Top facts about RFK Stadium, Named After The American Icon & President
We have gathered much information about the discontinued Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in one place to let you know about the major events that took place in this venue and all the interesting facts surrounding it.
The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (also known as RFK Stadium) is a decommissioned multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It's about two miles (3 kilometers) east of the US Capitol, near the Anacostia River's west bank, and next to the D.C. Armory. It was opened in 1961 and was owned by the federal government until 1986.
A National Football League (NFL) team, two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, five professional soccer teams, two college football teams, a bowl game, and a United States Football League (USFL) team all played at RFK Stadium. It held five NFC Championship games, two MLB All-Star Games, men's and women's World Cup matches, nine 1996 Olympic first-round soccer matches, three MLS Cup matches, two MLS All-Star games, and several American friendlies and World Cup qualification matches.
It hosted dozens of large concerts and other events, including college football, college soccer, baseball exhibitions, boxing matches, a cycling race, an American Le Mans Series auto race, and marathons. RFK Stadium was one of the first large stadiums to be built with both baseball and football in mind.
Although other stadiums, such as Cleveland Stadium (1931) and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (1950), had already served this purpose, RFK was one of the first to use what became known as the circular "cookie-cutter" design. It is owned and operated by Events DC (the successor to the DC Armory Board), a quasi-public entity linked with the city government, under a lease from the National Park Service, which owns the site. The lease extends until 2038.
Officials from Events DC declared on September 5, 2019, that the stadium would be demolished due to high maintenance costs. They hired a contractor a year later to oversee the destruction, which is set to begin in 2022 and will cost $20 million.
Bringing You the Top Facts about RFK Stadium
We will be talking about its history, design, and events amongst other things.
RFK Stadium Applications (1)
The Senators (1962–71) and the Nationals (2005–07) were two major league teams that called RFK home. In between, the stadium held a variety of exhibition games, old-timer games, and at least one college baseball exhibition game.
Furthermore, from 1988 to 1991, the RFK auxiliary field was the home stadium of the George Washington Colonials college baseball team, as well as the site of some Howard University, Interhigh League, and D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championship baseball games.
Two professional football teams, two college football teams, a bowl game, and multiple college all-star games all featured at RFK Stadium. It held neutral-site college football games, HBCU games, and regular season and championship high school football games.
RFK has held high school football games on occasion, although never on a regular basis, one of the Top facts about RFK Stadium.
The DC Events Kickoff Classic, a football tripleheader featuring six Washington, D.C. high schools, was announced on August 14, 2018, and featured games between Dunbar and Maret, Archbishop Carroll and Woodrow Wilson, and Friendship Collegiate Academy and H. D. Woodson.
The first Classic took place on September 15, 2018, with the second, which was simply a double-header, taking place the following year.
RFK Stadium, although not being constructed for soccer, became a center of American soccer in the mid-1970s, second only to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, in terms of its history as a soccer stadium.
It is the only venue in the world to have held the FIFA World Cup (in 1994), the FIFA Women's World Cup (in 2003), Olympic group stages for men and women (in 1996), the MLS Cup (in 1997, 2000, and 2007), the North American Soccer League's Soccer Bowl (in 1980), and CONCACAF Champions' Cup matches (in 1988 and 1998).
Another one of the Top facts about RFK Stadium is that the
US men's national soccer teamplayed more games at RFK Stadium than any other venue and D.C. United played 347 regular-season games there.
In 1970, RFK hosted three friendly Washington Darts games in addition to being the home stadium of
DC United, the Diplomats, the Freedom, the Whips, and Team America.
At least two college soccer games were played at RFK, once when Maryland relocated their game from Ludwig Field due to wet field conditions, and again after their national championship season.
At the auxiliary field, it has hosted several other Maryland games.
RFK Stadium has hosted more games for the US men's national soccer team than any other venue. It was once argued that, given to the nature of RFK and its quirkiness, it would be an appropriate national stadium if US Soccer ever needed one.
Brian McBride, Cobi Jones, Eric Wynalda, Joe-Max Moore, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Landon Donovan are among the national team members who have scored at RFK.
Riddick Bowe retained his WBA heavyweight title with a second-round knockout against Jesse Ferguson in front of a crowd of 9,000 on May 22, 1993, one of the
Top facts about RFK Stadium.
On the same day, Roy Jones defeated Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision to win the vacant IBF middleweight title.
RFK Stadium Applications (2)
The Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. was held on July 21, 2002, on a 1.66-mile (2.67-kilometer) temporary course set up in the RFK stadium parking lot.
