LOVERRO: Commanders’ dance for new stadium at RFK site takes its first steps

OPINION:

Now the dance has begun. Sometimes it’s a jitterbug. Sometimes it’s a mosh pit.

It is rarely a waltz.

The news broke Wednesday that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the owners of the Washington Commanders are close to a deal worth more than $3 billion to build a new stadium at the RFK Stadium site.

This is a dance that plays out in cities around the country, often with multiple partners — greedy sports owners, ambitious and corrupt politicians, gleeful fans and outraged citizens.

Call it the Stadium Stomp — a taxpayer-funded celebration of sports that not everyone cheers for.

There are 700,000 people living in the District. This may be hard to believe, but most of them are not football fans and would rather see their money go somewhere other than the pockets of the Commanders’ owners. But cities are often defined by their professional sports franchises. 

There was a time when churches were a community’s landmarks. Now, sports stadiums are places of worship where the largest crowds gather.

The report says that while the negotiations are continuing, the city would put up the money for the infrastructure for the new stadium — an estimated $850 million — while the team would front as much as $2.5 billion. 

Seems like a good deal for the city, right? After all, the team would be putting up most of the money. But the report says the Commanders would get the chance to develop the rest of the 180-acre property. That’s many millions of dollars the city is surrendering in valuable development rights that it could use to bring in revenue for city coffers. 

If this comes to pass, it is going to make Josh Harris and the rich boys richer.

“Yes, the majority of the money will be made by the owner,” said one District source close to the negotiations.

But that’s the cost of doing business, and if the team is going to build a new domed stadium, having it in the city makes sense. There will be many benefits, both financially and emotionally, including hosting major events such as the NCAA men’s Final Four and even a Super Bowl.

And, let’s face it, there has been a psychological hole in the District’s soul ever since the football team left RFK Stadium for Landover, Maryland, after the 1996 season. Right or wrong, even though the team was just nine miles away from their old home, elected officials have been waiting for the opportunity to get them back within the city limits.

How close are they to accomplishing that? The more relevant question may be, “How far away are they from accomplishing that?”

Whenever a deal is done, it will have to go before the D.C. Council for approval. Those close to the stadium negotiations believe they have the votes. But that was before the opposing voices began to clear their throats.

They have started to do just that. There is already a “Homes Not Stadiums” movement that has asked the D.C. Board of Elections to put on the ballot an initiative that would create a new “Special Purpose Zone” on the RFK grounds that would prohibit the construction and use of a stadium or arena for a professional sports team. There will be other voices.

This is the mosh pit.

The report says that the target date for completion of the stadium is 2030 – the date Harris has said he hopes to leave Northwest stadium in the dust. But opposition could complicate that. Delays cost money. Circumstances change. No one should know that more than District sports fans, who watched Wizards and Capitals owner Transparent Ted Leonsis celebrate moving his teams to Potomac Yard, only to return to the city as if his shameful act never happened.

Speaking of Potomac Yard, we saw the late Washington football owner Jack Kent Cooke at a 1993 press conference with then-Gov. Doug Wilder announced that the football team would soon call the neighborhood home. Look where they wound up – the location that, while Maryland has remained silent in the fight for the Commanders’ home, caught up in their own budget woes, still remains the path of least resistance.

In Chicago, the Bears have bounced around between a new stadium south of Soldier Field and Arlington Heights in suburban Chicago, among other locations.

That is the jitterbug.

Finally, there is the uncertainty of District finances and control. The city is facing $410 million in budget cuts brought on by Congress. Plus, there is the Donald Trump wild card. Two months ago, the president declared, “I think we should govern the District of Columbia.”

It should be noted that Commanders owner Josh Harris has a relationship with Trump. He has been a financial donor and, according to The New York Times, made regular visits in 2017 to the White House to advise administration officials on infrastructure policy.

Then there is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has come out strong in favor of the Commanders returning to the RFK Stadium site. At the Super Bowl, Goodell said the sight of a new stadium with the monuments and the U.S. Capitol in view “would be great for our nation.” 

“I remember that as a kid growing up, the power of that vision and what it means to that community,” said Goodell, who spent a lot of time in the area when his father, Charles Goodell, was in the Senate. “It’s a really powerful thing. So if it turns out that that is the best alternative, it could be a great thing.”

Don’t be surprised if Goodell, as part of this dance, awards the 2027 NFL draft to the city. Think of it as a corsage.

But make no mistake about it – this ain’t no prom.

• Catch Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.

Correction: A previous version of the column incorrectly stated the estimated amount of money in the negotiation that the city would put up for the infrastructure for the new stadium. The correct estimated amount is $850 million.