Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, or RFK Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), USA. The stadium groundbreaking was in late 1959, and it opened on October1, 1961. It is currently the home stadium for the D.C. United MLS team, and is the former home field for the Washington Redskins NFL team and the Washington Senators and Washington Nationals MLB teams. It opened with the name District of Columbia Stadium, or D.C. Stadium. The name was changed in January, 1969 in tribute to Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous June. Part of the inspiration for the tribute was in response to the fact that Kennedy's Justice Department played a key role in the integration of the Redskins. The stadium was host to international soccer matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the 2003 Women's World Cup.

RFK Was the first major stadium to be designed to host both football and baseball.

For 36 seasons, RFK was home to the Washington Redskins. The first ever football game played in the stadium was a 24-21 loss to the New York Giants on October 1, 1961. The first Redskin win in RFK was against the Dallas Cowboys on December 17, 1961. This happened to be the only win in the Redskins inaugural season at the stadium, finishing the year at 1-12-1. The Redskins final win in RFK was a 37-10 victory over the Cowboys on December 22,1996.

As RFK is the first major stadium to ever be built with the "cookie-cutter" concept, it is considered an experimental stadium for such a design. There were a few minor flaws with the stadium seating, the worst of which is the fact that the first 10 rows of football seating are near field level. This made it hard for spectators in these expensive seats to see over the players on the bench and members of the press surrounding the field. Baseball fans criticized the stadium because it contained no lower deck seats in the outfield in the baseball configuration. It is often stated humorously that RFK is the first stadium built "that had only an upper deck." Also because of the fact that it was the first multi-purpose stadium, RFK had an unusually complex conversion process, which was improved in later multi-purpose stadiums. Whole blocks of seats had to be removed for baseball to create the space for the large field, and soot had to be placed over the infield, while the pitchers mound was lowered beneath field level via a hydraulic system when the stadium was in the football configuration. The seats down the left field line moved on a rail and were not supported by trusses, but rather two steel sheets angled to create somewhat of an open triangle. This created one of the most popular and notorious quirks in the stadium, the ability for the stands on this side to bounce up and down in a spring-like motion when large volumes of people walked or jumped on the surface. Besides the seating flaws, the stadium created a massive home field advantage to the Redskins, Senators, and Nationals, and still does for D.C. United, because the closed-in design greatly increased crowd noise on field level, making it difficult to communicate verbally.

D.C. United does not generally sell tickets for their upper deck seats, but International soccer matches can draw a sell-out crowd.

RFK Stadium is on a direct sight line from the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol building. Therefore, at the time of construction, light towers on top of the stadium were prohibited. Instead, the stadium was built with arc lights embedded in the edges of the overhanging roof.

The stadium served as the host for the 1962 MLB All-Star Game, during its baseball inaugural season. The highest profile attendee of that All-Star game was the President of the United States at the time, John F. Kennedy. RFK also played host to the 1969 All-Star Game, the only All-Star Game to be played in daytime hours. The game was played during daytime because of a rainout that occured the night before.

Although the baseball dimensions were listed exactly symmetrical, during the Nationals' tenure at the stadium from 2005-2007, the wall was placed incorrectly, resulting in a slightly asymmetrical outfield.

The stadium had several sponsorship and naming rights candidates, but no deals were ever finalized, and the name of the stadium remains as it has since the 1969 RFK tribute.

Stadium Capacity:
Baseball: 45,596
Football: 56,692

Field Dimensions:
Left Field: 335 Feet
Left-Center Field: 380 Feet
Center Field: 410 Feet
Right Center Field: 380 Feet
Right Field: 335 Feet
Backstop: 54 Feet

Transportation:
RFK Stadium is within a half-mile and easily accessible from the Stadium-Armory Station of the Washington Metro. The station is served by the Blue and Orange Lines, and will add the Silver Line in the future. It is also served directly by Metrobus lines B2, D6, E32 (at Eastern High School), 96 and 97.

Notable Events:
- The highest scoring game in NFL history occured at RFK Stadium on November 27, 1966, when the Redskins defeated the New York Giants 72-41. The two teams combined for 113 points total in the game.

- George Allen's final game as head coach of the Washington Redskins was a 17-14 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on December 17, 1977

- Joe Gibbs' first win at RFK stadium was a narrow 24-22 victory over the New England Patriots on October 25, 1981

- The dreaded Joe Theismann leg injury occured at RFK on November 18, 1985, when Lawrence Taylor, of the New York Giants, sacked the quarterback and ended his career. Jay Schroeder took over for Theismann and lead the Redskins to a 23-21 victory.

- On December 13, 1992, Joe Gibbs coached his last game at RFK. The Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 20-17.

- On December 22, 1996, the Redskins won their last game in the stadium, defeating their arch-rivals, The Dallas Cowboys, 37–10. In a halftime ceremony, several past Redskins greats were introduced, wearing replicas of the jerseys of their time. After the game, fans stormed the field and ripped up chunks of grass as souvenirs. In the parking lot, fans were seen walking away with the stadium's maroon and yellow seats.

- In the Washington Senators' final home game, on September 30, 1971, the Senators led the New York Yankees 7–5 with one out in the top of the ninth. Fans stormed the field and tore up bases, grass patches, and anything else they can find for souvenirs. The Senators forfeited the game, 9–0.

- On September 23, 2007, the Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3, in the final baseball game scheduled to be played at RFK Stadium. The win gave the Nationals an overall record of 122–121 in three seasons at the stadium.

- On July 2, 1994, Spain defeats Switzerland 3-0 in the last game of the FIFA World Cup to be played at RFK, during the round of sixteen.

- On July 24, 1996, The United States draws with Portugal, 1-1 at RFK during the Atlanta Summer Olympics. Because the U.S. needed a win to advance out of group play, they fail to make it to the elimination stage.

- On April 3, 2004, Freddy Adu debuted with D.C. United at RFK with a sell-out soccer crowd of 24,603

- On August 9, 2007, David Beckham debuts for the MLS LA Galaxy, losing to home team, D.C. United, before a sellout crowd of 46,686 fans, the 4th largest to watch MLS at RFK Stadium.

- On January 19, 2009, the day before the Presidential Inauguration, A Day Of Service for Our Military was held at RFK Stadium as a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service. This was a joint operation by Serve DC and Operation Gratitude. At this event, 12,000 volunteers made over 80,000 care packages for American Troops overseas.