The ROAR Podcast: Kirtan Mehta, Washington Commanders

# The ROAR Podcast: Kirtan Mehta, Washington Commanders
**Guest:** Kirtan Mehta
**Date:** 2026-07-09
**YouTube URL:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQ3aEu6VNg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQ3aEu6VNg)
**Source:** YouTube auto-generated captions (no speaker diarization)

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[00:02] Most NFL deals get negotiated [music] with the city. Washington Commanders needed an act of Congress. To gain control of the land at the old RFK site, the team had to get federal bill passed, something no other franchise in the league has to think about. And the person helping steer that effort took one of the most unlikely roads into sports you'll ever hear on this show. Kieran Meta is a chief external officer for the Washington Commanders and a Northwestern grad class of 2004.

[00:34] He came in as a math and economics major aiming for finance. got pulled into mock trial and let that detour carry him all the way to Harvard Law. Practiced for a few years, decided law wasn't it, and pivoted to politics, eventually serving as chief of staff to a US senator with a stop an early stage startup called Robin Hood along the way. Two and a half years ago, the chance to combine all of that with a lifelong love of football was one he couldn't pass up. In this conversation, Caroline digs into

[01:06] what that path actually unlocks, translating between owners, fans, and three separate jurisdictions. The $2.7 billion investment meant to turn a sea of parking lots into a national neighborhood. Why the Nationals ballpark is a blueprint for everyone keeps looking to how data and AI are shaping everything from construction timing to a roof that keeps the building busy 200 plus days a year. in the leadership code they call the commander standard. It's sharp look at politics, real estate, and

[01:37] the revenue underneath one of the biggest projects in American sports. I'm Rice Clinton and this is the ROAR podcast. Welcome to the ROAR podcast. I'm your host Caroline Balbardi and with me today is Kamea, [music] chief external affairs officer for the Washington Commanders, also a Northwestern grad. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks very much for having me and go Cats. >> Awesome. All right. Well, let's jump right in. We start the podcast with the

[02:08] same question for most of our guests. Can you tell us a bit about your career journey and how you've ended up where you are now? >> Absolutely. And yeah, thank you again for having me here. I am, as as you mentioned, a Northwestern grad. I graduated in 2004. Um, you know, a wonderful place to go to school, made some of my best friends, really, you know, catapulted my entire life from there on. One of the the things that it did, I actually entered Northwestern wanting to go into finance and I was a math and econ major, but uh I did this very dorky extracurricular activity

[02:39] called mock trial and uh that ended ended up being like a big part of my life at Northwestern and it more importantly pushed me into going into law. So I went into after graduating went to Harvard Law School and practiced as a lawyer for a little bit. Um about four years both in Chicago and in Washington DC. Turns out I don't really like being a lawyer. um may may also may not be good at it. So I pivoted to politics. I sort of, you know, most people when they go into politics sit down with folks, think about how to network, how do you how do you get a job, how do you break into the business,

[03:10] that kind of thing. And I got incredibly lucky. I applied off a jobs bulletin board for Senator Joe Mansion at the time and he he accepted me. So I I worked for him for a number of years. I actually worked for two senators. Most recently, I was the chief of staff to Senator John Hagen Lieber from Colorado. Uh but in between I've worked for a governor, I've had private sector jobs uh both as a as a trade association lobbyist. Also worked for a startup at the time a startup called Robin Hood, which is a now wellused stock trading app. But the biggest thing is I love

[03:40] football. I a huge fan of all sports, but football is my favorite. So when the opportunity came where the Washington Commanders under their new ownership were looking for someone of um with my background, it just like was something I could not say no to. and it's been just a delight the last two and a half years. >> That's such an interesting journey that you've had from the law side and then into politics and now at the sports and so I think that's probably a bit unusual or different from majority of the topics and guests that are on this podcast. So super excited to dig in deeper on on

