RFK was personal.
Harris grew up in Chevy Chase, Md., as a fan of the then-Redskins. He and Ein, a D.C.-based venture capitalist, were classmates at Rollingwood Elementary and had the same Redskins varsity jacket. Rales, who grew up in nearby Bethesda, attended every Washington home game from around the time he entered fifth grade.
...Harris, knowing a new stadium would be a significant revenue driver for the franchise, prioritized the search for a new site immediately after taking ownership in 2023. Early in the process, Harris’ partners convinced him to fly his helicopter over Northern Virginia to scout sites, including a quarry just south of Dulles International Airport. The land was already slated to be transformed into part of a mixed-use development, but acquiring it would have been costly — the influx of data centers in the area has inflated the value of land — and would have alienated the team’s fans in Maryland.
Multiple sources involved in the discussions said that the Commanders essentially wrote off Virginia in early 2024, when its $2 billion deal to bring the Wizards and Capitals to Alexandria fell apart because of legislative opposition.
Despite the fans’ general disdain for Northwest Stadium, Maryland was initially the most logical of the three jurisdictions, given the available space and financial incentives the state could provide. The team could rebuild on the current site in Landover, or expand its plot and move the stadium closer to the Beltway.
...But the team still needed to lobby multiple constituencies inside the District, with Harris introducing himself and his vision — while also attempting to repair the frayed relationships from Snyder’s ownership.
Harris and his group of 20 limited partners hosted multiple invite-only dinners and lunches with leaders in business, politics and journalism. Most were held in the second-floor dining room at Cafe Milano, a see-and-be-seen spot in Georgetown, and the Four Seasons hotel. Roughly two dozen guests attended each, as Rales and Ein served essentially as the point guards, using their weight in local business to draw the guests and keep the conversation light but enlightening.
The Commanders started from scratch on Capitol Hill in 2023, lobbying ranking members of committees and subcommittees while using the leverage of hope that this was a team on the rise — a team that could soon fill stadium seats and again become a respectable franchise and valued brand.
They started to fulfill such hope the next year, when rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels steered a 12-5 season that ended in the NFC Championship Game. Those vacant seats at Northwest Stadium were suddenly filled, and a team that was previously relevant only when embroiled in controversy was suddenly a league sensation.
“I would say, very comfortably, that the winning helped,” said one person involved in securing the RFK legislation. “If they were 3-8 (at the time), would we have still gotten it done? Potentially. But the winning helped. The momentum and the excitement for the team helped, for sure.”
With Comer shepherding the bill through the House, the bill easily passed with a 348-55 vote in February 2024, then went to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which had jurisdiction over the site.
And that’s when things got dicey.
Among the bill’s biggest detractors was Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the committee’s ranking minority member, who vowed to place a hold on the legislation until the Commanders “righted a wrong” and honored Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, a former leader of the Blackfeet who is credited with designing the team’s old logo, depicting a Native American warrior.
...So, in early September, Wright, Mehta and Plack flew to Bozeman.
The Bozeman airport is known for its floor-to-ceiling windows that offer stunning views of the Bridger Mountains. On this day, however, the airport was enveloped in thick smog from nearby wildfires that had plowed through thousands of acres. No mountains were visible from the terminal. No trees. Not even the tarmac.
Wright, Mehta and Plack drove some four hours on a two-lane highway toward Hamilton, Mont., as wildfires roared around them and they wondered whether they should turn back. But they stayed the full two days to meet with the family and share their plan to honor Blackie Wetzel’s legacy.
During the season, the Commanders hosted nearly two dozen members of the Wetzel family at Northwest Stadium for an unveiling of a tribute to Blackie. The team plans to have a similar tribute at the new stadium.
Weeks after their visit, Daines
pledged his support to the project, bringing other members who were on the fence with him. The bill passed the Senate committee in a 17-2 vote, leaving just a final vote of approval from the full Senate.
...The resolution with the RFK bill included was set for a vote on Dec. 19, 2024. But the day before the vote, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter (now X), recirculated an inaccurate message to his then-more than 230 million followers, which insinuated that the RFK legislation included federal money for the new stadium.
“This should not be funded by your tax dollars!”
Musk wrote.
The bill specifically prohibited the use of federal funding for the stadium.
Bowser was in a cabinet meeting at the time, in the middle of a conversation about the progress they had made in winning over senators, “And in the conversation, I’m looking at a text. Like,
What. Is. Happening?” she said.
The damage was done. The RFK legislation was pulled, and a smaller version of the continuing resolution went before the Senate on Dec. 20
Most of the Commanders ownership and lobbyists believed the RFK dream was dead. Many grudgingly accepted they’d likely have to stay in Maryland and work out a deal with Moore for a new stadium. They didn’t want to wait forever to find a new home and knew there could be even more pushback from the next Congress if they tried again.
“Nobody would touch us with a 10-foot pole,” one high-ranking team official said.
....But the most important miracle finish was yet to come.
The Commanders, D.C. and the NFL played the last card available to them by seeking “unanimous consent” from the Senate. As the name implies, it requires every senator present in the chamber — be it only one or all 100 — to vote in favor for a bill to pass. A single objection will block it, something that happened earlier that same day.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) requested unanimous consent for a bipartisan bill for pediatric cancer drug research, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
objected.
Pediatric. Cancer. Research.
“And we were like, ‘Whoa, if you object to that …’” one person heavily involved in the RFK legislation said.
Unanimous consent was perilous. Daines still could object. Van Hollen and Cardin could backtrack. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had consistently threatened to derail the legislation, believing D.C. should have to pay for land as states did. And Paul, with his years-long objections to almost any type of federal funding, could blow things up at any moment.
Weeks earlier, the bill was put through the Senate “hotline,” a gauge of senators’ support of a bill before it’s introduced for unanimous consent. The RFK bill generated only “a handful” of objections, per sources, so the Commanders knew which senators they had to convince over the next 12 hours for the bill to pass.
With the help of Bowser and her staff, Goodell and the NFL, and their own lobbyists, the Commanders owners began to work the phones and cut deals.
Because, as Perry said, relationships propel everything. And she still had one that could help at the 11th hour. Lee’s chief counsel was Pat McCormick, with whom Perry previously worked at Pepco, a utility company.
...“I had decided that we had to go for RFK,” Harris said. “… It was tougher, but I just felt like that was the right place for it to be. It’s in the middle of the DMV; it’s historic. Honestly, it’s the best site. … And throughout this whole process, it’s been a North Star for me.”
Every modern stadium deal is challenging, but few have had the improbable twists and turns that brought the Commanders back to D.C.
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