Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joins The Sports Junkies to give an update on the latest surrounding the RFK Stadium Bill.
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00:00All right, I think we're waiting for Mayor Bowser.
00:03I see her PR person's on the phone.
00:06Is that right?
00:07Is that they're trying to track her down?
00:09Just a few more seconds.
00:10Yeah.
00:11He's around here.
00:12All right.
00:13So I'm actually shocked by this.
00:14I thought this was just sort of for formality.
00:15Obviously, if they were ever going to be able to build on the RFK site, this was a formality
00:19they would have to overcome.
00:22But I've always been under sort of the idea that you're still going to have to outbid.
00:28But Rick comes on here and kind of shatters my notion of it.
00:32And he's been my leader on this because he said for years he thought they were just going
00:35to build it right next to the current stadium and it would probably stay in Maryland.
00:41But now he's saying like Maryland's got no money.
00:46They're not going to have to maybe pony up anywhere near what we thought they might.
00:51Can D.C. just keep giving these owners money?
00:55I mean, give Ted a bunch of money to keep the Caps and the Wizards here in D.C.?
00:59I think Rick thinks they're not going to have to because Virginia is out of the equation,
01:05it seems like.
01:06Yeah, we haven't heard of Virginia.
01:07Maryland doesn't.
01:08According to Rick, Maryland's like underwater.
01:11So maybe they're not going to have to match some billion dollar offer.
01:15Maybe it's the only spot that makes sense financially.
01:17And you know, the good thing is, you know, it tugs on everyone's heartstrings.
01:22Everybody would love.
01:23I think the Manders fans want it to go back to that site.
01:27Now I'll tell you, I drive by that site a lot and I mean, it is a dilapidated dump.
01:32Of course.
01:33They got to clean that all up.
01:34But just think about if they did decide to build it there, how awesome it would look
01:39with a brand new stadium.
01:41People are suggesting it could be like a new Navy Yard.
01:45Now, it's pretty spectacular what they've done around here.
01:48Now I still think around here it's crazy.
01:49There's wildness that goes on around here.
01:51There's some dicey areas still, yeah.
01:53But just from aesthetics, it looks amazing.
01:56Yeah.
01:57Well also, I was thinking a lot about this when I was at the Army-Navy game because like
02:02logistically it's just kind of a nightmare because you have like lines for the bathroom
02:07that are intersecting with lines at concession with people that are trying to get to their
02:12seats.
02:13You're just saying the design of the stadium is poor?
02:15The design of the stadium is outdated.
02:18There needs to be more cashless options all around the stadium.
02:24It's just it needs an update.
02:28It needs a facelift, especially with the infrastructure inside.
02:31All right.
02:32Is the mayor on?
02:33All right.
02:34There we go.
02:35We finally got her.
02:36We got Maria Bowser.
02:37Supposed to have her a couple of weeks ago, but now there's just too much going on.
02:39Now she finds time for us.
02:41Hey, Mayor Bowser.
02:42Yes, yes, yes.
02:43How are you?
02:44How are you?
02:45Happy holidays to you.
02:48And so just kind of break this down for us because now there's a provision to the spending
02:53bill.
02:54It's way over my head.
02:55But there's a provision in the spending bill that was going to be voted on later this week
03:00that would transfer control of the land from the federal government to the D.C. government.
03:06So talk about how important this is.
03:08It's huge.
03:09So when I've been on a talk to you before, I emphasize we've got to get control of the
03:14land.
03:15We've got to get control of the land.
03:16We've had a lease for many years.
03:18We have 14 years left on the lease and it's restricted.
03:22It can only be used for sports or recreational uses.
03:26This transfer gives us complete control over the land to develop in the way that serves
03:33district residents and creates connections to the park.
03:37Thirty percent of the land will be used for a park.
03:41So this just allows D.C. to control our destiny as it relates to 177 acres that's now blighted
03:49in the nation's capital.
03:51And it's going to be voted on later this week, correct?
03:53That's what the story says.
03:54Yes.
03:55Okay.
03:56It's a must-pass bill.
03:57This is actually a bill that has, you know, many, many hundreds of millions of dollars
04:03of spending.
04:04It keeps the government open.