[04:13] some of these topics and that type of background and this role really means um in the sports space. Can you talk a little bit about how your experience in politics and working on Capitol Hill and being in DC and what you've learned from that, how that's helped you in the role now? >> Yeah. No, thank you. And yet, as I as I say it out loud, it probably comes off like I can't keep a job or something like that, but it's been it's been a fantastic journey of just very different experiences. Um that yeah, to your point have kind of come together to make sense in this in this realm. You know, a lot

[04:43] of sports teams and certainly even football teams don't necessarily have someone in my role. It just kind of depends what the teams are going through. And even in external affairs or public affairs role at other football teams can be sometimes more communications-based. They can be more community relations based. But just given that the commanders were looking to build a new stadium, we're dealing with a lot of different government jurisdictions. this role that they were looking for at to be more government relations focused, someone who actually had experience at different layers and different levels of government. And so

[05:15] it kind of fit the bill in many ways. And they were actually one of the interesting things for the commander stadium process is that unlike any other team in the in the nation, they needed a federal bill to pass in order to gain control of the land that where former RFK stadium was and where the new stadium's going to be. that's just very unusual. So having someone who had capital experience was a was a critical, you know, component to it. And the other thing I'd say is, you know, for professional skill sets, I think apply

[05:45] to all industries, not necessarily just sports or whatever. You know, a service to your constituency, professionalism, a desire, persistent desire to figure it out when things get difficult. I mean, all those things apply to every industry. And and so that I think was, you know, a big part of of this. The one difference is sports is a little bit of a is not a little bit it is often a zero sum game but politics is a sport of addition and so that is kind of the one unique aspect that my previous experience I think brought to this similarly in public affairs and my

[06:16] role with surge and the sports space and when you're doing on the real estate side and these development projects and stadiums and the mixed use districts there's just so many diverse stakeholders involved in all of this and so what is your approach What have you found to be successful or how do you find the points of intersection with all these stakeholders? You have sports team executives and then sports teams ownership. But even within that, there's different ways of looking at things. Then obviously there's the fans and then there's the city and that political

[06:48] layer and their stakeholders are really the public and how are they going to perceive all of this? So there's so many different stakeholders with different interests. So, how do you find these points of intersection so you can get things done where that mutual benefit lies? >> Yeah, great great question and it it really is the million-dollar question that we that we deal with in our, you know, in both of our [snorts] roles. One way of thinking about it is is a lot of the job is really translating between different groups. Often, they actually have shared goals, but they just don't know it because they approach it from

[07:19] different perspectives and there might be a sort of latent distrust that therefore they can't see if they're actually trying to go towards the same kind of thing. So, you know, like just as an example, in our case, a desire to build a world-class stadium appeals to the league and the owners in a different way than it might to the local community. I mean, the arms race of the NFL to have the best stadium is not necessarily what the local community cares about, but actually both benefit greatly from this this sort of transformational project. Uh, for the community, in our case, it is going to change the whole trajectory of the

[07:50] neighborhood that it is in, which is currently a sea of empty parking lots. and that 180 acres is going to be not just a stadium but an entire neighborhood in a place that otherwise was dormant. So, you know, making sure both sides are able to see that uh and and are looking to our job of course to make sure that's communicated is is a key component. It doesn't of course, you know, I don't want to have any false uh pretenses here. It doesn't always line up perfectly. Of course, sometimes they're just there they are at odds. And in those cases, you know, we take the time, especially folks in the public affairs world, I think, take the time to

[08:22] listen to all stakeholders, engage in meaningful dialogue, negotiate as best as you can to arrive at a solution that fits within the art of the possible. And, you know, in our case, we were able to secure an 11 to2 vote before the DC council. So, you we we believe that we actually were able to sort of fit into into that solution. >> You brought up a couple of things there when you answered my question. uh when there are differences, how do you prioritize how to get people more aligned and how to do that? And I

[08:52] appreciate the transparency of how can we get as closely align on where is that common ground so you can get something done. And another key piece that I appreciate very much is the communication side. And I think sometimes that's taken for granted because it's communications and particularly like verbal communications even can be and emotional quotient and the soft skills and taken for granted. that I a thousand% agree on the importance of being able to translate between different groups. Uh because sometimes it can be as simple as one side assumes the other side should know

