Promise made. So, I want to start by saying welcome home. Let's give our Commanders a big Washington DC welcome. We are so happy to talk this morning about bringing our team home to the sports capital, back to RFK where they belong. And I couldn't be more excited for our city, our team, and our fans. Josh and the entire team at the Commanders, thank you. We want to say thank you for not just buying our team, some would say saving our team, getting the team to the NFC championship for the first time in 33 years, but we want to thank you for making a transformational investment in Ward 7, in our city, especially now, a time where we need it the most. Commissioner, I know you can't have favorites, but we know where you grew up, and this is a big deal. I've been working on this for the 10 years that I've been mayor. And now we have the right partner at the right time. And Josh is someone who cares more than just about this franchise. He cares about doing the right thing. And he likes to win. You've heard me say that before. He knows how to put together a winning team. And throughout this process, it's been a cooperative one. We were joined in our goals to advance a deal that we could be proud of, a development that would serve the city for generations to come and support the best professional sports franchise in the world. So when Josh talks about this, he very elegantly says that he wants to provide and do for the city and give the city what it deserves. And I agree. And I'd go a step further and say that right now as our economy is shifting, it's something our city really needs because we need growth and we need jobs. We have 180 acres of opportunity on the banks of the Anacostia River. And I have to pause to acknowledge our Congresswoman and Congressman James Comer of Kentucky who advanced a bipartisan effort to deliver that land to DC. Thank you, Congresswoman Norton. This land has been blighted and underutilized for too long. And what our deal with the Washington Commanders provides is the fastest and best route to developing the RFK campus. And not just delivering sports and entertainment, but delivering housing, jobs, recreation, and economic development. We will be able to deliver thousands of homes here. It will deliver a world-class community-focused sports complex for our kids. It will create park space and build out riverfront and trails. It's about creating jobs for DC residents and revenue that will support what all of our city needs. City services that have made us a growing city. We're going to be talking a lot about this project in the coming weeks and months and it will be clear that this is a good deal for DC. It's a fantastic deal, a win-win-win for the city, the team and the fans. So, I want to say thank you. Thank you for everyone that has been involved at this point. And before we take questions, I'll go through a quick list of thank yous. But I first want to introduce a person who has been a great part of the DC community and the time that he's joined. He has brought on local partners into the Commanders ownership that has meant a lot for us. And I see Mark and Mitch Rails in the front row. Give them a big round of applause. These guys bet on DC a long time ago and I am just so grateful for your partnership. Josh and you have the floor. Josh Harris, the owner of the Washington Commanders.
Well, everyone, what a great day. It's a great day in our process to bring the Commanders home. And Mayor, thank you. I'm so appreciative for our partnership and everything you've done through this process and you know this day is a testament to your leadership and the city's leadership. So, thank you. Thank you. And thank you to the council members that are here. We know you're going to be considering all this and thank you for your partnership in helping us get to this historic moment. We know you have a bunch of work to do and we're going to be there transparently providing all the information to you. Chairman Mendelson, I know you're not here with us today but and the entire group of DC council members. So very much appreciative that you're here today to listen. And Roger, I know you're busy. Thank you for being here. It's very meaningful to have the commissioner of the NFL sitting side by side with us today. So today I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the Commanders are ready to make the single and our partners are committed to make the single largest private investment in DC history. You know, one of my earliest memories was walking down East Capitol Street to RFK. I only knew one person, my uncle Jerry, who Robbie Miller sitting right there, who had tickets because there was a 25-year waiting list. And I got to go once or twice a year, but I watched every game intently. And I grew up watching the greats whether it be Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer, Joe Theismann, Mark Rypien, the Hogs, Joe Gibbs, Art Monk, and three Super Bowls. You need one of those. And obviously, we're so honored to have Daryl, Doug, and John. Thank you all for being here today. And you're right there, I think. And Adam and Dan, no pressure. That was the Washington that I remembered when on Sundays everything stopped. Everyone was glued to their TV or in the stadium. And we've already seen a reawakening of that spirit. But we want to bring it back. Now we want to bring the Commanders home with a new RFK that our fans will love, our opponents will fear. It'll be loud. We want to make it about football, but also about the city and the community. And we want to host the biggest and best events in the world. When our ownership group started on this