Commanders’ stadium deal could be tied to name change

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, President Donald Trump indicated he could attempt to hold up Washington’s new stadium deal if the team’s name does not revert back to Redskins. The franchise operated under that moniker in 1933 upon its founding and retained it after moving from Boston to the nation’s capital. It was dropped after the 2019 campaign.

For a pair of seasons, with a new name being sought out, the franchise operated as the Washington Football Team. Beginning in the 2022 season — the last with former owner Dan Snyder in place — the Commanders name was adopted. Upon taking over as controlling owner in the summer of 2023, Josh Harris faced questions about a potential name change. He has maintained that one is not being contemplated, however.

“I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington,” Trump’s post reads in part (via the Associated Press through ESPN).

Efforts have been made in recent months to finalize a deal allowing the Commanders’ new stadium to be built on the former site of the RFK stadium. That served as the franchise’s home from 1961-96. Since then, home games have taken place in Landover, Maryland. An agreement was previously announced between the Commanders and the District of Columbia to build a new stadium at the old RFK site, but it has not been finalized yet.

D.C.’s window to exclusively negotiate with the Commanders over a stadium deal closed on July 15. While a deal between the parties could still become official in the future, WUSA9’s Ittai Sopher and Alexis Wainwright report Maryland and Virginia have since been in contact with the team and pitched the idea of a stadium in their respective constituencies. The report maintains D.C. is still the frontrunner at this point, though.

It will be interesting to see how D.C. council as well as Congress — which controls the city’s budget — will proceed in the near future with respect to a stadium agreement. Likewise, it remains to be seen if issues on that front will alter Harris’ stance on a name change and whether or not Trump decides to take steps aimed at bringing about an end to the Commanders moniker.