[09:22] exactly how they're thinking about it, but they're not. And I think understanding how very different all these stakeholders are in the way that they see the world and at the end of the day, it's always starting with what is each person's goal and who is their stakeholder group. And I think really very clearly understanding that makes a huge difference because you're going to act in very different ways depending what your goals are and who your stakeholders are. >> Now I I mean just to piggyback off that you know the the other benefit at least I feel lucky in this case is that we

[09:52] have an ownership group that is willing to listen to what the other side is and is thinking about how to make sure that they're everyone's as getting as much of a victory out of this as possible. I mean that's not always the case without citing any specific examples. Sometimes, you know, a a sports team can say, you know what, I know everyone wants me here more than the community can possibly stop me and so they'll overextend their leverage to do that. I think that, you know, may work in the short term, but the long term that just doesn't really it's just a negative thing to deal with. And so having to your to what you just

[10:23] said, the translator in this thing can help to make sure everyone understands about how to approach on the front end so that it's a lasting relationship, you know, moving forward. >> Yeah. and most of my background is more on the community development side and this is such a basic thing but as I come in now in the sports world and from the real estate side I'm realizing oh maybe this isn't such a obvious thing but you talked about listening and not just hearing someone actually listening and doesn't necessarily mean you're going to do or can do what that person is asking

[10:54] but I think it's just basic human nature everyone wants to be acknowledged and there are things that may not be perfect or align with every stakeholder because again they're very complex and have so many different elements and so I think a huge piece is the listening and making sure people feel heard even if everything doesn't go exactly according to what they're asking for what they want so can't take that for granted either being in the nation's capital as an NFL team what impact does this have on the team and your role in public

[11:24] affairs is it different from another team that's in a different local because a lot of this is all very local you mentioned some of the federal level things and as you're building the stadium and legislation and things like that, but and of course in the news we've seen interest in naming stadium and team and all that, but how much does it have an impact having the team be in DC and how it affects your role? >> Yeah, I mean, you know, not a lot of teams sit where we do as you point out. Um, I just first of all, we're in three different local jurisdictions as a

[11:56] starting point. Virginia. Lowden County, Virginia is where our practice facility is and that's where the players and the coaches all live. Um it's about say 45 minutes outside DC. Land over Maryland is where we currently play and have been for decades. Uh it's where the Northwest Stadium currently sits and we actually own the land around Northwest Stadium in the parking lots. It's like almost 160 acres. So it's not, you know, it's not a small property necessarily. And then DC is where we will be and have been. uh

[12:27] but we will be starting in 2030 when the new stadium is constructed. So like already there's three different jurisdictions that we're that we sort of have to balance and work with. I'd say underscoring that is the fact that our fans come from all three jurisdictions, right? It's actually pretty evenly cut between those three. And so you know DC's in the middle of those of the things. So it kind of makes a lot of sense to have a stadium there. But you have to make sure that you're listening and and appealing to fans from all all three places. But on top of that, as you as you sort of implicitly point out, we have the overlay of the federal

[12:57] government since the stadium is on federal land. And I talked about how the commanders needed to pass a federal bill with the help of the NFL and the mayor of DC. Uh that's that's not a thing that other teams generally have to worry about. And certainly on an ongoing basis, we still have to have this understanding that we are on federal land and what that means. So, you know, the role of this team and and and the role of this particular position must make sure that all those jurisdictions are heard. uh as as you said as you point out before making sure that everyone feels listened to making sure that they're engaged and not just sort

[13:27] of like taking us for granted we're taking them for granted and we're all working together on a mutually beneficial you know resolution to all things. Sometimes that there can be pressure points on that end whether it be competition between the jurisdictions or you know outside factors trying to get in get involved but by and large there are solutions to all of them that we sort of work through and think about as you get into this huge mixeduse development project. How does your team look when it comes to the public affairs side? Like you said, there's three

[13:58] jurisdictions and so has your team grown on the public fair side or is that something you use outside groups or if you can talk a little bit about what that looks like because in the sports world and now college level and down to youth level even doing these real estate mixed use projects and involves so much of that public affairs and working with cities and things like that. But how do you structure your team as much as you're able to talk about or even generally what you think works best? >> Yeah. No, I think one thing that the commanders have done that other teams,

