Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium


Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the west bank of the Anacostia River and adjacent to the D.C. Armory. Opened in 1961, it was owned by the federal government until 1986.
RFK Stadium has been home to a National Football League team, two Major League Baseball teams, five professional soccer teams, two college football teams, a bowl game, and a USFL team. It has hosted five NFC Championship games, two MLB All-Star Games, men's and women's World Cup matches, nine men's and women's first-round soccer games of the 1996 Olympics, three MLS Cup matches, two MLS All-Star games, and numerous American friendlies and World Cup qualifying matches. It has hosted college football, college soccer, baseball exhibitions, boxing matches, a cycling race, a Le Mans auto race, marathons, and dozens of major concerts and other events.
RFK was one of the first major stadiums designed to host both baseball and football. Although other stadiums already served this purpose, such as Cleveland Stadium and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, RFK was one of the first to employ what became known as the circular "cookie-cutter" design.
It is owned and operated by Events DC, a quasi-public organization affiliated with the city government, under a lease that runs until 2038 from the National Park Service, which owns the land.
On September 5, 2019, the District announced plans to demolish the stadium due to maintenance costs. It is scheduled to be razed in 2021.

History

Planning

The idea of a stadium at this location originated in 1932 when the Roosevelt Memorial Association proposed a for the site and Allied Architects, a group of local architects organized in 1925 to secure large-scale projects from the government, made designs for it. A "National Stadium" in Washington was an idea that had been pursued since 1916, when Congressman George Hulbert of New York proposed the construction of a 50,000-seat stadium at East Potomac Park for the purpose of attracting the 1920 Olympics. It was thought that such a stadium could attract Davis Cup tennis matches, polo tournaments and the annual Army-Navy football game. A later effort by DC Director of Public Buildings and Parks Ulysses S. Grant III and Congressman Hamilton Fish of New York sought to turn the National Stadium into a 100,000-seat memorial to Theodore Roosevelt, suitable for hosting inaugurations, possibly on the National Mall or Theodore Roosevelt Island. This attracted the attention of the RMA, which suggested the East Capital location. This would allow the Lincoln Memorial, then under construction west of the Capitol, and the Roosevelt memorial to become bookend monuments to the two great Republican presidents. The effort lost steam when Congress chose not to fund the stadium in time to move the 1932 Olympics from Los Angeles.
The idea of a stadium gained support in 1938, when Senator Robert Reynolds of North Carolina pushed for the creation of a municipal outdoor stadium within the District, citing the "fact that America is the only major country not possessing a stadium with facilities to accommodate the Olympic Games". The following year a model of the proposed stadium, to be located near the current site of RFK Stadium, was presented to the public. By 1941, the National Capital Planning Commission had begun buying property for a stadium, purchasing the land between East Capitol, C, 19th and 21st NE. A few years later, on December 20, 1944, Congress created a nine-man National Memorial Stadium Commission to study the idea. They intended the stadium to be a memorial to the veterans of the World Wars. The commission wrote a report recommending that a 100,000-seat stadium be built near the site of RFK in time for the 1948 Olympics, but it failed to get funding.
Ignored in the early 1950s, a new stadium again drew interest in 1954. Congressman Charles R. Howell of New Jersey proposed legislation to build a stadium, again with hopes of attracting the Olympics. He pushed for a report, completed in 1956 by the National Capital Planning Commission entitled "Preliminary Report on Sites for National Memorial Stadium", which identified the "East Capitol Site" to be used for the stadium. In September 1957, "The District of Columbia Stadium Act" was introduced and authorized a 50,000-seat stadium to be used by the Senators and Redskins at the Armory site. It was signed into law by President Eisenhower on July 29, 1958, with an estimated cost of $7.5 to $8.6 million. The lease for the stadium was signed by the D.C. Armory Board and the Department of the Interior on December 12, 1958. The stadium, the first major multisport facility built for both football and baseball, was designed by George Dahl, Ewin Engineering Associates and Osborn Engineering. Groundbreaking for the venue was in 1960 on July 8, and construction proceeded over the following 14 months. The existing venue for baseball in Washington was Griffith Stadium, about northwest.
While Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall was pleased with the stadium, Senators' owner Calvin Griffith was not. It wasn't where he wanted it to be and he'd have to pay rent and let others run the parking and concessions. The Senators' attendance figures had suffered after the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 and Griffith preferred the demographics and profit potential of the Minnesota market. In 1960, when Major League Baseball granted the city of Minneapolis an expansion team, Griffith proposed that he be allowed to move his team to Minneapolis-Saint Paul and give the expansion team to Washington. Upon league approval, the team moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and Washington fielded a "new Senators" team, entering the junior circuit in with the Los Angeles Angels.

