Yes. The Washington Commanders are confirmed to move back to Washington, D.C. The D.C. Council approved a $3.7 billion deal in September 2025 to build a new 65,000-seat domed stadium at the old RFK Stadium site on the Anacostia River. The target opening is the 2030 NFL season.
In brief
Yes - the Washington Commanders are coming back to Washington, D.C. The D.C. Council approved a $3.7 billion deal on September 17, 2025, to build a new 65,000-seat domed stadium at the old RFK Stadium site on the Anacostia River. The team plans to start playing there in 2030 - nearly three decades after leaving the District for Landover, Maryland, in 1997.
How the deal came together
Congress passed the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act in December 2024, and it was signed into law in January 2025, giving the District the authority to develop the long-underutilized RFK site for a mix of uses. That cleared the legal path Mayor Muriel Bowser had been pushing for years.
In April 2025, the Washington Commanders announced plans to build a new stadium at the RFK site. The D.C. Council then gave the project final approval on September 17, 2025, greenlighting the new football stadium alongside a sprawling mixed-use development on the banks of the Anacostia River where RFK Stadium was already being demolished.
The council voted 11-2 to pass the legislation. Council member Robert White, one of the opposing votes, tried unsuccessfully to persuade colleagues to support last-minute changes that would have levied financial penalties on the Commanders for failing to build out the residential and commercial development surrounding the stadium.
What the money looks like
The Commanders franchise, purchased by Josh Harris in 2023, will pay $2.7 billion for the 65,000-seat domed stadium, which is designed to one day host a Super Bowl and dozens of non-sports events annually.
The District's share is split across several pots. The city will invest $202 million for utilities infrastructure, roadways, and a WMATA transit study. A $175 million revenue bond - funded by in-stadium activity once the venue is operating - will cover parking development, and Events DC will contribute up to $181 million for parking garages near community recreation facilities.
The deal also outlines $414 million in revenue over 30 years, $260 million from non-stadium event parking, and a $20 million-a-year transportation fund for Metro and road improvements.
The stadium itself
The address is 2400 East Capitol Street SE. The planned capacity is 65,000, with a translucent roof, and the site covers 180 acres, with the Stadium-Armory Metro stop right there.
The design calls for a sculpted, transparent domed roof, with the stadium oriented to maintain a lower profile along the east-west axis out of deference to the U.S. Capitol and adjacent monuments. Architecture firm HKS, which also designed SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is the lead architect.
The broader campus goes well beyond football. Plans include 5,000 to 6,000 new homes - with 1,500 to 1,900 affordable units - preservation of the Fields at RFK, and new youth sports facilities. The legislation requires that 30% of the RFK campus be reserved for parks and open space, not including a 32-acre riparian area along the Anacostia River.
Timeline and where things stand now
Vertical construction on the stadium is expected to begin in spring 2027, with full completion scheduled for 2030. The old RFK structure is almost gone. As of March 2026, the removal of the stadium's structural steel had been completed, with demolition of the remaining concrete ongoing and approximately 2,752 tons of metal - 176 truckloads - already hauled off and recycled. The demolition project remains on schedule, with completion and closeout anticipated by October 2026.
During a D.C. Council oversight hearing in March 2026, Brian Hanlon, the mayor's lead on the RFK redevelopment project, reassured lawmakers the project is on track. "I've never missed a deadline," he said.
What about Landover in the meantime?
The team played in Washington from 1937 to 1996, with the last 35 seasons at RFK Stadium. It has a lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover through 2027, but is not expected to leave until 2030, when the new D.C. stadium is ready.
The team can play at Northwest Stadium past the 2027 lease expiration until the new stadium is ready, since the Commanders own the facility and the land it sits on. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is hoping to transform the Northwest Stadium site in Landover into an entertainment district once the Commanders depart.
Owner Josh Harris set the tone at the April 2025 deal announcement: "We want to bring the Commanders home with a new RFK that our fans will love, our opponents will fear," he said. "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."
The RFK bust of Robert F. Kennedy that stood outside the old main entrance? It remains on the site, outside the construction fence on the west side of the construction zone along 22nd Street.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