journey two years ago, we laid out three clear priorities: build a championship caliber team, improve fan experience, and make a positive impact on this community. Today's announcement is a key part of that vision. Let's come home. This project is about so much more than building a stadium. It's about a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a catalyst for long-term transformational economic growth here in DC. That means thousands of new jobs, billions of new tax revenue, thousands of new homes, partnerships with local businesses, and the creation of about 90 acres of mixed-use development for our community. And you know what? The city of Washington and the DMV deserve it. Without exaggeration, this will be the best stadium in the country when it's built in front of the Anacostia River facing the Capitol and the Washington Monument. I wonder if we should show a picture of it. Show it up. And while today marks an exciting step towards bringing the Commanders back to our spiritual home in DC, I also want to recognize the incredible partnership we've built with Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland where we currently play and in Virginia where we train. I just want to say that I'm particularly grateful to Governor Moore and the Maryland leadership for their support and shared belief in what we can achieve together at our current stadium site as we move where we play football games to new RFK. Thank you, Governor Moore, Maryland delegation. On a personal note, I am deeply humbled and grateful that God has allowed me to be part of this journey to help shape the next chapter for Commanders football, for DC, and for the entire DMV community. I'm also grateful to my family who's sitting here. Couldn't have done it without you. My wife Marjorie, Hannah, my brother Gay, my mother Sylvia, Mama Commander, Mama Commander, I love it. And I couldn't have done it without my partners Mitch Rails, Mark, Mr. Phallic, and others that I'm not sure if they want to be mentioned or not, so I'm not going to mention them who are in the audience. I believe and I know that Mayor Bowser believes, I know that you believe in the power of this project to bring our city and this region together. We're excited to continue working with the council, the mayor, and the DC leadership and this community to shape the next chapter of RFK. RFK was the site of some of my earliest and most meaningful memories. Generations to come. The future is very, very bright. Thank you. Get this done. Let's get it done. Thank you. It will take quite an investment in infrastructure because we're going to make that stadium shake once again. Let's do it. They know all about that. This also could be a crown jewel in making Washington the most powerful sports city in the world. And with that in mind, let me introduce NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who like myself and like many of us in this room grew up going to the old RFK Stadium.
Commissioner, good morning everyone and thanks Bram. This is a very special day, one that many of us have been looking forward to many years. I'm excited to join the mayor and Josh to help announce the intention of the Commanders to return to their historical site, their home in Washington, DC. Thank you to Mayor Bowser for your leadership. Extraordinary. And we're here and glad to support you. And of course to Josh for your incredible leadership. Under Josh's leadership, this team has become a playoff team in a very short period of time. With this stadium, it will also become a leader off the field, too. The Commanders' future is clearly a bright one. Today would not be possible without the help from Congress who in passing the RFK bill late last year. And I want to thank Representatives Comer and Norton for sponsoring the bill and for the congressional leadership for passing the needed legislation to get us here today. I grew up in this district, as was mentioned before, attending games at old RFK Stadium. It was a special place. Many of our early memories as a football fan were formed there. Watching the great teams and sharing the experiences with my family and the tremendous fans of this team. A generation of fans growing up rooting for the team did not have that experience. But the next ones will and I could not be more excited for them. The stadium project announced today promises to be great for the fans, the team, and the district and the NFL. It also makes us better as a club, as a league, and all of our clubs playing in a world-class stadium in front of passionate fans is one of our big objectives. We've seen throughout the country, new stadiums transform communities. Since 2001, more than $32 billion has been invested in stadiums and there are at least eight more projects underway and estimated cost of $20 billion. This will be critical in revitalizing an area that has been dormant and undeveloped for nearly 30 years for when the team first left here in the district. There will be billions of dollars invested in this area and economic activity that lifts up this city and generates jobs throughout the region. The NFL has a long history of investing in stadiums projects along with the home team, but all 31 teams will contribute along with Josh and his partners. This is an important project that the league recognizes and we will be there to support. Once again, I want to thank the mayor and Josh for their incredible leadership. We look forward to working with you both. This project is important to us and we recognize we will be supporting you throughout the city council process as well and look forward to seeing us all on opening day.