Opening

The stadium opened in autumn 1961 as District of Columbia Stadium ; its first official event was an NFL regular season game on October 1, ten days after the final MLB baseball game at Griffith Stadium. The new venue opened for football even though construction wasn't completed until the following spring. The Redskins lost that game to the New York Giants before 36,767 fans, including President John F. Kennedy. This was slightly more than the attendance record at Griffith Stadium. At a college football game labeled the "Dedication Game", the stadium was dedicated on October 7. George Washington became the first home team to win at the stadium with a defeat of VMI. Its first sell-out came on November 23, 1961, for the first of the annual Thanksgiving Day high school football games between the public school champion, Eastern, and the Catholic school champion, St. John's, which was won by St. John's,
The first major league baseball game was on April 9, 1962. President Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of 44,383 fans who watched the Senators defeat the Detroit Tigers and shortstop Bob Johnson hit the first The previous baseball attendance record was 38,701 at Griffith Stadium on October 11, 1925, at the fourth game of the World Series. The attendance figure was the largest ever for a professional sports event in Washington. The previous largest opening day figure was 31,728.
When it opened, D.C. Stadium hosted the Redskins, Senators, and the GWU Colonial football team, all of whom had previously used Griffith Stadium. The Colonials disbanded their football team after the 1966 season, and the Senators left in the fall of 1971 for and became the Texas Rangers in Arlington in 1972.

Early years

In 1961, Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall refused to integrate his team, but President Kennedy forced his hand by refusing to allow the team to play in the stadium, which was on Federal land, unless he desegregated the organization. In 1962, Marshall relented and drafted a black player, Ernie Davis. Davis was traded, but Marshall eventually hired 5 African-American players for the Redskins 1962 roster, and became the last NFL owner to integrate.
From 1961 to 1963, D.C. Stadium hosted the annual City Title game, matching the D.C. public school champion and the winner of the area's premier Catholic league, played before capacity crowds on Thanksgiving Day. The 1963 game between St. John's, a predominantly white school in Northwest D.C., and Eastern, a majority-black school just blocks from the stadium, ended in a racially motivated riot, only three days after the funeral of President Kennedy. The City Title game for 1964 was canceled and never played again.
In 1964, the stadium emerged as an element in the Bobby Baker bribery scandal. Don B. Reynolds, a Maryland insurance businessman, made a statement in August 1964 which he claimed that Matthew McCloskey, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and Kennedy's ambassador to Ireland, paid a $25,000 kickback through Reynolds and at the instruction of Baker to the Kennedy-Johnson campaign as payback for the stadium construction contract. Baker later went to jail for tax fraud, and the FBI investigated the awarding of the stadium contract, although McCloskey was never charged.

Renaming the stadium

The stadium was renamed in January 1969 for U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in Los Angeles seven months earlier. The announcement was made by Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall on January 18, in the last days of the Johnson Administration. The dedication ceremony at the stadium was held several months later on June 7.

Senators depart

The Senators' final game was at RFK on Thursday night, September 30, 1971, with less than 15,000 in attendance. Rains from Hurricane Ginger threatened the event, but the game proceeded. Fan favorite Frank "Hondo" Howard hit a home run in the sixth inning to spark a four-run rally to tie the game; the Senators scored two more in the eighth to go up but the game was forfeited to the Yankees after unruly fans stormed the field with two outs in the top of the ninth. Subsequent efforts to bring baseball back to RFK, including an attempt to attract the San Diego Padres in, and a plan to have the nearby Baltimore Orioles play eleven home games there in 1976, all failed. The former was derailed by lease issues with the city in San Diego, and the latter was shot down by commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who wanted to bring one of four expansion teams instead. The expansion for was later reduced to two teams, Toronto and Seattle, and the next wasn't until.
In the mid-1990s RFK was planned to be the home of the yet-to-be-named Washington team, a charter franchise of the United League which was planned to be a third league of Major League Baseball.
For much of the 1970s and 1980s, RFK was primarily known as the home of the Redskins, where they played during their three Super Bowl championship seasons. It also hosted several short-lived professional soccer teams and in 1983–1984 the Washington Federals of the USFL. In 1980, it hosted the Soccer Bowl, the championship game of the NASL.

D.C. United moves in, Redskins move out, Nationals come and go

Major changes to the stadium came in 1996. Following the success of hosting matches in the 1994 World Cup and 1996 Summer Olympics, RFK became home to one of the charter teams of the new Major League Soccer. On April 20, 1996, it played host to the first home match of D.C. United, a 2–1 loss to the LA Galaxy.
However, later that year the stadium hosted the Redskins' final home game in Washington, DC. After nearly a decade of negotiating for a new stadium with Mayors Sharon Pratt Kelly and Marion Barry, abandoning them in 1992 and 1993 in search of a suburban site and then having a 1994 agreement collapse in the face of neighborhood complaints, environmental concerns and a dispute in Congress, Jack Kent Cooke decided to move his team to Maryland. On December 22, 1996, the Redskins won their last game at RFK Stadium 37–10 over the Dallas Cowboys, reprising their first win there in 1961, before 65,454, the largest football crowd in stadium history. The Redskins then moved east to FedExField in 1997, leaving D.C. United as the stadium's only major tenant for much of the next decade, though from 2001 to 2003 they were joined by the Washington Freedom of the short-lived Women's United Soccer Association.
After hosting 16 exhibition games after the Senators' departure, baseball returned to RFK temporarily in 2005. That year the National League's newly renamed Washington Nationals made it their home while a new permanent home, Nationals Park, was constructed. On April 14, 2005, before a crowd of 45,496 including President Bush and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5–3 victory in their first game at RFK. President George W. Bush, formerly a part-owner of the Texas Rangers, threw out the first pitch becoming the last president, and the first since Richard Nixon, to do so in RFK Stadium. The last MLB game at RFK, a 5–3 Nationals win over the Phillies, was played on September 23, 2007, and in 2008 the Nationals moved to their new stadium.

