Today’s the big day in D.C.’s debate over giving at least $6.6 billion in subsidies to Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris for a new stadium and other development at the RFK Stadium site, as the council prepares to hold a hearing that will consist mostly of public testimony about the plan. At last count, 503 people had signed up to testify; I’m #369, which if everyone takes their allotted three minutes and no one gives up in frustration would have me speaking at around 4:30 am. WUSA took a peek at testimony that was posted online ahead of the hearings and determined that most of the speakers are in favor of the stadium deal, or at least in favor of the Commanders moving to D.C. — since Mayor Muriel Bowser’s public messaging has been that it’ll only cost the city $1 billion and taxpayers will make it all back anyway, ignoring all the hidden tax breaks and rent-free use of city land, it’s going to be hard to tell what residents would think of the deal if they had all the numbers.
And speaking of making the money back, the Washington Post points out that the 200 events a year a Commanders stadium is projected to host would mostly include things like bar mitzvahs, quoting sports economist Victor Matheson as saying this makes the event figure “intentionally misleading,” while citing unnamed “boosters” as saying that “an event is an event” — is bothsidesing a personal liberty or an aspect of free markets, I forget?
I’m not going to bother to try liveblog all 25 hours or whatever of today’s hearing — especially since council chair Phil Mendelson has signaled that he’s made up his mind already and is just letting the public blow off steam — but I’ll post updates here if I notice anything significant like swing-vote councilmembers actually appearing to pay attention. You can play along as well by watching here and posting in the comments.
UPDATE 12:38 pm: Not going great!
Two hours into the DC Commanders stadium hearing, and I don't think a single person testifying has mentioned the public costs, only the benefits (in jobs, new concerts, etc.) If you only care about what you're getting and not what you're spending, have I got a used car to sell you.
— Field of Schemes (@fieldofschemes.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T16:23:37.095Z
It's also clear that a bunch of people in the neighborhood around the stadium site are saying "hey, at least our community will get some jobs for once" — but if DC ends up spending millions of dollars for each new job, that's a hugely wasteful way to get some hot dog vendor gigs for Ward 7.
— Field of Schemes (@fieldofschemes.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T16:27:23.325Z
Found it: 09:58:30