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

Benjamin Gilvar-Parke
Allison Fisher
Harold Connolly
Sarah Lutz
Laura Taylor
Sidra Siddiqui
Melanie Knapp
Bianca Benincasa
Michael Siemer
Amy Salunga
Jennifer Davis
Rudi Riet
Timothy Huether
Katherine Myer
Eduardo Ferrer
Aubrey Lopez
Lee Pellegrino
Katy Gathright
Caitlyn Vincent
James Dunbar
Sarah Thomas
Ryan Fleming
Nora Lamm
Kathryn Abell
Kesh Ladduwahetty
teddy Gudelski
Colleen Garibaldi
Tom Skinner
Ario Keshani
thomas bartholomew
4,003 SIGNATURES
4,000 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Benjamin Gilvar-Parke
    signed 2022-06-10 16:19:56 -0400
  • Allison Fisher
    signed 2022-06-10 15:09:29 -0400
  • Harold Connolly
    signed 2022-06-10 13:42:15 -0400
  • Sarah Lutz
    signed 2022-06-10 13:30:55 -0400
  • Laura Taylor
    signed 2022-06-10 13:15:29 -0400
  • Sidra Siddiqui
    signed 2022-06-10 13:13:10 -0400
  • Melanie Knapp
    signed 2022-06-10 12:42:28 -0400
  • Bianca Benincasa
    signed 2022-06-10 12:37:44 -0400
  • Michael Siemer
    signed 2022-06-10 12:09:06 -0400
  • Amy Salunga
    signed 2022-06-10 12:08:31 -0400
  • Jennifer Davis
    signed 2022-06-10 12:01:30 -0400
  • Rudi Riet
    signed 2022-06-09 12:32:35 -0400
    The old RFK site should be a residential and multi-use panacea where people live, work, shop, and play. Football stadiums are boondoggles – full stop.
  • Timothy Huether
    signed 2022-06-09 11:03:57 -0400
  • Katherine Myer
    signed 2022-06-09 10:22:12 -0400
  • Eduardo Ferrer
    signed 2022-06-09 09:27:26 -0400
  • Aubrey Lopez
    signed 2022-06-09 09:22:26 -0400
  • Lee Pellegrino
    signed 2022-02-07 14:48:10 -0500
  • Katy Gathright
    signed 2021-12-18 17:53:51 -0500
  • Caitlyn Vincent
    signed via 2021-01-04 13:37:22 -0500
    We built a stadium at RFK once. It didn’t work. Building a new stadium at RFK is the definition of insanity.
  • James Dunbar
    signed via 2021-01-04 13:37:06 -0500
    What a waste of money! How about the neighborhood gets more amenities or housing? Anything is better than a stadium.
  • Sarah Thomas
    signed 2020-12-29 09:57:45 -0500
  • Ryan Fleming
    signed 2020-12-28 19:09:32 -0500
    This land should be used for the people of DC, not billionaire out of state NFL owners.
  • Nora Lamm
    signed 2020-07-19 17:36:41 -0400
  • Kathryn Abell
    signed 2020-07-19 15:46:58 -0400
  • Kesh Ladduwahetty
    signed 2020-06-19 21:54:16 -0400
  • teddy Gudelski
    signed 2020-03-28 16:44:13 -0400
    Let’s bring back football back to Washington
  • Colleen Garibaldi
    signed 2019-11-24 07:44:00 -0500
  • Tom Skinner
    signed 2019-11-23 14:17:56 -0500
    Baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey stadiums are all great economic development tools, but not football. Let’s get federal legislation to allow us to use the site for housing, recreation and other local community development.
  • Ario Keshani
    signed 2019-11-23 12:02:56 -0500
    Keep the redskins out of DC.
  • thomas bartholomew
    signed 2019-11-22 22:48:10 -0500