What does the United States Congress have to do with
football? Well, for one NFL team, the
future of where they play their games is directly tied
to legislation here on Capitol Hill. The team in
question is the Washington Commanders who currently play their football
games in Maryland. The team's owner, Josh Harris
has made no secret that he wants a new stadium
. And leaders in the district of Columbia want the
team to return to DC. There is one hiccup
the land where a new stadium could be built is
the same land where the Commander's old stadium RFK is
located, but that land is currently controlled by the
federal government and Congress needs to sign off on transferring
the land to DC in order for the city to
pursue a possible bid. This week. NFL.
Commissioner Roger Goodell was on Capitol Hill to discuss the
issue which has not been an easy process for the
commanders or the NFL. Initially, Republican Senator Steve
Danes of Montana blocked legislation because he wanted the Commander's
old logo to return. He has since dropped that
request. And then there are Maryland lawmakers who are
less inclined to support a stadium leaving their state and
it appears they want something in exchange for their votes
. The Washington Post reports that Maryland seeks D CS
Air National Guard Squadron an RFK deal. It remains
unclear if the district of Columbia would be willing to
give that up in exchange for a new stadium.
There is a bit of a deadline here for the
NFL and the commanders while legislation giving land to DC
for a possible new stadium has already passed the house
. It has to pass the Senate before January 3rd
. That's when the new Congress takes over. If
it doesn't pass the Senate before then, the entire
process will have to start over Joe ST George scripts
, news, Washington.