[14:28] you know, maybe are starting to do but haven't done in the past is have dedicated teams that are working on the stadium and the mixeduse development. Usually, you know, the experiences that we have heard from is people have like seven hats on as they go through a stadium process and they sort of try to plug whatever holes exist. We've built out a big real estate team that approaches this as a big real estate project because that's what it is. It's not not necessarily a football team trying to get involved in real estate. It's a real estate team trying to do that kind of thing. So, we've grown dramatically in that role both

[14:59] internally as well as with outside consultants. Um, you know, one thing that's interesting is obviously we're building this RF the new RFK stadium around about 180 acres which will have a huge mixeduse development. But then we've made promises and assurances to the governor of Maryland when we were going through this whole process that we would not leave Maryland high and dry. So when the team leaves, it will not just, you know, demolish the stadium that's currently there, but actually have a mixeduse plan that will also revitalize that neighborhood as well.

[15:31] And so you kind of have two big projects going on at once. To say nothing of the fact that we want to make sure the practice facility remains at the top of the game and that we're able to attract the best players because we have one of the best practice facilities. So you can't do all that, I think, if everyone has three jobs at once. So scaling up on all of those all those those teams has has been critical so far to our success and by the way to meet our deadlines. >> The urgency of these projects and I'm learning in this role too the importance of legislative timelines. If you're

[16:02] working on something where you're looking to do something legislatively and these sessions run at state level every one to two years, you really have to understand those cycles because you know from the real estate side, timing is everything. And from the team side, you need to push these as fast as possible, but they're not quick projects to move through and construction and building. So the timing piece is so important, too. But it ties so much into if you're working with the public private partnership making sure that's aligned and getting ahead of legislative cycles.

[16:32] >> 100%. Yeah. I mean the political calendar is is can be a challenging one especially with local jurisdictions but also toward the federal level to the extent that's necessary because they're they're busy with a lot of other things. And as part of that and this may be an obvious point but you never know when things will change politically for you right like even though you think you think you have all these allies right now it's like let's just wait for next January to vast for the thing. you you might not h see what happens in an election and therefore all of a sudden your allies don't you know they're not there anymore to champion your causes. So that's critical too. On top of that

[17:02] for us we have other kinds of deadlines where if we're able to build this stadium by 2030 which we are definitely on track to do that allows us to attract the women's world cup in 2031. It allows us to attract the Rugby World Cup which is one of the top sporting events internationally in 2031. and allows us to have a football season obviously a year earlier than if we were to start in 2031 for example. So those are like major financial and international reasons to make sure that you know we stay on time on a budget. So much of it ties back to the communications piece of

[17:34] it too from the sport side teams coming in and saying we need to do this we need to push the timing really hard. But I think just that extra explanation of making sure that from the public side and from the city side, understanding all the benefit to them and like you said, what that brings the ability to do this in the timeline that you're doing it allows you to then draw larger scale events and more people coming to the city and driving more tax revenue and jobs and all of these things. That kind of leads me into another question around

[18:04] the communications more to the public as these mixeduse districts are becoming much more substantial and not just a fan zone. And I've asked this to other guests as well. How we make the case more clear that it's not just the stadium or arena anymore. Helping the public understand what is the benefit of the large scale mixed use because all the push back always is why are public dollars going to arena. I think there's still work to be done to tell the larger story now that these mixeduse districts are again much there's some argument to

[18:36] be made around even a fan zone but this is now housing it's hospitality retail and these are not just temporary construction jobs this is long-term permanent impact or permanent jobs so I don't know if you have any thoughts around that just the storytelling particularly to the public helping them understand this it's not just about the sports team >> yeah no it's a it's a it's a great question that was probably our sole focus when talking about what we, you know, what we can bring to the to the process here. The commander is committed to making a $2.7 billion capital

