Treasurer accuses Commanders of using MD to sweeten potential DC stadium deal

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ANNAPOLIS — State Treasurer Dereck Davis on Wednesday chastised the new Washington Commanders owners for what he sees as them using Maryland and Prince George’s County — where the team is based — to potentially win a more lucrative stadium deal in the district.

The treasurer’s comments came one day after the team announced that, following an agreement with Northwest Federal Credit Union, its home field will be called Northwest Stadium. The team’s home in Landover had been known as FedEx Field since 1999.

Speaking during a Board of Public Works meeting, Davis accused the team’s owners of either “desperately” wanting to relocate to the district or looking to incite a bidding war between two jurisdictions.

“The state of Maryland and Prince George’s County is nobody’s backup plan, plan B or anything like that,” said Davis, a Democrat who previously represented the county in the legislature for 27 years. “You either want to be here or you don’t. If you want to recognize and show appreciation, you should show it to this state who had to put up with that s***show for the last 30 years.”

A spokesperson for the Commanders declined to comment on Davis’s remarks.

The treasurer is one of three officials comprising the Board of Public Works, from which stadium deals with the state must receive approval. A deal, though, would just require votes of approval from two of the board’s members.

RELATED: 2030 a ‘reasonable target’ for new Commanders stadium, owner says

“If this drags on too much longer, if they get a deal, they’ll have to do it with the comptroller and the governor, because I’ll just be a no,” Davis said in an interview following Wednesday’s meeting.

Gov. Wes Moore, who since taking office has led Maryland’s push to retain the Commanders and been a repeat visitor to the team’s training camps and games, on Wednesday didn’t offer his own thoughts on the matter during the meeting.

A spokesman said in a statement that the governor and his administration have “known since the beginning that this was going to be a tough, competitive negotiation,” and that they will continue to “aggressively pitch” the ownership group and push to keep the Commanders “right where they belong, in Prince George’s County.”

A central part of Maryland’s pitch is the $400 million that officials have already committed to the Blue Line Corridor project, through which state and local governments plan to redevelop land near the deteriorating Commanders’ stadium and surrounding four Metrorail stations.

Maryland’s Blue Line Corridor plans will continue regardless of where the team ends up, and the Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved $8 million for revamping a Metro facility and constructing three mixed-use buildings in Largo.

Josh Harris, the Commanders’ managing partner, said Sunday that he’s hoping the team will have a new stadium by 2030.

The team’s current lease in Landover expires after 2027, and its owners are reportedly considering locations in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, including the site of the old RFK Stadium roughly 2 miles from the U.S. Capitol, according to The Associated Press.

RELATED: Washington Commanders reach deal to rename home field Northwest Stadium

Moving to RFK Stadium would return the team to where it played games from 1961-96 before moving to Landover. Doing so requires Congress to pass a bill returning the land to the district, which Harris has said he doesn’t expect until after the November election, The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to transfer the land, but the Senate hasn’t.

Davis refrained Wednesday from saying that Maryland should withdraw from negotiations to keep the team in Prince George’s County. He acknowledged that it’s a common tactic for businesses to pit bidders against each other, but he doesn’t want Maryland to be a pawn.

“At some point the state needs to move on,” Davis said. “I know for me, personally, I’m going to move on.”

Davis was similarly peeved about how the Baltimore Orioles’ former ownership group, led by chair and managing partner John Angelos, handled lease negotiations with the state last year.

In publicly calling out Angelos and members of the Maryland Stadium Authority last summer for their lack of transparency, he said “this thing needs to come to a head.”

But two weeks later, after meeting with the governor and Angelos, he reversed course, saying he expected a deal “in its due time” and that he, Moore and the owner reached an understanding.

The two sides eventually inked a deal in December, extending the team’s lease for 30 years.

(This story has been updated.)