04:06It's a continuing resolution and very few attachments, but our RFK legislation is one
04:13of them.
04:14All right.
04:15Explain to me why this is such a game changer for you because I actually thought this was
04:18just a formality.
04:21But then I've been, and I, because I always just figured, okay, they're going to, to do
04:23this, they're going to have to obviously get that provision so that they have, you know,
04:27right to the property or whatever.
04:28But at the end of the day, you're still going to have to come up with a bunch of dough that
04:32you're not going to either have or want to come up with.
04:35So why is that not still the case?
04:38Well, when you say dough, you mean a deal with the team?
04:43I mean money.
04:44Yeah.
04:45Money to attract them because you're going to have competitive offers from Maryland,
04:48presumably.
04:49There, there's no site that can compete with our site.
04:53It's just that simple.
04:54Financially?
04:55We have the best site in the region.
04:56We have the best site in the region, period.
05:00And when you think about the connections, the transportation connections, the connection
05:05with the river, the views, the support from the fan base, we have the best site.
05:11And it's really just that simple.
05:13And so when we are able to look at how we do the ancillary development around what might
05:21be a new stadium, we know we get housing, we get entertainment district, we get a park,
05:28and we get more jobs for DC residents and for the entire region.
05:32So it is a, it's going to be a beautiful vision that we look forward to sharing with
05:39the community.
05:40All right.
05:41So if it's voted on later this week and it passes, then what exactly is the next step?
05:47The next steps are we will proceed with demolishing the current site.
05:53We will proceed with developing our vision, having discussions with the team, community,
06:00and our stakeholders.
06:02And we will aim to have an agreement with the team.
06:09So this is a big deal.
06:10What is it?
06:11It's a very big deal.
06:12What is the timeframe where you feel like you could get a commitment from the team?
06:18From Josh Harris.
06:19Well, I always think we should do things yesterday.
06:22I think they have a very significant time crunch.
06:26They have a lease in.
06:28Josh Harris has stated publicly he'd like to be in the stadium by 2030.
06:33And in order for all of those things to happen, I think that we have to have an agreement
06:37this year.
06:38Wow.
06:39This year.
06:40So you're saying in 2025, you're not saying 2024.
06:432025.
06:442025.
06:45Yeah.
06:46You've been very busy.
06:47You've got a lot of stuff going on with these sports teams.
06:48We talked to you about-
06:49We do.
06:50You know what happened yesterday?
06:51We got our final vote on my monumental sports and entertainment legislation.
06:58As soon as I get the bill from the council, I'll be signing it.
07:02They'll be going to close and getting to work on transforming our Cat One Arena.
07:08It's going to be an amazing downtown development.
07:11And we've already seen kind of the bounce back in the downtown.
07:15And we're really proud that Monumental Sports is going to be our partner until at least
07:192050.
07:20I mean, you're revitalizing that, and then you possibly can get the commanders at RFK,
07:26at the RFK site.
07:28I mean, that's huge.
07:29Yeah.
07:30It was a big sports day.
07:31The biggest.
07:32A big turnaround from last year this time.
07:35Right.
07:36But it's quite a comeback if you're able to actually pull it off.
07:39Do you envision it being like, because others have suggested, like another Navy Yard in
07:44that area?
07:45Do you have the acreage and the ability to do that?
07:49It's larger than that.
07:51And so think about some of the large federal parcels like the Wharf, Navy Yard, Walter
07:56Reed, St. Elizabeth's.
07:59It's larger than that.
08:00So the answer is yes.
08:01If you're thinking about, are we going to have entertainment, restaurants?
08:07We will have more sports uses.
08:08We already have ball fields there.
08:11We will have a DC Parks and Rec indoor sportsplex there.
08:17And we will have a park that connects to the Anacostia River.
08:21So like the Wharf, enliven the Potomac River and really underutilize waterfront.
08:29That's what we know that a development at RFK can do in the Anacostia River.
08:34All right.
08:35Well, thanks for joining us.
08:36Great job and good luck on everything else.
08:39And we will pull it off.
08:42You sound very confident.
08:43I'm not going to bet against you at this point.
08:45Yep.
08:46Thank you very much.
08:47Don't bet against me.
08:49Thanks.
08:50Bye bye.