Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is finally being demolished (Events DC) after sitting unused for several years. Seats from the stadium are being sold, starting at $349 each. That’s right you can be charged $349 or more so something doesn’t go in a landfill.
How will the marketplace react?
Some proceeds from the sale will support Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and St. Coletta of Greater Washington.
The long-time home of the Senators, Nationals, Diplomats, United, Freedom, Federals and Redskins was completed in 1961.
No specifics about the white upper deck seats though. Those were the location of Frank Howard home run balls. He joked the “yellow seats were for all the times I struck out.”
What next for RFK Site?
Over the last several years there has been much discussion on what happens after the stadium is knocked down. The District council’s preference (WTOP) is to acquire the land from the federal government and have a new neighborhood and parks be built on the site.
Naturally, some fans would love to see a new NFL stadium built there. I can’t blame them, it’s was a good gameday location. The potential end of the Dan Snyder era opens the door a little bit for that possibility.
Nationals Park was contentious and barely got approved. It anchors a new neighborhood and in a typical year about 2 million tickets are sold. Well, probably not for the next few years.
Thirty years ago, Jack Kent Cooke wanted to build a stadium in Potomac Yard (WUSA), but Alexandria residents opposed it. Instead, a big box development was built and it’s busy and generating revenue, employing people about 362 days annually.
A football stadium is only 10-12 days a year though and new urban development is useful by a few orders of magnitude. 300+ days a year of optimization or just autumn Sundays? It’s a pretty easy answer from my point of view. I am not a District resident though, so it’s not my decision.
I’m glad Alexandria didn’t get it last time.