Spending Sundays at The Don?
The Washington Commanders (I still have a hard time calling them that) have been on the hunt for a new stadium for a while now. Back in 2012, the team then known as the Washington Redskins began searching for a site to construct a new stadium that would replace their current home, Northwest Stadium (formerly FedEx Field) in Landover, Maryland.
Decisionmakers eventually settled on the site of the old RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., which has sat empty since 2019.
The old stadium began coming down earlier this year after D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, the NFL, and Commanders owner Josh Harris announced a $3.7 billion deal to construct a new stadium on the site. Under the agreement the Commanders will invest $2.7 billion to build the 65,000-seat domed stadium, and will be responsible for any cost overruns. The district will provide $1 billion, with the project also including housing developments, a sports complex and retail shops.
At the time, President Donald Trump proposed blocking the stadium unless the team returned to the Redskins name, but it was ultimately approved by the D.C. council back in September, which a tentative opening date of 2030.
The new stadium will be leased to the Commanders by the city, and the area surrounding it will be managed by the National Park Service.
While no name has been announced for the new stadium yet, apparently President Donald Trump has an idea for what it should be called: He wants it named after him.
According to a report from Adam Schefter, there have been discussions from the White House expressing to Commanders owner Josh Harris the president’s desire to have the stadium named after him.
And when asked about the report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was, predictably, in favor of the potential Trump Stadium:
“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”
A team source says that no formal conversations have taken place on the issue, but expects that the topic will come up tomorrow when President Trump attends the Commanders game against the Detroit Lions as a guest of Harris. And the source also seems to think that Trump has the leverage to make it happen:
“He has cards to play. He can make it very difficult, through government environmental approvals and other things, to make sure everyone who wants this stadium to be built will join to put his name on it. Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”
While the Commanders have the naming rights to the stadium, they would have to get approval from the D.C. Council to name it after Trump, which would obviously be a big hurdle to clear. And you’ve gotta think the owners would want to recoup some of the $2.7 billion they’re spending on the venue by selling the naming rights to a sponsor, versus simply naming it in honor of Trump for free, which is what the president seems to be asking for.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what name they ultimately settle on. But as we’ve seen, the team also has no problem changing their name later on down the road…