[19:08] investment in this ward, Ward 7, that is admittedly money that goes towards the stadium itself. And for people who were opposed to a stadium or were lukewarm about a new stadium, that's like, okay, that's a lot of money, but like what does that what does that actually bring to us? And we said from the very beginning, if all we do is build a stadium, we will have failed the moment for sure. This is a critical time to build a neighborhood of which the stadium is an anchor that will drive the economic development around it. And um you know there are a lot of particulars there, right? What kind of housing are

[19:39] you going to have? Is it only going to be luxury apartments? Is there going to be affordable housing, which is a major thing in the city? What is the environmental implications of the stadium and the surrounding area going to be? How is this going to disrupt traffic and for existing people? How might it price out the people who currently live in the area if when property values go up and therefore costs go up? The the area where the stadium is is a little bit of a food desert. There's not enough grocery stores. So, what can we bring to make sure that this this neighborhood includes the kinds of things that other neighborhoods have? And that was all that's all really important and we made,

[20:11] you know, listened as you point out and make sure that we can whatever we can make guarantees on those kinds of things. the the one I think advantage in the commander's favor besides the fact that the team is you know very popular and the residents wanted the commanders to come back home was that there is another project at a little bit of a smaller uh level but did exactly what we were promising to do and that's the Nats ballpark when that was built in the 2000s there was actually nothing around it was I wouldn't say a wasteland but there's very little very little

[20:41] development in that area and the NAS ballpark was finally built it took a little bit longer because there wasn't one, you know, developer like there will be in this case. Uh but if you look at it now and you look around, it's just like that's a whole neighborhood that just wasn't there before. And it has those things like a grocery store and caring about environmental issues and housing at different levels of from luxury to affordable. And it's just it's a place that people want to go not just on game day, but every day. And I think that's exactly the kind of thing that we have, you know, promised to do and will be delivering and be focused on for for

[21:13] the new stadium. >> Yeah. I think about it even more broadly too because the reality is there's rightfully so so much pressure around affordable housing and making sure that these are inclusive and a lot of times the reality a lot of stadiums and arenas are built in typically lower income lower wealth and so it's making sure that people in those areas are also benefiting but when you build a lot of times with real estate and construction it's extremely expensive and costs are skyrocketing on all these things so there's this pressure on x amount of

[21:43] affordable housing that just doesn't pencil sometimes. So, from my lens, I'd continue to try to figure out where are there other partners and other ways we can be creative in solving some of these things. For me, coming from a community development finance background, there's a lot of these local community development financial institutions where maybe the affordable housing isn't right within the district and they're partnering it through this project and the economics that come from this project can help spur additional affordable housing beyond the footprint of the mixeduse districts. I just add

[22:14] that because I think there's a reality to how much these districts and the building costs and there's a reality to the right mix of retail to make sure that these stay in business, but there's definitely an intentionality and it seems like the commanders have this mindset which I think is so important and at the end of the day makes it successful for everyone versus the public backlash of it's just for the sports team. And I don't know if there's any think at this point like creative partnerships or partnerships in general that you guys are thinking about around some of those things.

[22:44] >> We have you know I think one of the benefits in our situation which is not always the case when it comes to sports teams trying to either renovate or build a new stadium which is we have a lot of great partnership with this with the city itself. the mayor especially was, you know, critical to allowing this to happen. If she if she wasn't driven to making sure that the commanders come home and has not continued to be driving this, uh, despite the fact that she's actually retiring at the end of the year, she's still very much focused on on this happening. And that that I think is critical for us because, yeah, we can

[23:15] only bring so much to the table. We have creative ideas. We're doing it on the front end. Uh, but if we don't have the buy in from the city or they view us skeptically, then I think it's harder to get to the solutions that you want to get to. But we we really feel lucky to have both a mayor and a council that gets it. They've seen the struggles happen in other parts of the city when the you make an imposition for you to provide no support to allow that developer to do that. Then if you don't you don't have success. So in this case I think we'll see a little bit more of a partnership and it could be it could really really be a beautiful moment where you see the success of both the

