Fight for Stadium Name Continues
As DCist wrote a few days back, District officials are struggling to find a corporate sponsor willing to pay anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million a year for the rights to attach their name to RFK Stadium, the temporary home of the Washington Nationals, for the next three years. The Post reported on Wednesday that the U.S. Army, looking to raise its profile and boost sagging enlistment numbers, has pushed to the front of the pack with an offer to pay $1.4 million for the right to coin RFK the "U.S. Army Field at RFK Stadium" (which, as someone pointed out, would be somewhat similar to the Springfield War Memorial Stadium, where the Springfield Isotopes of "The Simpsons" play).
The Army may be in for a fight, though -- D.C. democracy activists have formally proposed that the stadium be named the "Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK Stadium," and have pledged to raise $10,000 by Saturday to let District officials know that they are serious. The coalition, led by grass-roots activists John Hlinko and Mike Panetta, wrote the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission on Wednesday, stating:
Right now, we can officially offer $51.08. We're checking our pockets and sofa cushions for more as we speak. Panetta’s agreed to brown bag his lunch for a few weeks, and Hlinko will stop "Super sizing," so that should help as well ... We'd love to write our members of Congress to ask for their help as well (you know, a little old pork barrel style), but yeah, well ... we don't have any.As of noon today, they had raised $9,385 in pledges.
In an e-mail responding to DCist's questions concerning how realistic the prospects of success were, Hlinko, who led a similar campaign in 2003 to entice retired Gen. Wesley Clark into seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, stated:
You know, as crazy as it sounds ... I think they just might consider it. I mean, right now, we're getting near $10K, and it hasn't even been 24 hours. If we could get this into the hundreds of thousands, then suddenly, it starts to get serious. And if we really could produce hundreds of thousands, and there was no other offer ... Heck, how could they turn us down?On a related note, Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) introduced legislation on March 15 requesting that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and Major League Baseball officials invite an advocate of D.C. voting rights to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Nationals home opener on April 14. President George W. Bush is slated to throw the pitch, but Catania suggested that D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton do so instead. Eight of the 13 members of the D.C. Council support the idea, while Williams opposes it. The legislation also requests that the Nationals wear patches on their uniforms recognizing the District's lack of voting rights.