D.C. Council members say stadium approval is likely, but they need more time

Washington Post

13 hours ago

D.C. Council members are working toward approving a football stadium for the Washington Commanders at the shuttered RFK Stadium site — but probably not by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's (D) July deadline, several lawmakers said this week.
The prospect of the council delaying a vote on the $3.7 billion deal has the team 'outraged,' Bowser said this week, and 'sacrifices our exclusive seat at the table and $2.7 billion in private investment.' Bowser has wanted the council to approve the deal with the Commanders as part of the council's fiscal year 2026 budget process — and the Commanders said this week that any delay beyond that threatens the team's construction timeline.
But council members argued it was only fair that they take more time to consider a deal that involves more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds — especially since they said they still lacked key information, such as a full explanation of the Bowser administration's revenue projections for the project and an analysis of how much the proposed tax exemptions for the Commanders will cost the city.
'The mayor thinks that her deal is perfect, and that's great for her,' said council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large). 'I feel like there are areas where we can certainly improve.'
The timeline tensions came into public view Tuesday, after NBC Washington reported on a closed council meeting where members discussed the possibility of voting on the terms of the RFK deal separately from the overall budget, which lawmakers are expected to approve in late July. The council would still approve the capital funding Bowser has allocated for the development with the budget, two lawmakers said this week.
The discussion of RFK was one part of a broader talk about separating some of Bowser's policy proposals from the council's budget vote, according to a person who was in the meeting but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it. Bowser's budget proposal included a host of changes to D.C. law, including a repeal of the city's 'sanctuary city' policy and amendments to eviction law. No final decision was made on RFK, the person said.
Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) said members talked about keeping the money for the RFK deal in the budget while taking out the policy language around the deal so they could possibly amend it.
'It is my belief that the deal will get done,' Parker said in a video he posted on social media in which he described the meeting. 'We will safeguard the money, and vote on this project sometime this fall.'
But voting on the deal in the fall would violate a deadline that Bowser negotiated with the Commanders; a term sheet between the two parties set July 15 as a deadline for a council vote and says the team would no longer exclusively negotiate with the city if the council did not vote on the deal by then, or if the council 'materially changes' the deal's terms. And Bowser said in an interview Friday that even if the council voted to approve the capital funds, that would mean little without them also approving the terms. 'The team can't take that to the bank,' she said.
The deal, which Bowser and the Commanders announced at the end of April, would involve $2.7 billion from the Commanders and more than $1 billion in city funds, some of which would help with stadium infrastructure and parking facilities for the stadium along with recreation improvements and other water and electric infrastructure. In recent weeks, council members have floated possible changes to the deal — including altering the placement and amount of parking, asking the Commanders to pay more than the proposed $1 per year in rent on the stadium and parking land, and exacting firmer labor commitments from the team.
Henderson cast some doubt on the idea that an additional couple of months of council consideration would cause the Commanders to walk away from the city. 'Every indication that I have from them, from the NFL, from their extraordinary involvement,' she said, 'is that they want to be here, which is great.' Henderson has said she would support a stadium deal, but only if it is improved for taxpayers and has a stronger labor agreement.
But Bowser said at a news conference Wednesday that the Commanders have 'very, very specific timelines' that would be upset by a council delay. 'I think they feel blindsided by the discussion,' she said of the team.
The Commanders said they would be willing to work 'morning and night' with the council to get the deal passed in July. 'Throughout the process we have been clear: the Commanders need a new home by 2030. Any delay will make us unable to deliver on that timeline as well as prevent us from attracting major concerts, performers, and international events such as the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup to D.C.,' a team spokesperson said in a statement. Council member Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7), whose ward encompasses the RFK site, took to social media to call the delay 'a direct hit to Ward 7' and say he 'won't stand for it.'
Other lawmakers said they are missing key information they need to analyze the deal and noted that the council took months to consider past stadium deals like Audi Field and Nationals Park and approved them after adding cost-saving measures for the city. The council is paying an outside consultant to evaluate the term sheet and proposed legislation and is awaiting that report.
After requests from reporters and council members, the Bowser administration posted a slide deck summarizing revenue projections for the RFK project, which included a prediction that it would generate $5.1 billion in tax revenue over a 33-year period, but lawmakers have been seeking a more detailed explanation of how the firm hired by the administration arrived at those numbers. That additional understanding did not come until Friday, said council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), when the company the city hired to develop revenue projections met with the council's budget office. 'What I'm told is that we got all the information we needed today,' he said in a brief interview Friday evening.
Also missing, lawmakers said, is a tax abatement financial analysis from the city's chief financial officer, which D.C. law requires ahead of a council hearing on any bill that would include a tax abatement or exemption. That analysis would explain how much tax money the city would miss out on because of the exemptions it is offering the Commanders. The council has requested one, said a spokesman for the chief financial officer, but the spokesman said he did not know how long it would take to complete.
Bowser, in an interview Friday, rebutted the idea that the council lacks the information it needs to deliberate on the deal. She said her team and the Commanders were 'ready to work with the council,' provided they say exactly what they want to change.
'I recognize that the council members feel like this is a lot all at once, and it is a lot all at once, but this is our opportunity,' said Bowser. 'This is when the opportunity has presented itself.'
Even as the council's timeline has irked Bowser and the team, Mendelson this week gave a forceful indication that the council would approve the stadium in the end. Mendelson, who has been vocal about his personal opposition to public funds for football stadiums, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the council will 'move forward quickly to analyze the Mayor's terms, improve the deal where possible for taxpayers, and approve a new football stadium.'
'I can't guarantee votes, but I'm working toward understanding or improving the proposal to a point where a majority can vote yes,' Mendelson added in an interview Thursday, though he said it was 'way too soon' for him to provide specific changes to the deal and he planned to wait for the evaluation the council had commissioned.
Even Kenyan R. McDuffie (I-At Large), among the stadium's most vocal supporters on the council, said he wanted more answers from Bowser officials and the team before a vote.
'I plan to hold a hearing, hopefully working with the chairman,' said McDuffie. 'I think time is of the essence. The deal does need to happen. And the council has experience and history in making modifications that improve on these types of deals.'
Meagan Flynn contributed to this report.