Hail No to a New Stadium at RFK - Add Your Name Below

Read my August 1, 2023 op-ed in the Washington Post.

If you believe the 190 acres of RFK's campus could be more than the next NFL stadium, say #HailNo and sign this petition below:

"As a DC resident, I am against a deal that gives away a single square foot of land or a single District tax dollar to build a new stadium.

  • I believe the 190 acres alongside the Anacostia River could be so much more than oceans of asphalt for surface parking and a 60,000 seat stadium.

  • On average, most NFL stadiums only hold 10 to 20 events annually outside of eight NFL home games, meaning the stadium sits empty more than 300 days a year. An enormous space that sits empty doesn’t spur economic growth or create meaingful jobs and doesn’t help the surrounding community.

  • Make no mistake - people drive to NFL games and they're going to park somewhere, regardless of how much is available. At San Francisco's new stadium, they had to rent out all of the parking lots at a nearby amusement park. Where do you think people will park around RFK if there isn't enough parking for fans?

  • Nationwide, since 1997 we've seen the NFL pit communities against each other while collecting more than $6.7 billion dollars from taxpayers to build stadiums for privately-owned teams. Overall, local taxpayers end up footing around half the bill for a new NFL stadium.  

  • The costs of these projects are always higher than estimated. The five most recent newly-constructed NFL stadiums have surpassed more than $1 billion dollars each!

  • As a DC resident, I don't want to see DC hoodwinked into paying for a billionaire's stadium. The District needs our tax dollars to create new housing at all levels, support local DC entrepreneurs who run small and local business, take urgent steps forward to shift to a 100% clean energy environment, build larger and modern schools for our growing city, fund our Metro system, and in general spend money to make life better and easier for DC residents.

  • Sitting on the banks of the historic Anacostia River, a new stadium and all of the traffic and trash that would come along, would set the Anacostia River's improvement back. RFK has never had to meet standards set by the National Environmental Policy Act, and I am concerned any deal worked out under the outgoing Congress would try to extend the exemption to holding the site accountable to environmental standards.

Dedicating millions of dollars to bring an NFL stadium to the District is a bad deal and a poor use of an incredible opportunity. 

Thank you."

Who's signing

Meg Massey
Richard Lewis
Hussein Ibish
Sarah Bedsole
Niki Irish
Gabriel Rodriguez
Meredith Carlton
Daniel Schiff
Tess Fields
David Pansegrouw
Alexandra Catena
Shane Mill
Whitney Press
Daniel Levine
Kyle Bagin
Glenda Smith
Mallory Bubar
Caitlin Kovalkoski
Tomas Deza
Ben Frazell
Andrew Keller
Travis Roberts
Suzy Glucksman
Laura O'Brien
Mary Ann Badavi
Ben Simasek
Austin Cole
Alison Kim
Cooper Thomas
Joanna Blotner
4,016 SIGNATURES
4,000 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Meg Massey
    signed 2018-12-17 11:22:58 -0500
  • Richard Lewis
    signed 2018-12-17 11:19:45 -0500
    Net loss proven by RFK
  • Hussein Ibish
    signed 2018-12-17 11:12:02 -0500
  • Sarah Bedsole
    signed 2018-12-17 11:10:08 -0500
  • Niki Irish
    signed 2018-12-17 11:10:00 -0500
  • Gabriel Rodriguez
    signed 2018-12-17 11:08:26 -0500
  • Meredith Carlton
    signed 2018-12-17 11:04:21 -0500
    The owner should pay for his new stadium
  • Daniel Schiff
    signed 2018-12-17 11:03:28 -0500
  • Tess Fields
    signed 2018-12-17 11:01:28 -0500
  • David Pansegrouw
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:56:50 -0500
  • Alexandra Catena
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:53:40 -0500
  • Shane Mill
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:51:45 -0500
  • Whitney Press
    signed 2018-12-17 10:51:31 -0500
  • Daniel Levine
    signed 2018-12-17 10:47:17 -0500
    Not only does Dan Snyder and his now-embarrassment-of-a-franchise not deserve this kind of entitlement, but also he will find a way to make everyone who allowed it to happen look bad. Dan Snyder has a history of screwing over those who do business with him, and the good people of Washington, D.C. are not lining up to be the next ones.
  • Kyle Bagin
    signed 2018-12-17 10:44:19 -0500
  • Glenda Smith
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:43:17 -0500
  • Mallory Bubar
    signed 2018-12-17 10:40:12 -0500
  • Caitlin Kovalkoski
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:34:57 -0500
  • Tomas Deza
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:33:47 -0500
  • Ben Frazell
    signed 2018-12-17 10:33:03 -0500
  • Andrew Keller
    signed via 2018-12-17 10:32:12 -0500
    Snyder would never agree to the terms I’d set in order to be ok with this (team name change, smaller stadium, public parks surrounding, etc.). Maryland can have his next soulless monstrosity, we don’t want it.
  • Travis Roberts
    signed 2018-12-17 10:31:25 -0500
  • Suzy Glucksman
    signed 2018-12-17 10:28:47 -0500
  • Laura O'Brien
    signed 2018-12-17 10:25:14 -0500
    Laura O’Brien
  • Mary Ann Badavi
    signed 2018-12-17 10:24:55 -0500
  • Ben Simasek
    signed 2018-12-17 10:24:40 -0500
  • Austin Cole
    signed 2018-12-17 10:21:35 -0500
  • Alison Kim
    signed 2018-12-17 10:14:52 -0500
  • Cooper Thomas
    signed 2018-12-17 10:14:48 -0500
  • Joanna Blotner
    signed 2018-12-17 10:14:21 -0500
    Joanna Blotner