars and sense.'
Bowser loves that well-crafted line, and she will use it often to explain how sports can drive economic growth in a city. But she's no robot, echoing talking points. She will push back when she feels her big ideas are being questioned. She will defend them, safeguarding her legacy. After all, 'the mayor who brought the NFL back' is a heck of a first line in an obituary. So when a television reporter challenged Bowser on how she can justify this particular development in light of the city's current budget crisis, she was ready.
'We're not talking about the … [fiscal year 2025] summer crises. We're not talking about that. What we're talking about is our future,' Bowser said before getting drowned out by applause, whistles and the shouts of several vocal supporters: 'That's right!' and 'All right!'
'You know what our job is right now? Our job is replace economic activity for 40,000 people,' Bowser said, only stopping when a man shouted: 'Go 'head!'
A dramatic pause followed before she continued, her congregants eating up every word.
'If we don't make some change, they may not have their jobs. ('Ohkay!') If we don't make some change, they may not live here. So our job is to advance a budget that is bold and that invests in growth. … If you need to add revenue, as we do, you can't leave 180 acres vacant. ('Mmmhmm!') If you need to add jobs, as we do, you cannot wait for an anchor to show up to start developing there. ('That's right!') When you need to attract business, you have to be about business.'
At this point, the whole room was applauding. When Bowser finally finished, Goodell leaned over and whispered something, to which she responded: 'Thank you.'
Well, she did it.
The proposed stadium would be built in a gentrified neighborhood that has changed so much from its Black middle class roots that Kingman Park residents created a portion of the precinct that voted for Trump more than any other place in the District. Since the 1990s and the slow melting away of a 'Chocolate City,' the trend shows that Black residents won't make up the majority of the newest neighbors who would move into the thousands of homes promised in the neighborhood.
A few blocks away from the whoops and cheers happening downtown sat a man on the sidewalk of 14th Street. He could not have been past his 30s. Whether he makes his home on that street, not sure, but clearly, he's living a life that has gone off script from the American Dream. In a city that boasts a population of just over 700,000 but with more people experiencing homelessness than the states of Arkansas and Mississippi combined (two of the highest poverty rates in the country), that man asking for money outside a convenience store might be viewed as nothing more than a statistic by the office workers and tourists passing by.
But she did it.
The federal labor market in the District is drowning because of mass layoffs conducted by the Trump administration. The average 20-something makes just enough to live in a dwelling shared by roommates. The city's Vision Zero road safety initiatives can feel more like 'Zero Vision' by the pedestrians and cyclists who still have to dodge drivers wielding their vehicles like deadly weapons. We have no statehood. And the rats suck.
But Bowser did it.
She's on the doorstep of bringing the Commanders back home. A feat her predecessors could not accomplish, because she recognized the importance of dollars and sense. The people want fun and games. They want the prestige and the opening shot of the Capitol on Fox telecasts before kickoffs. They want to stick their chests out Monday and feel good about being a Commanders fan. They want the ever-expanding blob called the NFL that devours everything in its path in their city, too. And hey, if some dollars get thrown around to create some hourly wage jobs or a park kids can play at, then great.
The people, shouting from the amen choir in a downtown press room or throughout social media or anywhere around the city, want sports. Bowser's legacy will be that she heard them, loud and clear.