DC Stadium Deal Tops 2024 Lobbying Wins as Others Suffer Losses

One of the year’s most dramatic lobbying victories came in the dead of the night when senators passed a measure paving the way for the Washington Commanders to potentially return to the capital city.

That win came after years of lobbying by the team, the National Football League, and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to give the city control of the site of the former RFK Stadium from the federal government. The measure first hitched a ride on the year-end funding deal but then looked doomed after lawmakers stripped that deal down because of criticism from Republicans, billionaire businessman Elon Musk, and President-elect Donald Trump.

Lobbyists said they continued to push, helping broker deals, even when it seemed grim.

“There were several hurdles that had to be overcome throughout the process, and we were able to clear them,” said Matthew Cutts, head of US Public Policy and Government Relations for Dentons, an outside firm for the Commanders.

Managing partner Josh Harris of the Washington Commanders and his lobbying team were big winners this year as Congress passed a D.C. stadium deal.

(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Among those working the issue were NFL in-house lobbyist Brendon Plack, a former top aide to incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.); the S-3 Group’s Matt Bravo, a former aide to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.); and Darrel Thompson, a partner at theGroup DC and lobbyist for the D.C. government who was once a deputy chief of staff to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

The team brought on lobbyists from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in June to work on the stadium matter, according to lobbying disclosures. That came after Josh Harris, a co-founder of Apollo Global Management, bought the team. Apollo is one of Brownstein’s top-paying clients, disclosures show.

“This is a win for DC, for our region, and for America,” Bowser said in a post on X, after the Senate cleared the measure shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday.

Other big legislative fights this year pit lobbying behemoths like pharmaceuticals and banks against competing sectors and injected millions of dollars into K Street.

Here are some of the year’s other biggest lobbying winners and losers:

WINNERS:

The cryptocurrency industry made bipartisan strides this Congress with House passage of a bill (H.R. 4763) to establish an industry-friendly regulatory framework. It didn’t make it through the Senate, but the crypto sector is well-positioned for next year. Kara Calvert at Coinbase and industry associations are players on the Hill. The industry’s Fairshake super PAC, which raised more than $220 million this cycle, made a splash in signature races, including working against Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a crypto critic.

Google and Meta stalled the Kids Online Safety Act, dealing a blow to bipartisan lawmakers and groups pushing for passage. Republican John Feehery, who lobbied for the bill, said there was “unease” about free speech issues, despite recent support from the social platform X.

Lobbyists working on either side of the long-running, big-money fight over credit card interchange fees are likely to keep hauling in the cash into the new Congress. A measure backed by retailers did not come up for a vote this Congress, though the Merchants Payments Coalition’s Doug Kantor says his side has “more momentum” now than earlier this year. The Electronic Payments Coalition, whose members include banks, plans “aggressive outreach” from day one, said executive chairman Richard Hunt.

Pharmacy benefit managers, dubbed middlemen by the pharmaceutical industry’s seemingly unrelenting ads, dramatically increased their lobbying spending this Congress and narrowly avoided a brutal legislative loss after changes to the industry were initially included in the year-end spending deal.

The sector’s main trade association, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, called the provisions in the first year-end spending deal “costly,” “unvetted,” and “disastrous for America’s employers, patients, families, and taxpayers.” PCMA disclosed spending more than $12.5 million on federal lobbying during the first three quarters of this year, up from $10.1 million during the same time last year and $6.1 million in 2022, filings show.

Trump has signaled support for changes to the industry, so the fight is likely to resume next year.

LOSERS:

Boeing Co.’s lobbying operation has been through a rough year, starting in January when a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight. The company’s ex-CEO got a Capitol Hill grilling. Boeing cut ties with outside lobbying firms, including Monument Advocacy and the firm of former Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), during a labor strike. Then Boeing’s top in-house lobbyist Ziad Ojakli exited the company this month, as the new CEO remakes the team.

The company did get a win in the annual defense authorization legislation which included $2.4 billion for 24 F-15 EX fighter airplanes and $2.7 billion for 15 tanker aircraft.

TikTok, even if the Chinese ByteDance-owned app prevails in the courts or with the aid of the incoming Trump administration, lost a big and swift lobbying fight in April when lawmakers hustled over the finish line a divest-or-ban measure.

Transgender rights advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, lost a fight over a measure included in this year’s defense authorization that prohibits the military’s health care program from providing gender treatment to transgender minors. It comes as congressional Republicans have made an issue about bathrooms for transgender people in the Capitol, as Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first trans woman elected to Congress, prepares to take office.

The American Petroleum Institute, US Chamber of Commerce and other groups that backed an overhaul to expedite permitting for energy projects took a loss when negotiations collapsed. The oil and gas industry could end up benefiting from a Republican-led reconciliation bill in the 119th Congress, which likely will include provisions aimed at increasing onshore and offshore leasing.