The 140-lap race was the first time the American Le Mans Series entered the District of Columbia, and it was also the city's first significant motorsports event in 80 years.
One of the Top facts about RFK Stadium is that the residents living near the stadium expressed concerns about traffic, parking, and the noise the long event would generate prior to the race.
The Washington Post reported two months before the event that District officials had disregarded rules and regulations mandating a race-related environmental impact assessment and that Le Mans officials had misinformed the city about noise levels.
Following the event, American Le Mans officials failed to follow through on a promise to dismantle the Jersey barriers that surrounded the racecourse, instead leaving the unattractive constructions in the parking lots to be removed at the expense of the city.
Outraged residents forced D.C. officials to revoke the city's 10-year lease with the American Le Mans group when the organization attempted to hold a second event at RFK in 2003. There were no more races held after that.
The Global Rallycross Championship brought the facility back to racing in 2014. The track was a temporary circuit set out across the stadium's parking lot, similar to most of GRC's circuits at the time.
The first race was won by Patrik Sandell, and the event was held for two more years.
The 1992 Tour DuPont's last stage was a 14.7-mile (23.7-kilometer) time trial from RFK to Rock Creek Park and return.
Greg LeMond finished third in the competition and went on to win the Tour, his final major victory.
Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly gave him a kiss and a check for $50,000. Steve Hegg took first place in the competition.
On February 26, 2018, it was announced that Wales' national rugby union squad would meet South Africa's national rugby union team in a "ground-breaking fixture" at RFK Stadium on June 2, 2018.
It was "Wales' fifth test on US soil, the previous four outings all against the United States national rugby union team." In front of a crowd of 21,357, Wales came out on top 22–20.
On various occasions, the Grateful Dead performed here. In May 1974 and September 1984, Michael Jackson and The Jacksons appeared onstage, another one of the Top facts about RFK Stadium.
In August 1966, the Beatles gave a concert here. Pink Floyd performed two concerts here on July 9 and 10, 1994, as part of their The Division Bell Tour, and one on June 1, 1988, as part of their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour.
On May 25, 1987, as part of their Invisible Touch Tour, and on May 19, 1992, as part of their We Can't Dance Tour, Genesis performed here.
The annual HFStival rock concert was hosted at RFK Stadium from 1993 to 1999 and 2001 to 2004 by rock radio station WHFS.
The Foo Fighters celebrated their 20th anniversary with a concert at RFK Stadium on July 4, 2015.
RFK Stadium Tenants
From 1961 until 1996, the Washington Redskins played their home games at RFK Stadium. On December 22, 1996, 56,454 fans watched the Redskins' 37–10 victory over the division champion Cowboys at the stadium.
From the team's inception in 1996 until 2017, when they moved to a new stadium, D.C. United of Major League Soccer played over 400 games at RFK Stadium.
After D.C. United left, RFK was left without a professional sports tenant; nevertheless, D.C. United continued to use the outer sports fields at RFK for training and rented locker room and basement space there, after moving to Audi Field, one of the
Top facts about RFK Stadium.
From 1962 through 1971, RFK Stadium was home to the Washington Senators of the American League. Griffith Stadium hosted their debut season in 1961.
The Washington Diplomats were three soccer clubs that played at RFK between 1974 and 1990.
The George Washington University Colonials college football team was the other team to relocate from Griffith to D.C. Stadium. The stadium was dedicated during GWU's 30–6 victory over VMI in the first college football game there on October 7, 1961.
After playing as the Montreal Expos from 1969 through 2004, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season, becoming the Washington Nationals. The Nationals failed to make the playoffs or finish with a winning record in their three seasons at RFK.
One of the Top facts about RFK Stadium is that the Howard Bison football team, which has played at RFK Stadium 42 times in over 46 years, has the longest history with the venue (the Detroit Tigers are second by 8 months, having played their first game there April 9, 1962, and their last game there June 20, 2007).
Howard competed in the Nation's Football Classic at RFK starting in 2011 and continuing through the 2016 season, initially against Morehouse and later against Hampton.
The Classic was discontinued by Events DC in 2017, and the last Bison game at RFK Stadium was a 34–7 loss to Hampton on September 16, 2016.
The Washington Freedom, a Women's United Soccer Association team, called RFK home for three seasons.
The Freedom defeated the Bay Area CyberRays 1–0 in WUSA's inaugural match on April 14, 2001, in front of 34,198 fans, the largest crowd for a women's professional sports event in DC history, one of the Top facts about RFK Stadium, (the largest crowd for a women's sporting event was 45,946 for the 1996 women's Olympic soccer tournament, also at RFK).