The last team leaves

In 2008, RFK was once again primarily the host of D.C. United, though it also hosted a college football bowl game, the Military Bowl, from 2008 to 2012, before it moved in 2013 to in Annapolis, Maryland. On July 25, 2013, the District of Columbia and D.C. United announced a tentative deal to build a $300 million, 20,000–25,000 seat stadium at Buzzard Point. Groundbreaking on the new soccer stadium, Audi Field, occurred in February 2017 and on October 22, 2017 RFK hosted its last MLS match, a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. One of the last events at RFK Memorial Stadium was to be a Garth Brooks concert in 2019, but it never was announced.

Demolition plans announced

On September 5, 2019, Events DC announced plans to demolish the stadium by 2021. Officials said the decision would save $2 million a year on maintenance and $1.5 million a year on utilities.

Name

The stadium opened in October 1961 named the District of Columbia Stadium, but the media quickly shortened that to D.C. Stadium and sometimes, in the early days, as "Washington Stadium". On January 18, 1969, in the last days of the Johnson Administration, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall announced that the stadium would be renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, in Kennedy's honor. The official renaming ceremony was held but by then many had already been referring to it as "RFK Stadium" or simply "RFK". Coincidentally, following the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Armory Board had directed that the stadium be renamed for him, but the plan faltered when a few weeks later the Philadelphia city council passed a bill renaming Philadelphia Stadium as "John F. Kennedy Stadium".
Robert Kennedy was not without connection to the stadium; as attorney general in the early 1960s, his Justice Department played a role in the Redskins' racial integration. Along with Udall, Kennedy threatened to revoke the team's lease at the federally owned stadium until it promised to sign African American players. His brother John attended the first event there and threw out the first pitch. In 2008, a nearby bridge was renamed for Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's wife.
On April 14, 2005, just before the Nationals' home opener, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission announced an agreement with the Department of Defense under which the military would pay the city about $6 million for naming rights and the right to place recruiting kiosks and signage in the stadium. In return, the stadium would be dubbed "Armed Forces Field at RFK Stadium". This plan was dropped within days, however, after several prominent members of Congress questioned the use of public funds for a stadium sponsorship.
Similar proposals to sell the naming rights to the National Guard, ProFunds, and Sony were formed and discarded in 2005 and 2006.

Tenants

Redskins (1961–1996)

RFK Stadium was home to the Redskins for 36 seasons, from 1961 through 1996. The football field was aligned northwest to southeast, along the first baseline.
The Redskins' first game in D.C. Stadium was its first event, a 24–21 loss to the New York Giants on October 1, 1961. The first win in the stadium came at the end of the season on December 17, over its future archrival, the struggling second-year Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins played 266 regular-season games at RFK, compiling a record, including an impressive record in the playoffs.
In its twelfth season, RFK hosted its first professional football playoff game on Christmas Eve 1972, a 16–3 Redskins' win over the Green Bay Packers. It was the city's first postseason game in three decades, following the NFL championship game victory in 1942. The stadium hosted the NFC Championship Game five times, 2nd only to Candlestick Park, and the Redskins won them all. They are the only team to win five NFC titles at the same stadium. In the subsequent Super Bowls, Washington won three.
The Redskins' last game at the stadium was a victory, as 56,454 saw a win over the division champion Cowboys on December 22, 1996. Perhaps fittingly, Pat Summerall, who scored the first extra point and field goal in the first football game at the stadium, also was the TV announcer for the final game.

D.C. United (1996–2017)

of Major League Soccer played over 400 matches at RFK Stadium from the team's debut in 1996 until 2017, when they moved to a new stadium. During that time, RFK hosted three MLS Cup finals, including the 1997 match won by D.C. United. At RFK, they compiled a record, winning more games at RFK than any team other than the Senators.
With its new stadium, Audi Field, set to open on July 14, 2018, D.C. United played its final game at RFK on October 22, 2017, completing 22 seasons at the stadium, during which the team won four league titles. At the time, RFK Stadium was the longest-used stadium in MLS and the only one left from the league's debut season. When they shared the stadium with the Nationals from 2005 to 2007, the playing surface drew criticism along with the dimensions of the field that resulted from baseball use. D.C. United's departure left RFK with no professional sports tenant, however after moving to Audi Field, D.C. United continued to use the outer practice fields at RFK for training and leased locker room and basement space there.

Senators (1962–1971)

The expansion Washington Senators of the American League played at RFK Stadium from 1962 through 1971. They played their first season in 1961 at Griffith Stadium.
In its ten seasons as the Senators' home field, RFK Stadium was known as a hitters' park, aided by the stagnant heat of Washington summers. Slugger Frank Howard,, hit a number of tape-measure home runs, few of which landed in the center field area of the upper deck. The seats he hit with his home runs are painted white, rather than the gold of the rest of the upper deck. Howard came to the Senators from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1965. He hit the Senators′ final RFK homer, in the sixth inning on September 30, 1971. With two outs in the top of the ninth, a fan riot turned a 7–5 Senators lead over the New York Yankees into a 9–0 forfeit loss, the first in the majors in 17 years.
These Senators' only winning season came in 1969 at ; they never made the postseason. They had a home record at RFK of representing the most games, wins, and losses by any team at RFK in any sport. The stadium hosted the All-Star Game twice, in 1962 and 1969, both won by the visiting National League. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all attended games there. President Johnson was scheduled to throw out the first pitch in 1968, but the opening game was delayed following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., so Vice President Hubert Humphrey got the privilege. President Nixon was to throw out the first ball at the 1969 game to celebrate baseball's centennial, but it was postponed due to rain and so Nixon chose instead to greet the Apollo 11 astronauts. Vice President Spiro Agnew filled in.

