A new grassroots campaign has been formed in support of plans to bring the Washington Commanders back to D.C. with a new stadium at the RFK site.
A new grassroots campaign has been formed in support of plans to bring the Washington Commanders back to the nation’s capital. The group is called “RFK Now!” and co-chair Tiffany Tate said their hope is to encourage the D.C. Council to green light the project.
“We needed that vote yesterday,” Tate said.
Tate, who’s a small-business owner in D.C., said she believes the project is a big economic development opportunity for the city and a way to bring in more jobs, affordable housing and the beautification of public areas.
She said the campaign, which is part of the advocacy group Opportunity D.C., includes business owners, nonprofits and their employees, and residents of D.C.
“That is what is so powerful about our group. It is really a snapshot into D.C.,” Tate said.
The $3.7 billion deal to bring the Commanders back to town could cost taxpayers more than $1 billion for the infrastructure of the stadium and the building of parking garages.
Some critics of the plan have raised concerns over the use of taxpayer dollars for the project. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration argued a large portion of the money for the deal, $500 million, would come from a ballpark fund, which was originally used to pay for Nationals Park, being redirected to the RFK Stadium site redevelopment.
Tax revenue for that fund comes from businesses that make $5 million or more each year in income.
Tate said she believes the project is the best way to bring housing, including affordable housing and jobs, to Southeast D.C.
“Right now, there’s nothing out there. There’s no renting, there’s no homes for purchase. There is absolutely nothing,” Tate said.
Tate said the members of the RFK Now campaign have been going door-to-door, hoping to drum up support for the project. She said the reaction to the project has been mixed, with some 100% on board and others believing this deal is about one thing only — bringing the Commanders back to D.C.
The D.C. Council added the funding for the project into its 2026 budget, which will receive a final vote on July 28. While the funding is in the budget, the terms of the deal aren’t, meaning there will be a separate hearing on the stadium, with the first hearing scheduled for July 29 and a vote expected in the fall.
Tate said her fear is that if the council waits too long, the team could look elsewhere.
“If Virginia or Maryland calls the Commanders back to their areas, we lose out on that, and who knows what that area will become in another 30, 40, 50 years,” she said.
Some of the council’s vocal critics of the project, among them Council member Charles Allen, argued that mixed-use development and affordable housing could be brought to the RFK Campus without the stadium as an anchor.
“You don’t need a stadium to be an anchor, but you need an anchor. And right now, we have a huge opportunity of billions of dollars to invest in revitalizing that area that is nothing now,” Tate said.
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