Thank you, Roger. Give the commissioner a big round of applause. So, let me just quickly mention some folks who have worked really long and hard to get us to this point. But I also want to emphasize to do and my team will stand ready to work with the members of the council providing all of the information that they need. I want to recognize the council's chair for business and economic development at large council member Kenya McDuffie, the host council member for RFK, and I told him he came in the door winning. Council member Wendell Felder, the council member who has been my partner throughout my tenure for housing and making sure we deliver it at large council member Anita Bonds. Thank you for being here. Very quickly, I called them my big deal team because we do big deals here. And I asked this lady to join me when I became mayor 10 years ago. She thought she was retired and she told me she would stay for a year. And 10 years later she's here. And I want to thank Beverly Perry. I want to acknowledge our chief dealmaker on this one, S. Roala, the deputy mayor for economic development, Nina Albert, the city administrator for the district, Kevin Donahue, and our budget director, Jenny Reid. Thank you. And I do also want to acknowledge our other partner in this endeavor. The official convention center and sports authority for the district who will be our partner and parking and led by Angie Gates the president CEO chaired by Leif Dorms Joe. Thank you Leif. And any other members or board members for Events DC. Thank you for being here. Thank you. I see Sher Dogit over there. And I want to also acknowledge our expert partners who helped us put together this deal with the team. ASM Global, CSL, Hyatt Brown, Gensler, Coutac Rock, Tyber Hudson, PFM, Legends, and Perkins Eastman. Give them a round of applause. Other members of the Congress who have been in the front and behind the scenes. Senator Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine, Senator Joe Manchin, Congressman Benny Thompson, and Congressman Clyburn. Please give them a big round of applause. Mayor, may I also mention, look, this thing came together 100. I mean, there's been many parts of this journey in the Senate at the last at 12:01. I learned a lot about the political process and I just want to thank the senators from Maryland, the senators from Virginia. Absolutely. For being there and for supporting this effort because we wouldn't be here without them. So, thank you. Thank you. And final mentions to two of my predecessors who are here. The one who brought baseball home, former Mayor Anthony Williams. And I know a very proud woman today, Mayor Sharon Pratt. Oh, Council Member Pinto in pink. I'm sorry. We are I failed to acknowledge our host council member for today and a very very early and strong supporter of bringing the team home. Our Ward 2 council member, council member Brooke Pinto. This is an exciting day. And we do hope it is the first of a few historic announcements along the trail here. Our panel has agreed to take a few questions now. So, why don't we do that? And let's start with John Keim from ESPN.
Okay. Roger, real quick, how much does this increase the chances of getting a Super Bowl in DC?
Well, I didn't come here to announce that, but I would say dramatically.
Our next question, Sam Fortier of the Washington Post for all of you. When did this moment start to feel real and what does it feel like right now?
I'll start. I mean, obviously, this has been a vision of ours since we bought the team, bought the club. It was in our original plan. It's been a journey. It's been a process. I'd say for me personally it really started to get real in the last few weeks when you know when the mayor I think shook me by and said we got to get going even though we're waiting around for some politics to occur and but it got real then and we're so happy to be in partnership with the city and the NFL announcing it today.
For me, Sam, I knew once we got the land that we needed to be ready. And when I sat across the table from Josh and we kind of had a time frame in mind that this had to get done or we were both going to have to move on. He was going to have to move on from us and we were going to have to move on from the team. And so once we established that, I knew I already knew we had the best site. I did. I knew we had the best site. And once I knew that he wanted to be back home that we chartered our path to get there. So I would say when we knew we had the land, we had already been working on a pretty good plan and now we're here.
Right. I would just add very quickly these projects are not easy projects to take on. They're complex. They involve a lot of decision-making along the way. There are difficult periods, but I would fall back on the leadership of the mayor who had the vision and the willingness to take this on. I think you know that does not happen in cities or states without that kind of a political leader standing up and saying this is good for our community which we obviously agree and of course Josh who understood not just the emotional reason for coming back to the district but also this was really the right thing for this community. This will be a tremendous economic driver, but more importantly, I think it will send a signal to everyone in the world, frankly, of this community and the way they're going in the direction they're going. Our next question, David Aldridge from The Athletic.
