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

Neha Patel
Kristian Perry
Nicholas McDermott-Tabori
Donald Ferracci
Wensa Rodriguez
LaTonya Goodwin
Nate Handy
Collins Roth
Amber Jones
Karen Orenstein
Jean Riedlinger
Theresa Meyers
Kyle Rinne
Scott Duncan
Carol Marsh
John Manley
Carl Nash
Anthony Nigrelli
Ed Cohen
Maura Styczynski
Alexis Rieffel
denise bray
Elizabeth Jordan
Shelly
Michael Daimler
Ali Azizikia
Perry B
Stephanie Barrett
Tracy Hammond
paula cohen
4,002 SIGNATURES
4,000 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Neha Patel
    signed 2018-12-19 07:43:06 -0500
    Complete waste of space! This city deserves better!
  • Kristian Perry
    signed 2018-12-19 07:33:53 -0500
  • Nicholas McDermott-Tabori
    signed 2018-12-19 07:16:53 -0500
  • Donald Ferracci
    signed 2018-12-19 07:06:28 -0500
  • Wensa Rodriguez
    signed 2018-12-19 06:38:54 -0500
  • LaTonya Goodwin
    signed 2018-12-19 04:48:27 -0500
  • Nate Handy
    signed 2018-12-19 04:23:00 -0500
  • Collins Roth
    signed 2018-12-19 03:28:48 -0500
  • Amber Jones
    signed 2018-12-19 00:07:51 -0500
  • Karen Orenstein
    signed via 2018-12-18 23:55:12 -0500
  • Jean Riedlinger
    signed 2018-12-18 23:55:03 -0500
  • Theresa Meyers
    signed via 2018-12-18 23:18:24 -0500
  • Kyle Rinne
    signed 2018-12-18 23:15:24 -0500
  • Scott Duncan
    signed 2018-12-18 22:59:45 -0500
    A new football stadium is the exact opposite of what our community and our city needs. It is especially insane given that a perfectly good football stadium exists four metro stations away in Maryland. Any combination of residential, commercial, community services, and green space would be 100x better than a stadium and parking lots used 10x a year.
  • Carol Marsh
    signed 2018-12-18 22:57:07 -0500
  • John Manley
    signed 2018-12-18 22:48:18 -0500
  • Carl Nash
    signed via 2018-12-18 22:45:26 -0500
    It would be an abomination to build a new stadium here, particularly for that awful football team and when football is going down the drain.
  • Anthony Nigrelli
    signed 2018-12-18 22:42:36 -0500
  • Ed Cohen
    signed 2018-12-18 22:27:36 -0500
  • Maura Styczynski
    signed 2018-12-18 21:15:11 -0500
  • Alexis Rieffel
    signed 2018-12-18 21:12:13 -0500
    Spending a single dollar of taxpayer money to bring the football team with the disrespectful name back to DC would be one of the stupidest things the DC government has done since I moved here in 1973.
  • denise bray
    signed 2018-12-18 21:05:40 -0500
    hail no, no, no!!!
  • Elizabeth Jordan
    signed via 2018-12-18 20:56:20 -0500
    Elizabeth Jordan
  • Shelly
    signed 2018-12-18 20:55:14 -0500
  • Michael Daimler
    signed 2018-12-18 20:53:08 -0500
    Not my tax dollars
  • Ali Azizikia
    signed 2018-12-18 20:48:20 -0500
  • Perry B
    signed 2018-12-18 20:44:41 -0500
  • Stephanie Barrett
    signed 2018-12-18 20:37:43 -0500
  • Tracy Hammond
    signed 2018-12-18 20:07:21 -0500
  • paula cohen
    signed via 2018-12-18 20:03:18 -0500