Diplomats (1974–1981, 1988–1990)

Between 1974 and 1990, three soccer teams played at RFK under the name Washington Diplomats. In 1974, two Maryland businessmen purchased the rights to the Baltimore Bays of the semi-professional American Soccer League, moved the team to the District and renamed it the Washington Diplomats. They signed a lease calculating that an average of 12,000 spectators would allow them to break even. Despite white flight, owners thought that recent completion of the Beltway, the stadium's 12,000 parking spaces and future completion of a Metro station would facilitate attendance. Games were scheduled for Saturday and prices were set low. The Diplomats inaugural game was on May 4 with an attendance of 10,175; Mayor Walter Washington ceremonially kicked off the game, but the Dips lost 5–1 to the defending NASL champion Philadelphia Atoms. Attendance dropped throughout the season.
In 1975, the Diplomats were informed that the recently installed natural turf at RFK would not be ready for opening day, so they scheduled their first two home games that season for W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia. After the games attracted more than 10,000 fans each, the Diplomats moved most of their home games to Woodson, but then moved the last five back to RFK once soccer superstar Pelé was added to the roster of the New York Cosmos. Pelé was so popular that the 1975 Cosmos-Diplomats match broke the NASL attendance record at 35,620. Even with the success of the Cosmos game, attendance declined again and before the 1976 season the Diplomats announced that they had scheduled every home game, except the one against the Cosmos, at Woodson. During the season, they moved that game to Woodson.
After averaging 5,963 at Woodson, the Diplomats decided to ramp up their marketing and move back to RFK in 1977. The team changed everything from the uniforms to the cheerleaders, but the team's disappointing on-the-field performance hurt attendance. In 1978, attendance continued to fall, even though the Dips made the playoffs. Success on the field during the 1978 and 1979 seasons did not translate to ticket a sales and even with a negligible amount of revenue from "indoor Dips" games at the D.C. Armory during the offseason, the franchise continued to lose money.
In 1980, they signed Dutch international superstar Johan Cruyff, the Pelé of the Potomac, from the Los Angeles Aztecs. Needing 20,000 fans per game to break even, they managed to attract 24,000 for the opener and a District record 53,351 for the game against the Pelé-less Cosmos, but the team failed to break-even financially. After racking up debts of $5 million, the first incarnation of the Dips folded.
Three months later, the Detroit Express announced a move to D.C. for 1981, and that they would also be the Diplomats. They had trouble attracting fans; and soon folded.
The Diplomats of the NASL, racked up an impressive record at RFK, the best winning percentage of any RFK home team, and were in the playoffs.
In 1987, a new soccer team also called the Washington Diplomats, was formed. They played at RFK, and sometimes at the RFK auxiliary field, for three seasons as part of the ASL and then the APSL. They won the ASL Championship in 1988 but often drew fewer than 1000 fans. In 1990 they finished last in the Southern Division of the APSL East, were unable to pay the rent and folded in October 1990. Over the course of 4 seasons they were at RFK, and 2-0 at the RFK auxiliary field.

George Washington Colonials (1961–1966)

The other team to move from Griffith to D.C. Stadium was the George Washington University Colonials college football team. The stadium was dedicated during the October 7, 1961 game against VMI, the first college football game there, which GWU won 30-6. The Colonials were forced to play their first three games on the road to allow the stadium to be completed. In the following years, because the Senators had priority, GWU waited until October to schedule games. From 1961 to 1964 they played road games in September, and in 1965 and 1966 they played at high school stadiums in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia.
The Colonials had no real success at D.C. Stadium. GWU was during its D.C. Stadium years and never posted a winning record. The Colonials weren't much better at D.C. Stadium where their record was, facing off against Army twice and against a Liberty Bowl-bound West Virginia in 1964. Perhaps their biggest win was the 1964 upset of Villanova, which came to Washington with a 6–1 record. Sophomore quarterback Garry Lyle, the school's last NFL draftee, led the Colonials to a
The final George Washington football game to date, and the last at D.C. Stadium, came on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1966, when the team lost to, 16–7.
After the season was over, GW President Dr. Lloyd H. Elliott chose to reevaluate GW's football program. On December 19, 1966, head coach Jim Camp, conference coach of the year, resigned citing the uncertainty. The next day, a member of the Board of Trustees announced that the school would drop football. On January 19, 1967, the decision became official. GW decided to use the football program's funding to eventually build the Charles E. Smith Center for the basketball team. Poor game attendance and the expense, estimated at $254,000 during the 1966 season, contributed to the decision. Former GW player Harry Ledford believed that most people were unwilling to drive on Friday nights to D.C. Stadium, which was perceived as an unsafe area and lacked rail transit. Maryland and Virginia were nationally competitive teams that drew potential suburban spectators away from GW.

