Northwest Stadium

Northwest Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium stadium in Landover, Maryland, located within the census-designated place of Summerfield 2.5 miles (4 km) east of Washington, D.C. It is the home venue of the National Football League (NFL) team Washington Commanders. The stadium opened in 1997 as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium and was known as FedExField from 1999 until 2024.

Northwest Stadium had the NFL's largest capacity at 91,000 from 2004 until 2010 and currently seats 64,000. The stadium is owned and operated by the Commanders, with non-NFL events managed by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). The Commanders are scheduled to vacate Northwest for New RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. upon its completion in 2030.

By the early 1990s, Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke sought to replace RFK Stadium as the team's stadium. Cooke considered a site next to Laurel Park Racecourse along Whiskey Bottom and Brock Bridge roads, but lack of parking and public support prompted him to choose to build instead on Wilson Dairy Farm in Landover, Maryland, within the census-designated place of Summerfield. A special exit, Exit 16 (initially Arena Drive, later renamed Medical Center Drive), was built from Interstate 495, also known as the Capital Beltway. Cooke named the site Raljon after his sons Ralph and John, registering it with the United States Postal Service for the stadium's ZIP Code. Cooke died months before the opening of the new stadium, which his sons named Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. It opened on September 14, 1997, hosting a game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Daniel Snyder bought the team and stadium from Cooke's estate in May 1999, briefly renaming it Redskins Stadium before selling naming rights to FedEx for 27 years at an average of $7.6 million per year. The stadium was renamed FedExField on November 21, 1999. The Raljon dateline requirements and placename were phased out by Snyder by the start of the 1999 season. From 2002 to 2010, the Redskins led the NFL in home attendance but demand declined thereafter. In the early 2010s, 14,000 seats were removed from the upper deck. Another 4,000 seats had been removed by 2015, with the current capacity of 62,000 being set in 2022. 1,500 seats were re-added in 2025 for a total capacity of 64,000.

In July 2023, Snyder sold the team and stadium to a group headed by Josh Harris for $6.05 billion. The following year, Harris's company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) took over operating non-NFL events at the stadium. In February 2024, FedEx announced that it had opted out of its naming rights contract before its expiration in 2026. The stadium was temporarily renamed Commanders Field until a sponsorship with Northwest Federal Credit Union was announced to rename it Northwest Stadium on August 27, 2024.

In 2025, the Commanders and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans to build a new stadium at the former site of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to house the team by 2030.

The stadium has five levels: the Lower Level, the Club Level, the Upper Level, and the Lower and Upper Suite Levels. The Lower Level is named after Bobby Mitchell, a running back and executive with the team from 1962 to 2002. The Club Level is named after Joe Gibbs, the team's head coach from 1981 to 1992 and from 2004 to 2007. The Upper Level is named after former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. The stadium has 257 suites as of 2023^[update].

Northwest Stadium hosts the annual Prince George's Classic college football game, which is a game usually between two historically black universities. It has hosted several other college football games, including a 1998 game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipmen, a 2004 game between the USC Trojans and Virginia Tech Hokies, and the Army–Navy Game in 2011 and 2024.