The Washington, D.C., City Council approved a construction plan that will rebuild the stadium on the former RFK Stadium site, allowing the Washington Commanders to return to playing in the city metro area for the first time since 1996.

The council passed the proposed $3.8 billion project by an 11-2 vote on Wednesday. The project includes the construction of a new 65,000-seat arena. In addition, more green space, housing and a sports complex will be built on the site. The Commanders hope to move in by 2030, 34 years after their last game played in the metro area.

“It is with great pride that I can say we are officially bringing our Commanders home and turning 180 acres of land on the banks of the Anacostia, on the monumental axis, into jobs and opportunity for D.C. residents,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said after the vote. “This will be the largest economic development project in D.C. history.”

RFK Stadium opened in 1961 and hosted multiple sports teams, including the Commanders, MLS side DC United and baseball teams such as the Washington Senators and Washington Nationals. In 1997, the Commanders moved out of the arena and relocated to the now Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, five miles east of the nation’s capital.

While at RFK, the Commanders won all three of their championships in a nine-year span between 1982 and 1991.

“Today is a historic day for D.C., the Commanders organization, and our fans,” team owner Josh Harris said. “With the Council’s approval, we can now move forward on the transformative RFK project that will bring lasting economic growth for our city. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and collaboration between Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson, the Council and the countless community, business and labor leaders whose voices and input helped shape the process every step of the way.”

A group led by private equity investor Josh Harris is reportedly closing in on an agreement to purchase the Washington Commanders football team from owner Dan Snyder for $6 billion. Snyder announced that he was selling the team last year after being accused of various forms of misconduct during his tenure.

Harris led one of two serious groups submitting bids to purchase the team in recent weeks, the other being led by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was long rumored to be interested in the team but did not ultimately pursue the opportunity.

Other members of the Harris group include businessman Mitchell Rales, NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and smaller minority shareholders. Both bids reportedly met Snyder’s asking price.

If Harris acquires the Commanders, he will become the owner of a franchise in three different sports, as he is the current owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Together with Rales, who is based nearby in Maryland, and Johnson, who has extensive ownership experience on the West Coast, the Harris-led group could prove to be an effective partnership for the oft-maligned franchise.

Due in part to Snyder’s conduct as owner, the Commanders has been accused of being a toxic organization for years. Known by another name for nearly a century, the team was perpetually at the center of a debate concerning insensitive sports team names in the United States. Snyder stood by the name for years,.

In 2020, Snyder was accused by more than 40 women of engaging in toxic workplace behavior which included participating in and encouraging sexual harassment and discrimination toward female employees. During the investigation of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, e-mail correspondences were discovered between Gruden and longtime Washington executive Bruce Allen that included racist remarks about figures within the league.

Snyder was later investigated for financial improprieties involving fraudulent ticket revenue reports. Court proceedings for these allegations are still ongoing. Because of the Commanders’ multiple controversies, Snyder agreed to allow his wife, Tanya Snyder, to oversee team operations and an eventual sale in 2021. If the Snyders had failed to sell the team, something the longtime owner has refused to do on several occasions previously, league owners and officials could have arranged a vote to remove him from power.

The Philadelphia 76ers are one step closer to a downtown dream. The team announced Thursday that it was creating a new development company to propose a $1.3 billion arena in the heart of the city. Plans for the arena suggest that it could begin hosting 76ers basketball for the 2031-32 season.

This is not the first time that owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have tried to deliver a new venue since purchasing the team in 2011. The owners previously proposed building at Penn’s Landing on the east side of Philadelphia, but the city rejected the idea. This time, Harris and Blitzer recruited real estate developer David Adelman to run the new development company, known as 76 DevCorp.

In an interview with ESPN, Adelman described the proposed Sixers arena as a “legacy project.” As a Philadelphia native and diehard fan of the team, he said that it was important to provide for his city.

“My kids and grandkids will know that I revitalized a part of Market Street that was a little not living up to its full potential,” Adelman said.

Ownership, Adelman and Sixers President Tad Brown seem to agree that the purpose of the new arena will be to improve fans’ experience when going to games. Because the Wells Fargo Center is more secluded, there is little to do before or after sporting events. Putting a venue in downtown Philadelphia is supposed to integrate a fan’s experience into the existing nightlife of the city.

The nine-year gap between the formation of a development company and the team’s planned move is not incidental, as the 76ers’ current lease at the Wells Fargo Center does not end until 2031. The Sixers currently share their venue with the Philadelphia Flyers, but the NHL team has not yet joined in on new development plans. Though they are eager to begin work on the Sixers’ new home, no one involved in its development expressed any desire to leave the Wells Fargo Center before the lease ended.