Nationals (2005–2007)

After playing as the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 2004, the Expos franchise moved to Washington, D.C., to become the Washington Nationals for the 2005 season. The Nationals played their first three seasons at RFK, then moved to Nationals Park in 2008. While the Nationals played at RFK, it was the fourth-oldest active stadium in the majors, behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium.
During the Nationals′ three seasons there, RFK then became known as a pitchers' park. While Frank Howard hit at least 44 home runs for three straight seasons at RFK for the second Washington Senators franchise from 1968 through 1970, the 2005 Nationals had only one-hitter with more than 15 home runs, José Guillén with 24. However, in his lone season with the team in 2006, Alfonso Soriano hit 46 home runs.
During their three seasons at RFK, the Nationals failed to make the playoffs or post a winning record. They went 41-40 at home in 2005 and 2006 and 40-41 in 2007 to finish with a record at RFK.

Howard Bison (1970–2016)

No team has a long history with RFK Stadium than the Howard Bison football team, who played there 42 times over nearly 46 years. Between their first game in 1970 and last, in 2016, they earned a record, winning more games at RFK than any other college football program.
Looking to play on a bigger stage than Howard Stadium, they began scheduling games at RFK. Howard's first RFK game was a 24–7 victory over Fisk on October 24, 1970. From 1974 to 1976, Howard played all but one of their home games at RFK and in 1977 they played half their home games there. After the 1977 season they returned to Howard Stadium, but continued to play their annual homecoming game at RFK through 1985. After the 1985 season, Howard Stadium was refurbished and renamed, and for the next 7 years, Howard played all of their home games there.
In 1992 they returned to RFK for a game against Bowie State that was marked by taunting and a game-ending scuffle. From 1993 to 1999 Howard played at least one game a year at RFK including the Greater Washington Urban League Classic, at one point called the Hampton-Howard Classic, against Hampton from 1994 to 1999. In 2000 that game moved to Giants Stadium and Howard spent more than a decade away from RFK.
Starting in 2011 and through the 2016 season, Howard played in the Nation's Football Classic at RFK, matching up against Morehouse at first and then Hampton again. In 2017, Events DC announced that they would discontinue the Classic and thus the last Bison game at RFK Stadium was a 34–7 loss to Hampton on September 16, 2016.

Freedom (2001–2003)

For three seasons, RFK was home to the Women's United Soccer Association Washington team, the Washington Freedom. On April 14, 2001, the Freedom defeated the Bay Area CyberRays 1–0 in WUSA's inaugural match before 34,198 fans, the largest crowd in WUSA history and the largest crowd to watch a women's professional sports event in DC history. Over three years, the Freedom racked up a 15–9–6 record at RFK and finished as one of the league's top teams. They came in 2nd in 2002 and won the league's Founder's Cup in 2003. They played all of their home games at RFK, except for one in 2001 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis to avoid the Washington Grand Prix. Their last game at RFK as part of WUSA was on August 2, 2003, when they defeated the San Jose Cyber Rays. They won the final Founder's Cup in August 2003 and returned to RFK a few days later - minus the players who were playing in the 2003 Women's World Cup - for a victory celebration with the fans, which would be their final WUSA event at RFK. WUSA suspended operation the next month. Their victory in the Founders Cup means that the Freedom won both the first and last games in WUSA history. For a time, their championship banner hung in RFK, but when the Nationals moved in, the banner was moved to the Maryland Soccerplex.
The Freedom continued, first as an exhibition team called the Washington Freedom Soccer Club, and then as a member of the W-League and the Women's Professional Soccer league in 2006. Their home stadium was the Maryland Soccerplex, but they continued to play a few games at RFK. In 2004 they played an exhibition against Nottingham Forest, which they won 8–0. They returned on June 22, 2008, in a W-League match, which they won 5–0, against the Richmond Kickers Destiny that was part of a doubleheader with DC United. In 2009, the Freedom moved to the WPS and while they continued to play most of their home games in Maryland, they played 3 of 10 home games at RFK in 2009 and one game there in 2010. In the years after WUSA suspended operations, the Freedom went 5–0–1 at RFK, bringing their combined RFK total to. After the 2010 season, the Freedom's owners had had enough and sold the team to Dan Borislow, owner of the phone service MagicJack. He moved them to Boca Raton, Florida for the team's last season. The Freedom's final game at RFK was a 3–1 victory over Saint Louis Athletica on May 1, 2010.

Whips (1967–68)

