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 and doesn’t help the surrounding community, as study after study has demonstrated.

  • 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

Mary Karimi
Jan Shea
Esther Konrad
kara lilian
Ligia Markman
Jeffrey Baker
Richard Stirba
Kelly French
Nathan Cobb
Arthur Chambers
Julia Skapik
Dorothy Garcia
Joel Church
Christopher McCrea
Susanna McCrea
Haley Barry
Emily Heller
Meghan O’Brien
Dingus Malingus
Nancy Shaffer
chapman todd
John Kim
Abigail Hare
Mandy Katz
Frederick Nickens
Caleb Bergner
Cherie Long
Mary Albert
Linda Lenrow Lopez
Morris Small
3,927 SIGNATURES
4,000 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Mary Karimi
    signed 2019-09-06 15:51:45 -0400
    Mary Karimi
  • Jan Shea
    signed 2019-09-06 15:48:37 -0400
  • Esther Konrad
    signed 2019-09-06 15:48:22 -0400
  • kara lilian
    signed 2019-09-06 15:42:07 -0400
  • Ligia Markman
    signed 2019-09-06 15:41:53 -0400
  • Jeffrey Baker
    signed 2019-09-06 15:40:54 -0400
  • Richard Stirba
    signed 2019-09-06 15:40:34 -0400
  • Kelly French
    signed 2019-09-06 15:31:42 -0400
  • Nathan Cobb
    signed 2019-09-06 15:30:49 -0400
  • Arthur Chambers
    signed 2019-09-06 11:07:29 -0400
  • Julia Skapik
    signed 2019-09-06 03:18:50 -0400
  • Dorothy Garcia
    signed 2019-09-03 15:59:06 -0400
    Seriously? How about putting the money back into the neighborhood instead? There’s no shortage of possible improvement plans, why would we put one penny towards another one of Dan Snyder’s ventures?
  • Joel Church
    signed 2019-09-03 15:51:53 -0400
    Joel K Church
  • Christopher McCrea
    signed via 2019-09-03 15:35:00 -0400
  • Susanna McCrea
    signed via 2019-09-02 22:50:23 -0400
  • Haley Barry
    signed via 2019-09-02 21:21:56 -0400
  • Emily Heller
    signed 2019-08-28 13:48:03 -0400
  • Meghan O’Brien
    signed 2019-07-16 15:50:16 -0400
    Meghan E O’Brien
  • Dingus Malingus
    signed 2019-05-20 09:10:38 -0400
    This idea is as stupid as my name
  • Nancy Shaffer
    signed via 2019-04-12 13:39:38 -0400
  • chapman todd
    signed 2019-04-11 09:49:32 -0400
  • John Kim
    signed 2019-04-10 10:09:12 -0400
    What a horrible project for beautiful DC
  • Abigail Hare
    signed 2019-04-04 20:14:43 -0400
  • Mandy Katz
    signed 2019-03-31 17:30:15 -0400
  • Frederick Nickens
    signed 2019-03-31 15:15:08 -0400
    Frederick L Nickens
  • Caleb Bergner
    signed via 2019-03-29 11:48:23 -0400
    No more subsidies for burdensome stadiums. The NFL and these owners obviously pursue this because it’s a great deal for them. If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t be doing it. Enough of these, not in DC!
  • Cherie Long
    signed 2019-03-29 10:19:09 -0400
  • Mary Albert
    signed via 2019-03-29 09:38:00 -0400
  • Linda Lenrow Lopez
    signed 2019-03-29 08:20:00 -0400
    Linda Lopez
  • Morris Small
    signed 2019-03-28 22:55:54 -0400