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

Matt Pearson
Wendy Couchman
Jacob Short
Erin Gleeson
Ekaterina Hazard
Doug Jacobs
Bryan George
Randolph Harrison
Linnea Warren
Lee Tucker
Matthew Barton
Joseph Cassidy
Ben Hurley Scarbro
Alyssa Paquin
Sam B
Kristina Klassen
Sam Bolam
Rob Kelly
Hannah Yoo
Andrew Byrne
Sharon McGill
Carin Ruff
Emily Silva
Kaitlyn Lassy
Laura Worby
Katrina Warner
Margaret Weckstein
Sidhartha Deka
Amanda Hines
Jeremy Klass
4,016 SIGNATURES
4,000 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Matt Pearson
    signed 2018-12-18 00:07:19 -0500
  • Wendy Couchman
    signed 2018-12-17 23:56:00 -0500
    I live on Oklahoma Avenue and I love the quietness and proximity to the bike trails along the Anacostia. Please don’t ruin my neighborhood.
  • Jacob Short
    signed 2018-12-17 23:50:46 -0500
  • Erin Gleeson
    signed 2018-12-17 23:39:34 -0500
  • Ekaterina Hazard
    signed 2018-12-17 23:11:01 -0500
  • Doug Jacobs
    signed 2018-12-17 23:04:45 -0500
  • Bryan George
    signed 2018-12-17 23:02:02 -0500
  • Randolph Harrison
    signed 2018-12-17 22:59:58 -0500
  • Linnea Warren
    signed 2018-12-17 22:56:33 -0500
    Almost as bad an idea as paying Amazon to move here. Let’s let businesses succeed or fail on their own merits (with NO special tax benefits) and use public funds for public purposes.
  • Lee Tucker
    signed 2018-12-17 22:55:14 -0500
    A little back of the napkin math: the average stadium built in the last ten years cost taxpayers $448 million (even after including MetLife Stadium), or almost $6,300 per stadium seat! Even if we conservatively assume that the stadium is used for 40 years, we’re literally paying $20 for every football fan who will ever set foot in the stadium (including the away team ones)!
  • Matthew Barton
    signed 2018-12-17 22:54:21 -0500
    Not with my tax dollars
  • Joseph Cassidy
    signed 2018-12-17 22:54:12 -0500
  • Ben Hurley Scarbro
    signed 2018-12-17 22:46:20 -0500
  • Alyssa Paquin
    signed 2018-12-17 22:32:15 -0500
  • Sam B
    signed 2018-12-17 22:31:48 -0500
  • Kristina Klassen
    signed via 2018-12-17 22:31:03 -0500
  • Sam Bolam
    signed 2018-12-17 22:27:05 -0500
  • Rob Kelly
    signed 2018-12-17 22:23:17 -0500
  • Hannah Yoo
    signed via 2018-12-17 22:14:31 -0500
  • Andrew Byrne
    signed via 2018-12-17 22:12:27 -0500
  • Sharon McGill
    signed 2018-12-17 22:03:39 -0500
  • Carin Ruff
    signed 2018-12-17 22:03:38 -0500
  • Emily Silva
    signed via 2018-12-17 22:02:28 -0500
  • Kaitlyn Lassy
    signed via 2018-12-17 22:01:03 -0500
  • Laura Worby
    signed 2018-12-17 21:57:08 -0500
  • Katrina Warner
    signed 2018-12-17 21:55:36 -0500
  • Margaret Weckstein
    signed 2018-12-17 21:50:59 -0500
    I want RFK to give back to the community with development we can all use, not a football stadium that will only take away from the community, vs add to it.
  • Sidhartha Deka
    signed 2018-12-17 21:50:42 -0500
  • Amanda Hines
    signed 2018-12-17 21:50:32 -0500
  • Jeremy Klass
    signed 2018-12-17 21:48:02 -0500