In 1967, D.C. Stadium became the home of its first professional soccer team, the Washington Whips. They played 23 regular-season games at D.C. Stadium over 16 months, putting together a home record as well as losing an exhibition against Pelé and his standout Brazilian club Santos FC, for a total RFK record of. 20,189 fans attended the Santos exhibition, more than three times as large as a typical Whips match, making it the most heavily attended soccer game in DC history at the time. The game was heavily promoted in the local press and the Whips, who were struggling to attract fans to their regular matches, provided additional incentive through a "Meet Pelé" contest.
RFK served as the venue for the inaugural match of the United Soccer Association, a May 26, 1967 match between the Whips and the Cleveland Stokers, won by the Stokers.
In their first season, the Whips were one of the league's top teams and they were staffed by the Aberdeen Football Club of the Scottish Football League or the Aberdeen Dons. They finished 5–2–5, good enough to win the Eastern Division and play for the USA Championship against the Los Angeles Wolves.
The owners estimated that they needed to attract 16,000 fans per game, but they never broke 10,000 and averaged only 6,200. Towards the end of the 1967 season, the Whips resorted to organizing British Isles sporting contests such as cricket, hurling, and rugby before games in hopes of luring expatriates.
In 1968, to stay viable, they negotiated a reduction in the lease payment and reduced admission prices by one-third; among other discounts. The USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the new North American Soccer League. Despite problems on and off the field, the team found itself in a battle for a playoff spot and towards the end of the season crowds swelled to as much as 14,227 in what proved to be the deciding match for the NASL Atlantic Division title. This September 7, 1968 match against the Atlanta Chiefs was the last for the Whips at D.C. Stadium. That season, the team went 15–10–7 drawing an average of 6,586 fans. After a tour of Europe, the Whips folded in October 1968.

Federals (1983–1984)

Washington's only USFL team, the Washington Federals, played two seasons at RFK and during that time, they had the league's worst record each season, and, in 1984, the lowest per-game attendance. For the opening game, 38,000 fans showed up to see the return of former Redskins coach George Allen, the coach of the Chicago Blitz, in a game, the Federals lost, 28–7. But attendance quickly dropped off, with as few as 7,303 showing up for a late-season game against the Boston Breakers. The team went 4–14 in 1983 and 3–15 in 1984, averaging 7,700 fans.
With six games remaining in the 1984 season, owner Berl Bernhard sold the team to Florida real estate developer Woody Weiser. In the off-season, that deal fell through. Donald Dizney bought the team, moved it to Orlando and renamed it the Renegades.
After going overall, and at RFK, the Federals ended their run with a 20–17 win over the New Orleans Breakers on June 24, 1984.

Team America (1983)

was a professional version of the United States men's national soccer team which played like a franchise in the North American Soccer League during the 1983 season. The team played its home games at RFK Stadium and was intended by the NASL and the United States Soccer Federation to build fan support for the league and create a cohesive and internationally competitive national team. However, the team finished in the last place drawing 12,000 fans per game.
Team America played 19 games at RFK. In those games they went 5–10 in NASL matches and tied three friendlies against Watford F.C., FC Dinamo Minsk, and Juventus F.C. for a final record of.
The team's attendance averaged 19,952 through the first seven home matches. including the 50,108 who attended a match vs. Fort Lauderdale that featured a free Beach Boys concert. Losses led to declining attendance as the season wore on. Attendance averaged 13,002 for the entire 1983 season, having played only a single season.

Design

The stadium's design was circular, attempting to facilitate both football and baseball. It was the first to use the so-called "cookie-cutter" concept, an approach also used in Philadelphia, New York, Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, San Diego, Cincinnati, Oakland, and Pittsburgh.
While the perimeter of the stadium is circular, the front edge of the upper and lower decks form a "V" shape in deference to the baseball configuration. The rows of seating in the upper and lower decks follow the "V" layout, and the discrepancy between the shapes of the inner and outer rings permits more rows of seats to be inserted along the foul lines than at home plate and in the outfield. As a result, the height of the outside wall rises and falls in waves, and this is echoed in the roof, resulting in a "butterfly" appearance when seen at ground level from the west. This feature is unique among the circular stadiums of the 1960s.
In 1961, the stadium represented a new level of luxury. It offered 50,000 seats, each wide, air-conditioned locker rooms and a lounge for player's wives. It had a machine-operated tarpaulin to cover the field, yard-wide aisles, and ramps that made it possible to empty the stadium in just 15 minutes. The ticket office was connected to the ticket windows by pneumatic tubes. The press boxes could be enclosed and expanded for big events. The stadium had a holding cell for drunks and brawlers. It had 12,000 parking spaces and was served by 300 buses. It had lighting that was twice as bright as Griffith Stadium.
It was not ideal for either sport, due to the different geometries of the playing fields. As the playing field dimensions for football and baseball vary greatly, seating had to accommodate the larger playing surface. This would prove to be the case at nearly every multi-purpose/cookie-cutter stadium.
As a baseball park, RFK was a target of scorn from baseball purists, largely because it was one of the few stadiums with no lower-deck seats in the outfield. The only outfield seats were in the upper deck, above a high wall. According to Sporting News publications in the 1960s, over 27,000 seats—roughly 60% of the listed capacity of 45,000 for baseball—were in the upper tier or mezzanine levels. The lower-to-upper proportion improved for the Redskins with end-zone seats. The first ten rows of the football configuration were nearly at the field level, making it difficult to see over the players. The baseball diamond was aligned due east, and the football field ran along the first baseline.
A complex conversion was necessary, at a cost of $40,000 each time, to change the stadium from a football configuration to baseball and back again; in its final form, this included rolling the third-base lower-level seats into the outfield along a buried rail, dropping the hydraulic pitcher's mound into the ground, and laying sod over the infield dirt. Later facilities were designed so the seating configuration could be changed more quickly and at a lower cost. The conversion was required several times per year during the Senators' joint tenancy with the Redskins but became much more frequent during the Nationals/D.C. United era; in 2005, the conversion was made over twenty times.
Originally the seats located behind the stadium's third-base dugout were removed for baseball games and put back in place when the stadium was converted to the football configuration. When these sections were in place, RFK seated approximately 56,000. With the Nationals' arrival in 2005, this particular segment of the stands was permanently removed to facilitate the switch between the baseball and soccer configurations. These seats were not restored following the Nationals' move to Nationals Park, leaving the stadium's seating capacity at approximately 46,000. The majority of the upper-deck seats normally were not made available for D.C. United matches, so the stadium's reduced capacity normally was not problematic for the club.
During the years when the stadium was without baseball, the rotating seats remained in the football configuration. If an exhibition baseball game was scheduled, the left-field wall was only from home plate, and a large screen was erected in left field for some games.
,
RFK Stadium in background
Some of RFK's quirks endear the venue to fans and players. The large rolling bleacher section is less stable than other seating, allowing fans to jump in rhythm to cause the whole area to bounce. Also, despite its small size, because of the stadium's design and the proximity of the fans to the field when configured for football, the stadium was extremely loud when the usual sell-out Redskins crowds became vocal. Legend has it that Redskins head coach George Allen would order a large rolling door in the side of the stadium to be opened when visiting teams were attempting field goals at critical moments in games so that a swirling wind from off the Potomac and Anacostia rivers might interfere with the flight of the kicked ball.
Since the stadium is on a direct sightline with the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, light towers were not allowed; instead, arc lights were placed on its curved, dipping roof.
Events D.C.—the city agency which operates RFK Stadium—began a strategic planning process in November 2013 to study options for the future of the stadium, its campus and the nonmilitary portions of the adjacent D.C. Armory. Events D.C. said one option to be studied was demolition within a decade, while another would be the status quo. The strategic planning process also included the design and development of options. The agency said that RFK Stadium has generated $4 million to $5 million a year in revenues since 1997, which did not cover operating expenses. In August 2014, Events D.C. chose the consulting firm of Brailsford & Dunlavey to create the master plan.

