Any delays in the D.C. Council approval of a plan to build a new Washington Commanders stadium could jeopardize the entire project and prompt the franchise to consider looking to relocate elsewhere, Mayor Muriel Bowser warned on Wednesday.
At an unrelated event, Bowser said she included funding for the new stadium and development at the old RFK site in her budget proposal. The council has 70 days to work on the budget, ending Aug. 4.
The remarks come a day after NBC Washington first reported council members discussed the possibility of removing the stadium from the budget during a private meeting. Instead, a vote on the deal to bring the team back to D.C. could happen separately, after the budget vote.
For weeks, Bowser has been describing the nearly $4 billion plan as the surest and fastest way to develop the land. She and the team are hoping a new stadium would be ready for the start of the 2030 season.
“As long as this deal goes with the budget, I think our agreement lives,” Bowser said. “If it doesn’t, our agreement dies.”
Asked about the council’s possible desire for more time to consider all aspects of the deal, Bowser said the next six weeks should be sufficient to ask questions and address any issues.
WTOP has contacted Council Chairman Phil Mendelson for comment on the council’s possible desire for more time.
“Now is not the time for some imaginary deadline into the future that nobody knows what it is,” Bowser said. “The time is now to act.”
If the city and the Commanders don’t reach an agreement by July 15, the franchise could consider alternatives. There are “specific timelines” the team needs to meet wherever it goes, Bowser said, and “uncertainty created by the council will leave a big avenue for another jurisdiction to meet their timeline.”
A spokesman for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declined to comment on whether state leaders would resume talks to keep the team in Maryland if the D.C. deal falls through.
In response to the council’s uncertainty, Bowser said the team is “outraged. I think they feel blindsided by the discussion.”
A Commanders spokesperson said the team needs a new home by 2030, and any delay could prevent a new venue from attracting concerts, performers and events, such as the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“We are prepared to work with the Council morning and night over the next six weeks to keep this stadium on schedule so we can deliver for D.C.’s future,” the statement said.
A D.C. report found a new stadium could generate tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. Bowser said the revenue is essential given changes to the city’s economy.
“The federal jobs, they’re not growing,” Bowser said. “In fact, we’re trying to save the ones that we have. We have to leave into a strong growth agenda, and we have an incredible opportunity to bring our team home, to have $2.7 billion of private investment and to get this started and to get it right now.”
In a statement on X on Tuesday night, Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker said the council is being advised to treat the RFK deal as “the crown jewel of the FY26 budget — as if it’s the most pressing need in our city. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Washingtonians are on the brink of losing health coverage, TANF support, and housing assistance. Vital youth programs and educational services are being cut. Let’s stay focused.”
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