The Washington Whips were the first professional soccer team to play at D.C. Stadium, which began in 1967.
The Washington Federals, Washington's lone USFL team, played two seasons at RFK and had the league's worst record each season and, in 1984, the lowest per-game attendance.
During the 1983 season, Team America was a professional version of the United States men's national soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) as a franchise.
RFK Stadium Name
The stadium was officially titled the District of Columbia Stadium when it opened in October 1961, but the media rapidly simplified it to D.C. Stadium and, in the early days, "Washington Stadium."
Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall stated on January 18, 1969, in the final days of the Johnson administration, that the stadium will be renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Kennedy's honor.
The official renaming ceremony took place on June 7, but by that time, many people were calling it "RFK Stadium" or just "RFK."
The Armory Board had directed that the stadium be renamed after John F. Kennedy after his death in 1963, but the proposal fell through when the Philadelphia city council enacted a measure renaming Philadelphia Stadium as "John F. Kennedy Stadium" a few weeks later.
One of the
Top facts about RFK Stadium
is that the venue has a connection to Robert Kennedy, who served as Attorney General in the early 1960s and played a role in the Redskins' racial integration.
Kennedy, together with Udall, threatened to terminate the team's lease at the federally owned stadium unless it agreed to hire African-American players.
John, his brother, was there for the first event and threw out the first pitch. In 2008, a nearby bridge was renamed after Robert Kennedy's wife, Ethel Kennedy.
RFK Stadium History
The Roosevelt Memorial Association (RMA) suggested a National Stadium for the site in 1932, and Allied Architects, a group of local architects formed in 1925 to secure large-scale government projects, designed it.
A "National Stadium" in Washington had been a dream of Congressman George Hulbert of New York since 1916 when he proposed building a 50,000-seat stadium at East Potomac Park in order to attract the 1920 Olympics.
Senator Robert Reynolds of North Carolina lobbied for the construction of a municipal outdoor stadium within the District in 1938, citing the "fact that America is the only major country not possessing a stadium with facilities to accommodate the Olympic Games."
The following year, the public was shown a model of the proposed stadium, which would be built near RFK Stadium's current location. The National Capital Planning Commission began purchasing land for a stadium in 1941, buying ground between East Capitol, C, 19th, and 21st NE.
Congress appointed a nine-member National Memorial Stadium Commission to explore the idea a few years later, on December 20, 1944. They intended for the stadium to serve as a memorial to World War II veterans. The group produced a report advocating the construction of a 100,000-seat stadium near RFK in time for the 1948 Olympics, but finance was not available.
A new stadium drew notice in 1954 after being overlooked in the early 1950s. New Jersey Congressman Charles R. Howell presented legislation to build a stadium in the hopes of attracting the Olympics once more.
The "District of Columbia Stadium Act" was introduced in September 1957, allowing the construction of a 50,000-seat stadium at the Armory site for the Senators and Redskins. On July 8, 1960, the construction of the $24 million began, and development continued for the next 14 months.
The new stadium opened for football in the spring of the following year, despite the fact that the building had not yet been completed, one of the Top facts about RFK Stadium.
On October 1, ten days after the final MLB baseball game at Griffith Stadium, it hosted its first official event: an NFL regular-season game. In front of 36,767 people, including President John F. Kennedy, the Redskins were defeated by the New York Giants 24–21.
The first of what would become annual Thanksgiving Day high school football games between the D.C. public school champion and the D.C. Catholic school champion was held on November 23, 1961, with Eastern defeating St. John's 37–14.
After two exhibition games against the Pirates were canceled, the first Major League Baseball game was played on April 9, 1962. In front of 44,383 fans, President John F. Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch, which saw the Senators defeat the Detroit Tigers 4–1, and Senators shortstop Bob Johnson hit the first home run.
When it first opened, D.C. Stadium hosted the Redskins, Senators, and GWU Colonials football team, all of whom had previously played at Griffith Stadium: the GWU Colonials ended their football team at the end of the 1966 season, while the Senators relocated to Dallas-Fort Worth and became the Texas Rangers, playing in Arlington Stadium.
Read More:
DISCLAIMER! Sportmob does not claim ownership of any of the pictures posted on this website. Again, we do not host pictures or videos ourselves. Our authors merely link to the rightful owner. Lastly, Sportmob have carefully considered and reviewed all of its content. Despite that, it is possible that some information might be out-dated or incomplete.