Thank you. For Josh and for Mayor Bowser, what assurances can you provide to local residents that they will not be overwhelmed by the new construction, the new projects, that they will be able to stay in the area and stay in the housing that they currently have. And for Roger, I wonder if the SoFi project in LA is at all analogous to this in terms of the partnership that the Kroenkes had with the city of Inglewood.
Well, thanks for that question. And the good thing about this site is it was an NFL stadium there. The Washington football team played there for decades. And the transportation infrastructure exists. It is served by Metro. It's served by the highway. It's served by an expansive bus system. The difference between when the team last played and now is that there are many other modes that are available for people to travel there as well. What we've heard from the community is they're tired of the blight and they want the 180-acre parcel to be brought back to life. So, one advantage is that we won't just have what's there now, a sea of parking and a stadium. We're going to be able to have a wonderful mix of uses. I love that we can show a map that demonstrates all of the different parcels that will be engaged that include entertainment, an entertainment district that has set aside park space, including the area that can't be developed right along the Anacostia River and an entire recreation district that the district will populate with the existing fields in our sports complex and what we're calling the Kingman Park District which will be largely residential. So this is what we promise to deliver a mix of uses that includes an NFL stadium.
Yeah, the only thing I would add and that's well said is just that only 15% right now there's a crumbling I mean I walked around we've walked around there a bunch of times and there's nothing there right and it's just been that way since RFK closed in the '90s and so now we're bringing this area back to life we're activating the area and the stadium itself is only 15% of the overall land mass so you know obviously you know this is going to be a great thing for that area in terms of activating, you know, the Anacostia River. You can actually ride your bike from Nationals Park. It's a for the So, that's a big part of what we're doing.
David, I think you asked about analogous to other stadiums. I think Atlanta is a very interesting analogy also. I think Los Angeles clearly is. I think Detroit is. I think there are many cities where they have seen the value of the reinvestment into that community. A stadium being surrounded by a development such as this that I think is very powerful and they've all been successful both in I think the community's mind most importantly but also in our mind. But I also think they've been successful from an economic standpoint. Our next question is from Steven Whino of the Associated Press.
Josh, my question is for you. Obviously, I know you guys have been looking at sites in Maryland and Virginia and the district. How much of sort of your investment was for you guys as Mitch and your ownership group nostalgia about how much you guys as a team wanted to be back at the RFK site?
Yeah, I mean obviously when you made I mean look, we all grew up here, right? And we all were certainly touched by our experiences, but I think it was less nostalgia and more just a deep connection to understanding how important the location was. It's in the middle of you've got the DMV is obviously Virginia, Maryland, and DC. DC happens to be in the middle. Obviously we all experienced you know the rumbling of RFK and the centrality of that location in terms of its proximity to the seat of government and to businesses and being in the middle as well as you know the experience of a city stadium right like walking there taking the metro you know the experience itself. So I think that all of those things contributed but at the end of the day it was the right thing at you know it was less nostalgia and it was more just the fact that we had grown up here gave us that vision to you know not look at the crumbling concrete that was there but remember in our minds the vivid nature of what Washington football was all about and how it really brought a city that was socioeconomically you know distinct and challenged at that point with lots of groups of people together, right? No matter where you were from, who you were, your race, color, religion, on Sundays, you were a Washington football fan. And so, that really did contribute to our focus on it. And then, you know, kind of brought it to life. And then, look, let's face it, Washington is amongst, if not the most important city in the world. It's a gateway city for the United States of America. And you know to have a stadium and a site you know where you can see the Washington Monument you can see the Capitol I remember watching on TV those shots and having John Madden talk about we're here in the nation's capital and there's the Washington Monument there's the White House there's the nation's capital and then there's RFK of that bowl right and so all that stuff was incredibly motivating to all of us. Our next question is from Chick Hernandez at WUSA.
