President Donald Trump wants the Washington Commanders to name their planned $3.7 billion stadium after him, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.
A senior White House source said there have been back-channel communications with a member of the Commanders' ownership group, led by Josh Harris, to express Trump's desire to have the domed stadium in the nation's capital bear his name. The new stadium is being built on the old RFK Stadium site that served as the team's home from 1961 to 1996.
«That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,» White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ESPN on Friday night via email.
Leavitt declined to answer additional questions, but the senior White House source told ESPN: «It's what the president wants, and it will probably happen.»
A Commanders spokesperson declined comment Saturday. However, a team source said the organization has spent days preparing for Trump's attendance at the Commanders' home game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. Trump will attend the game as Harris' guest and is expected to participate in halftime activities honoring the military.
The team source said that while the Commanders anticipate possible conversations with Trump about the new stadium during the game, there have been no formal conversations to date.
The Commanders own the new stadium's naming rights, presumably to be sold to a corporate sponsor. But a source with firsthand knowledge of the process said that would be a separate decision from also commemorating an individual in the stadium name.
That decision would likely rest with the District of Columbia Council, which will lease the stadium to the
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