Seating capacity

YearsCapacity
1962–197043,500
1971–200445,016
2005–200745,596

YearsCapacity
1961–196449,219
1965–196950,000
197050,415
197153,041
197253,039
197354,381
197454,395
1975–197655,004
1977–197955,031
1980–198355,045
198455,431
1985–199155,750
1992–200456,454

YearsCapacity
2005–201746,000

Dimensions

The dimensions of the baseball field were down the foul lines, to the power alleys and to center field during the Senators' time. The official distances when the Nationals arrived were identical, except for two additional feet to center field. After complaints from Nationals hitters it was discovered in July 2005 that the fence had actually been put in place incorrectly, and it was to the power alleys in left; to the right-field power alley; and to center field. The section of wall containing the sign was moved closer to the foul lines to more accurately represent the distance shown on the signs but no changes were made to the actual dimensions.
The approximate elevation of the playing field is above sea level.

Sports events

Baseball

Two major league teams called RFK home, the Senators and the Nationals. In between, the stadium hosted an assortment of exhibition games, old-timer games, and at least one college baseball exhibition game. In addition, from 1988 to 1991 the RFK auxiliary field served as the home stadium of the George Washington Colonials college baseball team, and hosted some Howard University and Interhigh League and D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championship baseball games.
RFK was the home of two professional football teams, two college football teams, a bowl game and more than one college all-star game. It hosted neutral-site college football games, various HBCU games, and high school regular season and championship games.

Professional football

RFK has occasionally hosted high school football games, but never has done so regularly. On August 14, 2018, DC Events announced the DC Events Kickoff Classic, a football tripleheader featuring six Washington, D.C., high schools, with games between Dunbar and Maret, Archbishop Carroll and Woodrow Wilson, and Friendship Collegiate Academy and H. D. Woodson. The first Classic was held on September 15, 2018, and the second, only a double-header, was the following year.

Soccer

Although not designed for soccer, RFK Stadium, starting in the mid-1970s, became a center of American soccer, rivaled only by the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, in terms of its history as a soccer venue. It is the only facility in the world to have hosted the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Women's World Cup, Olympic group stages for men and women, the MLS Cup, the North American Soccer League's Soccer Bowl and CONCACAF Champions' Cup matches. The United States men's national soccer team played more of its matches at RFK stadium than at any other site, and D.C. United played 347 regular-season matches there.
In addition to being the home stadium of DC United, the Diplomats, the Freedom, the Whips and Team America, RFK also hosted three friendly Washington Darts games in 1970.
Notable soccer dates at the stadium include:
RFK hosted at least two college soccer games, once when Maryland moved their game there due to wet field conditions at Ludwig Field and again for a scheduled game following their national championship season. It has hosted several other Maryland games at the auxiliary field.
The United States men's national soccer team has played more games at RFK Stadium than any other stadium. At times it was suggested that due to the nature of RFK and its quirkiness that it would be a suitable national stadium if US Soccer were ever to seek one out. Several prominent members of the national team have scored at RFK, including Brian McBride, Cobi Jones, Eric Wynalda, Joe-Max Moore, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Landon Donovan. Winners are listed first.
DateCompetitionTeamScoreTeamAttendance
October 6, 1977Friendly1–1Unknown
May 12, 1990Friendly AFC Ajax18,245
October 19, 1991Friendly'2–116,351
May 30, 19921992 U.S. Cup'3–135,696
October 13, 1993Friendly1–123,927
June 18, 19951995 U.S. Cup'4–038,615
October 8, 1995Friendly'4–310,216
June 12, 19961996 U.S. Cup'2–019,350
November 3, 19961998 FIFA World Cup qualification '2–030,082
October 3, 19971998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1–151,528
May 30, 1998Friendly0–046,037
June 13, 1999Friendly'1–040,119
June 3, 20002000 U.S. Cup'4–016,570
September 3, 20002002 FIFA World Cup qualification '1–051,556
September 1, 20012002 FIFA World Cup qualification '3–254,282
May 12, 2002Friendly'2–130,413
November 17, 2002Friendly'2–025,390
October 13, 20042006 FIFA World Cup qualification '6–022,000
October 11, 20082010 FIFA World Cup qualification '6–120,249
July 8, 20092009 CONCACAF Gold Cup'2–126,079
October 14, 20092010 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–236,243
June 19, 20112011 CONCACAF Gold Cup'2–045,424
June 2, 2013US Soccer Centennial Match'4–347,359
September 4, 2015Friendly'2–128,896
October 11, 2016Friendly1–19,012