[23:46] industry and government working together to help the residents. I love that. And there's so many good stories that come out of all that too. They're very powerful. And you know, it's just sometimes that individual local business in DC from generally that neighborhood who's now able to participate in that district or there's so much good that can come out of it if working together and being aligned and finding some of those creative solutions. So >> yeah, >> yeah, very excited to to see where all of it goes for the commanders. And so transitioning a little bit still on the mixeduse development but um this is the

[24:16] roar podcast and roar is Serge's data analytics platform and the focus on the episodes which now we're expanding a bit but is how data is being used in the evolution of data and AI for decision-m. So as the commanders look at the mixeduse district, how are you guys using data and AI are thinking about that or how are you thinking about the programming mix in this district that again pencils but also satisfying what the community needs and what is going to be successful long term for that

[24:47] neighborhood. So if you can talk a little bit about the data side of things, data informed decision-m things like that. >> Yeah, absolutely. Let me start with I know the question is really you know we want to focus on mixed but just as a as an example let me talk a little bit about yeah but but like data is huge in football you know if anyone who has watched a game sees like the nextgen stats that the NFL puts out regularly when you know in conjunction with some of our partners media partners that it's just a huge component of everything we do that if you don't you're going to be left behind it's not maybe not as much

[25:17] saber metrics as baseball is but it is a key component of I think our understanding of what how the sport works and how we can get better at it. On the corporate side, data is also critically important. The NFL has this initiative called voice of fans, but it essentially is more or less a survey of fans after a game and seeing what worked, what didn't work uh when they came to the when they came to the stadium, right? Things like traffic, things like food, things like service, experience. It won't surprise you to know that when the team wins, the voice

[25:48] of fan score is a little bit higher than than when the team loses. as you can imagine the the beer tastes a little bit better when you're when you 140 to 20 or whatever. But that I think that component of data is a critical piece that we're just using in every aspect of what we do both again on the football side but also on the corporate side and you know transitioning a little bit to AI and that use of data is is a is a big part of it. I mean the NFL currently is like using a fair amount of AI but that's going to you know ratchet up exponentially just as it has with other industries as well. If you're not doing that you're going to be left behind very

[26:19] quickly. The commanders themselves have in fact put out a request for information from a variety of businesses both local and regional as well as as national on how they approach or how they deploy data and AI to you know meet various aspects of what their businesses are from things at like construction for example like what is the ideal way to time constructions of various components of the stadium to what makes for the right hiring that you would have at your stadium over time. Our stadium's going to have a roof on it, which means it's

[26:50] going to be activated 200 plus days a year, which means there's permanent jobs inside the stadium. How do you like think about that? And how do you scale to that effort to finally what you know what you sort of point out is the community desires in terms of things like sustainability? How do we think ahead that many years to figure out what kind of processes do we set up today to be as the most sustainable, green, eco-friendly stadium in the country? So yeah, those are all, you know, just as with AIS, it's it's in its early stages. Um, but I think by the time the stadium

[27:21] is, you know, starting to get really erected, you you'll see it be a lot of that will be deployed to help us through that process. We talk about that a lot at Sergeant planning with different groups like I know you guys I think are working with HKS and Gendler and what is working now or popular now. Everything's moving so quickly. So it is really hard to So you have to add that flexibility I think both when it comes to the stadium and then also the mixed use around it. I don't know if there's anything yet that you guys are talking about the stadium andor the mixed use yet because we are thinking so much about experiential and

[27:53] now every stadium and now the areas that we're building around them how you create that level of a shared experience that people are desiring and and how technology plays into that. I don't know if you are that far along yet I'm thinking about that but how are you guys thinking about the experiential both from fan experience within the stadium and then also as you start to build out and think about what are the components of the kind of mixed use space around it. >> Absolutely. Yeah. So you know with the stadium you're I mean experential is is

[28:23] exactly the right word for it. We when we think about inside the stadium, we are balancing this desire that fans have with making sure that they have a you know high hospitality requirement. That's just that's just true across the NFL. Fans are sort of demanding those kinds of experiences. But also it's a football game and you got to make sure that like the average fan has access to it and is able to like enjoy it. Not it's not just like quiet inside the stadium with a bunch of people wearing suits for example, right? So that balance is a big part of the inside of it. thinking about things like technology access. You know, I think I

