Stadium Name
The stadium was opened in October 1961 as the District of Columbia Stadium (D.C. Stadium for short). The stadium was renamed in January 1969, for U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in Los Angeles the previous June. As attorney general, Kennedy's Justice Department played a role in the racial integration of the Redskins. Along with Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, Kennedy threatened to revoke the team's lease at the federally owned stadium until it promised to sign African American players.
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 (a Bethesda, Maryland investment company) and Sony were rumored that season, but no agreement was ever finalized.
Read more about this topic: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Famous quotes containing the word stadium:
“In their eyes I have seen
the pin men of madness in marathon trim
race round the track of the stadium pupil.”
—Patricia K. Page (b. 1916)
“It’s no accident that of all the monuments left of the Greco- Roman culture the biggest is the ballpark, the Colosseum, the Yankee Stadium of ancient times.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)