Late Senate vote approves RFK site plan as Commanders pursue - ESPN
A week full of wild swings for the Washington Commanders' pursuit of a stadium in the District of Columbia ended with another twist — and what one person involved called a Hail Mary — that elevates the likelihood of the team returning to the city.
Early Saturday morning, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent that would allow the federal government to lease more than 170 acres of land to the district at the site where RFK Stadium resides. It greatly increases the chances of the Commanders building a new stadium at the site, though more hurdles remain before that's a reality.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has said they plan to build more housing and a recreation center on the grounds. She has been aggressive in her pursuit of the Commanders, who have been looking for a new stadium site for several years.
But the first step was having the federal government lease the land back to the city for another 99 years. The district has another 14 years on its current lease, but that was not a long enough time to secure the necessary funding for projects.
On Tuesday, a provision to transfer the land was included in a continuing resolution spending bill before Congress, fueling hopes for Washington to pursue a stadium in the district. Those hopes were dashed when the provision was removed Thursday. Though that bill failed to pass, a new one Friday did that still excluded this provision.
That left the Commanders and the district pondering a next step that could have included waiting until Congress returned for a new session. Instead, the Senate passed the bill around 1:15 a.m. Saturday. The bill, which the House passed in February, still must be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
«We are extremely grateful that