1994 FIFA World Cup matches

1996 Summer Olympics

Boxing

Late on May 22, 1993, 9,000 saw Riddick Bowe record a second-round knockout over Jesse Ferguson to retain his WBA heavyweight On the same day Roy Jones recorded a unanimous decision over Bernard Hopkins to capture the vacant IBF middleweight title.

Motor sports

On July 21, 2002, the Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., was run over a temporary circuit laid out in the RFK stadium parking lot. The 140-lap race was the American Le Mans Series' first event in the District of Columbia, and the city's first major motor sports event in 80 years.
Before the race, residents living near the stadium expressed concerns about traffic, parking, and the noise the lengthy event would create. Two months before the race, the Washington Post reported that District officials had ignored laws and regulations requiring an environmental impact assessment for the race, and that Le Mans officials had lied to the city about noise levels. After the race, American Le Mans officials reneged on a promise to remove the Jersey barriers outlining the racecourse, leaving the unsightly structures in the parking lots for removal at the city's expense. When the American Le Mans organization tried to hold a second race at RFK in 2003, outraged residents forced D.C. officials to cancel the city's 10-year lease with the company. No more races were ever held.
The venue saw a return to racing in 2014 with the Global Rallycross Championship. Much like most of the circuits for GRC at the time, the track was a temporary circuit laid out across the stadium's parking lot. Patrik Sandell won the first race, and the event returned for 2 more years.

Cycling

The final stage of the 1992 Tour DuPont was a time trial from RFK to Rock Creek Park and back. Greg LeMond came in third for the stage and won the Tour, the last major win of his career. He won $50,000 and a kiss from Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly. Steve Hegg won the stage.

Rugby

Rugby union

On 26 February 2018, it was announced that Wales national rugby union team would play a "ground-breaking fixture " against South Africa national rugby union team at RFK Stadium on 2 June 2018. It was "Wales' fifth test on US soil, the previous four outings all against the United States national rugby union team. " Wales ran out winners 22–20 in front of a crowd of 21,357.
DateWinnerScoreOpponentCompetitionAttendance
2 June 201822-202018 Wales Americas tour21,357

Rugby league

Concerts

The Grateful Dead performed here on 6/9/73, 6/10/73, 7/6/86, 7/7/86, 7/12/89, 7/13/89, 7/12/90, 6/14/91, 6/20/92, 6/25/93, 6/26/93, 7/16/94, 7/17/94, 6/24/95, and 6/25/95.
Michael Jackson and The Jacksons performed here in May 1974 and September 1984.
The Beatles performed a concert here in August 1966.
Pink Floyd performed a concert here on June 1, 1988, as part of their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour and two concerts on July 9 and 10, 1994, as part of their The Division Bell Tour.
From 1993 to 1999 and from 2001 to 2004, rock radio station WHFS held its annual HFStival rock concert at RFK Stadium.
On July 4, 2015, the Foo Fighters held their 20th-anniversary concert at RFK Stadium.

Other events

The stadium was featured in the climax of the 2014 film . In the film, the stadium is damaged when Magneto uses his powers to place it as a barricade around the White House. At the end of the film, a newspaper article announces the stadium is to begin reconstruction.

Washington Hall of Stars

During the Redskins' tenure, the Washington Hall of Stars was displayed on a series of white-and-red signs hung in a ring around the stadium's mezzanine, honoring D.C. sports greats from various sports. With the reconfiguration of the stadium, it was replaced by a series of dark-green banners over the center-field and right-field fences in order to make room for out-of-town scoreboards and advertising signage. There are 15 separate panels honoring 82 figures. Nationals Park also hosts a smaller version of the display.
To the right of Panel 15 were four banners honoring D.C. United's MLS Cup wins: 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004. To the right of these banners was D.C. United's "Tradition of Excellence" banner, which honors John Harkes and Marco Etcheverry. To the left of those banners were four banners honoring D.C. United's MLS Supporters Shield wins: 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007. Those moved to Audi Field with D.C. United.

Public transportation

RFK Stadium sits from the Stadium-Armory station of the Washington Metro. The station is served by the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines. It is also served directly by Metrobus lines B2, D6, 96 and 97.