The ROAR Podcast: Kirtan Mehta, Washington Commanders

Most NFL deals get negotiated 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 a 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. Kirtan Mehta is the chief external officer for the Washington Commanders and a Northwestern grad, class of 2004. 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 U.S. senator, who has stopped an early-stage startup called Robinhood along the way. Two and a half years ago, the chance to find all of that with a lifelong love of football was one he couldn't pass up. In this conversation, Caroline digs into 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, where 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 it commander standard. It's a sharp look at politics, real estate, and the revenue underneath one of the biggest projects in American sports. I'm Bryce Linton, and this is The Roar Podcast.

Welcome to the ROAR podcast. I'm your host, Caroline Balvardi. And with me today is Kirtan Mehta, Chief External Affairs Officer for the Washington Commanders, also a Northwestern grad. Welcome to the podcast.

Thanks very much for having me. Go Cats.

Awesome. All right. Well, let's jump right in. We start the podcast with the 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 you mentioned, a Northwestern grad. I graduated in 2004. 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 things that it did, I actually entered Northwestern wanting to go into finance and I was a math and econ major, but I I did this very dorky extracurricular activity called mock trial, and that ended up being 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, about four years, both in Chicago and in Washington, D.C., Turns out I don't really like being a lawyer. 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 get a job, how do you break into the business, that kind of thing. And I got incredibly lucky. I applied off a jobs bulletin board for Senator Joe Manchin at the time. And he