D.C. Council hears $620 million Audi Field roof plan today

By Marcus Tillery

WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council takes public testimony Friday on Chairman Phil Mendelson’s plan to put $300 million in city money toward a $620 million expansion of Audi Field, a proposal the mayor opposes and the stadium’s own ward member says needs major changes before he would support it.

The Soccer Stadium Redevelopment and Maintenance Act of 2026, Bill 26-769, would add a climate-controlled roof and roughly 8,000 seats to the Buzzard Point stadium, which now holds about 20,000 fans for D.C. United, the Washington Spirit, DC Power FC and the D.C. Defenders, Capital City Post reported. Mendelson introduced the bill in July, and the hearing before the Committee of the Whole, which he chairs, was set despite the mayor’s opposition, according to Sports Business Journal.

How the money would work

Under the bill, the District’s $300 million share would be paid at about $60 million a year over five years, funded partly by a 4.25% ticket surcharge and sales taxes generated at the stadium, Capital City Post reported, citing Field of Schemes. D.C. United would cover the rest of the cost plus any overruns. The club would contribute $320 million, Samantha Ward, D.C. United’s head of communications, told The Inquisitor; WJLA had put the club’s share at at least $320 million, while WTOP reported $360 million.

The bill would also require the club to build 467 housing units near the stadium, including 148 affordable units and 122 for seniors, WUSA9 reported.

“There is no question that Audi Field needs to get larger,” Mendelson told WJLA. “Washington Spirit is at capacity, and they want to see more seats.” He told WTOP in September that introducing the bill was a “first step” and that changes may follow the hearing.

The club’s case

Danita Johnson, D.C. United’s president of business operations, told WTOP that a study the club commissioned from CSL International found an enclosed Audi Field could host 65 new events a year, including concerts, motor sports and combat sports, at a capacity of 26,000. By year five, the study projected 45 private events in hospitality areas and annual attendance of 378,500, WTOP reported. TKO Group Holdings, the parent of WWE and UFC, was cited in the study as having “strong interest” in one or two premier combat events a year.

“Audi Field can be an additive venue to the District and we believe in that,” Johnson said. The club, which plans to shift to a fall-to-spring MLS calendar in 2027, says it intends to keep playing at the stadium during construction. Ward said construction would begin around 2028 and that all of the stadium’s tenants would keep playing at Audi Field, with a truncated season.

D.C. United finalized a project labor agreement with the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades union in September, Axios reported, according to Capital City Post.

The objections

Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters on Sept. 2 that the city already owns Capital One Arena, which is undergoing a roughly $1 billion renovation, and should not be “cannibalizing one for the other,” WTOP reported.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, whose ward includes the stadium, called the bill an “open-ended liability” for the District, saying it lacks a cap on the city’s contribution, a guarantee that the housing will be built and a community benefits agreement addressing traffic and congestion. “If they want my vote, and I think a lot of others, they’ve got to see a lot of terms of this deal get better,” Allen told WTOP.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D, which covers Buzzard Point, voted 5-0 on July 20 to send Mendelson a letter of concerns citing traffic, noise, parking and security costs, Capital City Post reported. An opposition website, opposeaudifieldexpansion.com, argues under the headline “No Blank Check” against what it calls “another Audi Field subsidy.”

The bigger tab

The proposal comes on top of more than $1.6 billion the District has committed to sports venues since 2015, according to a Washington Informer tally cited by Capital City Post, including $515 million for Capital One Arena and $877 million toward the Commanders stadium on the RFK campus. Bowser also plans separate legislation this fall for a renovation of Nationals Park, the Washington Business Journal reported.

Friday’s session is a hearing, not a vote. The bill would need committee markup and two council votes, along with the mayor’s signature or an override and congressional review, before taking effect.

The Inquisitor asked Mendelson’s office, Allen’s office, the Executive Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, ANC 6D and D.C. United about the bill, including whether any amendments are planned. D.C. United responded; its answers are included above. The others had not immediately responded. This story will be updated with any other responses.

Update, Oct. 23, 2026: This story has been updated with a response from D.C. United.

Photo: Audi Field in Washington. David / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.