[28:55] can't be the only one who's gone to several arenas and stadiums and found my phone unable to work and I can't send a picture. Things like how easy it is to get food, how easy it is to go to the bathroom. Like things like that I think are are critical in terms of our design process inside the stadium outside equally true. This, you know, RFK for a long time was the entire time I should say was just a sea of parking lots in the stadium. And so people tailgated. It's like a core part of their memory of going to RFK. It's the same thing at Northwest Stadium. We're going to be having this

[29:25] mixeduse development, right? And that that means that you have fewer parking lots because you built buildings in those places. And so, how does that tie into the the, you know, the pregame experience that fans are going to have for the ones that want to tailgate? How do we maximize that this for that? For the ones who want the newer experience of going to bars and restaurants before a game, how do we make sure that they're able to get to those things without feeling like they have to go out of their way to to get there? So yeah, we're very mindful of this. It is the the part where I think technology and data will be critical is the phasing of

[29:55] it because not everything's going to be built at once, right? In the on day one, it's going to be the parking garages and the stadium and we want to bring as much other things on as quickly as possible, but as fans behavior starts to crystallize, that becomes more and more difficult to do. So we want to make sure that um you know they're aware of what their what their desire is on day one that we can meet it. And you bring up the transportation piece is so interesting and I've touched on this on a few episodes now with some of the architect groups as well. I don't know

[30:26] that anybody has solved it quite yet because yours bring such a mass amount of people but it continues looking for all the ways to improve transportation and then the technology side there are a lot of interesting concepts. I went to um one of the commanders since I'm also based in DC was just interested in one of the community meetings that were held just to hear people talk about it and somebody was talking about the automated some of the subterranean parking because there's so many questions about when you build this big parking lot it's going to block views and all these things but

[30:56] just transportation general the boring company I think is the one where they have like the tunnels underground it's just all these technologies coming online again interesting to see where we are just a few years from how and how these may be implemented or not or what's the real feasibility and obviously need regulation around a lot of them and all that. But um >> yeah, >> I think transportation is one that hopefully technology can help streamline because it's still getting into and out of and particularly now as you're adding all the housing to with the mixed use making sure the people who are living there that it's still desirable for them

[31:27] even on game day or event day. >> Yeah, that's right. We, you know, one of the advantages of the RFK site is that it's two blocks away from a major metro station and it's got actually three lines that service it. So that is like that's not something you get in other most other cities even. So we're very lucky for that aspect of it and therefore it means you know a high percentage of of fans will come through forms that are not them driving themselves to the game which which is key. However, you know, those those those stations, you know, have been

[31:58] used, but they haven't been used to this level obviously since RFK was being utilized. So, making sure that we have have those proper upgrades that were able to bring in people from other parts of the city into in whether whether it be via bus or some other capacities is exactly right. It it is the site is built right next to or it is right next to a river and so there's a water bed problem of how deep you can actually go without, you know, obviously hitting water. Uh but there's solutions to that that I think technology is like critical to solving for. Things you wouldn't have thought about or no one could have thought about 10 even five or 10 years

[32:29] ago are now things that we can like probably find a solution to. >> Now getting a little bit into what drives you personally. We talked about the stadium and then mixed use and these are huge complex projects not to mention all the other nonreal estate related work for the team. What are you most excited about coming up or what keeps you going particularly through all these can be challenging parts of projects? So, what are you most excited about whether it's upcoming season or just kind of generally going forward? >> Yeah. No, I I mean both of those things I think one is I as I mentioned absolutely love sports and I love it for

[33:01] a lot of reasons. One of them, you know, I actually think in large part what it means to people who are fans and, you know, for for the game and for the team. It just like I think on you know game days when I'm I'm there you know earlier than most people are of course getting ready for my day at at work but you see people the fans start trickling in you see the excitement on their face the drums are going people are having a good time and that's just like a really cool feeling for me you know people are truly moved by experiences and we aim to supply some of the best experiences that they can hope for. So that that definitely drives me for sure. Josh

