ASHBURN, Va. — Excitement is in the air during the first day of open practice at Commanders training camp in Ashburn, Virginia Thursday. Camp opened on Wednesday and new majority owner Josh Harris was there in person. The excitement has revitalized the ongoing conversation around the new home for the team.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was also on hand to meet with fans at OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park Thursday, and said he was excited for the new ownership group and a new era.
"The new ownership brings a huge level of commitment and excitement, and to see all the fans out here is fabulous," Youngkin told WUSA9 Sports Director Darren Haynes. "This is going to be the beginning of an exciting season, and on top of that, a brand new commitment to Washington football."
He also made his pitch for the future of Commanders football in the Commonwealth.
"I've said many times, Virginia should be the best place to live, work, raise a family, and it should be the best place to have a professional football team," the governor said.
Youngkin said he is going to do his best to bring the Commanders to Virginia.
But Youngkin is not the only one making a push for the stadium as new ownership reinvigorates the Commanders fanbase.
During a town hall conversation with WUSA9, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke of making the Commanders new home in Prince George's County.
"People are seeing that new life is being breathed into this franchise, which is a long and storied franchise," Moore said. "We know that its future should be in Prince George's County, Maryland."
Moore pointed out that Maryland has already invested in bringing the stadium to Prince George's County.
"Part of the reason that we have already made a significant investment in showing the new leadership team for the Commanders that we're serious about this — just in the last session, we allocated $400 million that's going to be going to all the work that's happening around the stadium," he said. "For me, it's not just about are we producing a winner on the field. It's about are we producing a winner outside of the stadium, too. I believe that this stadium should be in Prince George's County, I believe that it will be in Prince George's County, I know that we are excited to support the endeavor to make that happen."
Meanwhile, in D.C., the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) introduced the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act on Thursday.
The bipartisan legislation would transfer administrative jurisdiction over the RFK stadium site from the Secretary of the Interior to the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA). The bill would allow GSA to enter into a lease with the District of Columbia, under which D.C. may use the land for stadium redevelopment, commercial and residential development, or other public purposes.
“The RFK site sits on underused federal land in D.C. that could be redeveloped, generating tax revenue for D.C.,” Norton said in a press statement. “Neither the mayor nor the council chair opposes this bill, which would allow D.C. to put the site to productive use – a vast improvement on the current state of affairs. I look forward to working with Chairman Comer to pass this bill as quickly as possible.”
Council Chair Phil Mendelson said he does not oppose the bill, but is concerned about the cost.
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"We are maxed out in our borrowing over the life of the capital improvement plan adopted for Fiscal Year 2024-2029," Mendelson tweeted Thursday in reaction to the legislation. "Any development of the campus must come at the expense of private developers. To expect otherwise would come at the expense of District schools, public housing, better roads, etc.," Mendelson said.
Mendelson also made a point that the new ownership should release the full report related to the Beth Wilkinson investigation into the Commanders workplace culture and sexual harassment.
"With the transfer of ownership, the Commanders can no longer be hurt by releasing of the report," the chairman wrote in his statement. "There is no longer a reason (as if there was ever a legitimate reason) to withhold the results of Ms. Wilkinson’s investigation. It must be released."
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser chose Nats Park Thursday morning, standing alongside Wizards and Mystics staff, to make her pitch to the Washington Commanders to return to the RFK stadium site. She revealed her meeting with the Commander’s new ownership group.
"They visited me at City Hall yesterday," the mayor said. "Josh called me immediately after the sale was complete last week. This is what I say, I’ve always said it, there’s really only one place for the team in this region. I’ve been a little coy, but there’s only one choice."
As a sign of how happy Mayor Bowser is with the Congressional bill, her office handed out copies of it at the Nats Park news conference.
Bowser said control of the site needs to come first, then announced the deputy mayor for planning and economic development would launch a new study to “identify funding mechanisms” to attract sports teams to the RFK stadium site.
When WUSA9 read to her Mendelson's concerns, Bowser replied, "He might have said the exact same thing in the debate over Washington Nationals Stadium and we’re here today."
The mayor wants the RFK stadium site to also be a center for youth sports, winning the support of some council members.
"So parents, like me, don’t have to travel to Pennsylvania and Virginia and all these other places and spend all that money at the hotels and restaurants, we can do more of that here," said DC At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie.
DC Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen also weighed in, sending a statement to WUSA9:
“There’s nothing in the Comer bill that requires a stadium be built; any extension of this federal lease was going to leave open the possibility. But it does greatly expand the permitted uses that will allow the local debate on how best to use the full 190 acres of land to advance as it should: with DC residents and decision makers. That said, we know NFL stadiums deliver very little long-term in terms of jobs and economic activity – after construction, most jobs are seasonal and total fewer than two weeks of work. Given the team plays eight to ten home games a year, an NFL stadium sits dark more than 90% of the time. For a city that needs more housing, this just doesn’t make sense. It’s also going to be hard to compete against Maryland and Virginia, which can certainly offer up more space to satisfy the absurd amount of parking NFL stadiums prefer. But since we’re here, I’d love to see a whole lot of commercial and affordable residential development right near an existing Metro station with much improved access to the Anacostia River. And I’m glad the Commanders finally have new ownership – let’s hope wherever they end up, all the attention on the team is on the field and winning games.”
For his part, Harris has not weighed in on where the new stadium should be. During his introductory press conference, he focused on improving the overall fan experience.
“As far as the stadium experience, long run, we would love to have a stadium where the opposing players fear to come, and our fans love to come, and our players love to come and feel welcome," Harris said. "That's what I experienced at RFK.”