[33:33] Harris likes to say often that like this is when they come on game day, they're we're inviting someone to our house, it's basically like a house party for 70,000 people or whatever. And and if you're the host of of that kind of thing, you have to make sure your guests are having a great time. And yeah, there there's a lot of joy in seeing someone someone do that kind of thing. And and maybe I don't think it's unique to me, but as a person trained to care about service, seeing joy in our fans on game day, joy and our fans, but the team is coming back home. joy for the city that has its spirit back under this new

[34:03] ownership. That that really does make me really happy and drives me all the time. And the last thing I'd say is even for those who who are skeptical or maybe even opposed to the stadium coming, I really believe this project is going to make if things better for everybody. I like I truly believe that. And what drives me also is like convincing them that they are they are really better off with this happening than it just being sitting empty parking lots for decades. this chapter of your career maybe has brought you more joy than others as you mentioned maybe not wanting to end up being a lawyer. So it sounds like you

[34:34] have some dynamic things going on in the world. So >> that's [laughter] right. When you have a good product, you know, it makes the job a lot easier. Both both like actually makes it easier because people want your product, but also it's just like it's it's like a thing you can believe in doing, which is which is fun. >> That's a huge piece of it. And then maybe we can end on this. A lot of times I'd like to ask this question about leadership because it's obviously a huge component of what drives success or not. So there's the product, but it's also who you're working for and around and how you lead people. And so the team is under newer ownership and leading this

[35:05] huge stadium mixeduse project. And obviously the level of leadership has to increase even more in a lot of cases those aspects. So what traits do you find most effective as a leader yourself or as you've seen in others? What do you think drives the most success or what do you see as most effective in leadership? >> Yeah. No, it's it's it's a great question. Um, you know, I'll start by saying that that this is such a unique moment in the franchise's history and a big component of, you know, they've got a new star quarterback that's playing

[35:38] for the team. They've got a young team that a younger team now that's going to, you know, be emerging on both sides of the ball in very impressive competing ways. They're obviously in the middle of the stadium project and, you know, moving jurisdictions from Maryland back to DC. Those are all very heavy things that it's not the first time the topics have ever come up under this franchise, but it is I think a critical time to be successful in all of those things because otherwise you'll have lost the moment and under previous ownership. I think that would have maybe missed missed the mark. You know, we all saw

[36:09] what happened to Robert Griffin Jr. or the third of course. So like that kind of thing I think is something that we want to make sure we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. And I feel confident in this this ownership and this leadership for fact they're going to approach it the right way. One they just demand it. They are they're themselves very successful people in a lot of different areas of life. They want to make sure that they continue that. They just don't settle for anything less which I which is you know pretty inspiring in some ways. The other thing is there it a real sense of what leadership should actually be. You know

[36:39] it's not just the person in charge. It's as you as you I think your question points out it's the ethos of what the leadership actually is. And we have a thing I'm on the leadership team that is was called, you know, the commander standard or the five C's. Um, and it's that I'll just list the five Cs for you there. It's character, it's that we compete, it's that we collaborate, it's that we have courage, and that we are creative. And you know when you read books about management styles those five words will be used in different you know different synonyms basically for it. But I think that's the critical thing is

[37:10] that you're not just someone who's open to ideas but you are someone who's open to ideas and implementing the right way. It's that you're someone who's willing to speak up when the easiest decision is to move aside. You're someone who's willing to look outside the box and not just do something one way because it was done another way. And that importantly you're determined to win and win the right way. And I think that is a both inspiring thing but also necessary for the fact that we're in this critical component. >> Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. The five C's. Usually think of that as five C's of credit but

[37:40] [laughter] five leadership. >> Slightly more fun version, right? >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Love that. Well, that's great. And I think that's a great place to end besides the fact I didn't mention that we we did not plan our outfits for this, but um I guess today full day, so >> that's right. But thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing all your insights. They're super powerful and really excited [music] to share this episode more broadly and best wishes with everything you have going on, which is a lot. >> Thank you. This was really a pleasure and an honor to be here. So, thank you.