FedExField

FedExField
Former names	Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (September 1997–November 1999)
Location	1600 FedEx Way Landover, MD 20785
Coordinates	38°54′28″N 76°51′52″W / 38.90778°N 76.86444°W / 38.90778; -76.86444Coordinates: 38°54′28″N 76°51′52″W / 38.90778°N 76.86444°W / 38.90778; -76.86444
Broke ground	March 13, 1996[1]
Opened	September 14, 1997
Renovated	2011, 2012
Expanded	1998, 2000, 2005
Owner	Daniel Snyder
Operator	Washington Redskins
Surface	Latitude 36 Bermuda Grass
Construction cost	$250.5 million ($364 million in 2014 dollars[ 1])
Architect	HOK Sport (now Populous)
Structural engineer	Bliss and Nyitray, Inc.
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc.[2]
General contractor	Clark Construction[3]
Main contractors	Driggs Construction Co.[4]
Capacity	85,000 (2011-present)[5][6] 91,704 (2009–2010)[7] 91,665 (2004–2008)[7] 86,484 (2001–2003)[7] 85,407 (2000)[7] 80,116 (1997–1999)[7]
Executive suites	243
Tenants
Washington Redskins (NFL) (1997–present)

FedExField^[8] (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) or Redskins Stadium is a football stadium located in an unincorporated area near the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, near the site of the old Capital Centre (later called USAir Arena in 1993 and US Airways Arena in 1996). FedExField is the home of the Washington Redskins football team. With seating for 85,000,^[6] FedExField is the largest venue in the NFL in terms of regular capacity.

History

FedExField was built as a replacement for the Redskins' prior venue, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. In 1994, Jack Kent Cooke sought to build a new stadium on the grounds adjacent to Laurel Park Racecourse along Whiskey Bottom and Brock Bridge roads. Lack of parking facilities and support prompted a second site selection.^[9]

The stadium opened in 1997 as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, in honor of the recently deceased owner of the team, and the stadium site was known as Raljon. Before the stadium was built, the Wilson Farm was there. The name "Raljon" is a portmanteau of Jack Kent Cooke's sons' first names – "Ralph" and "John". Notably, Cooke was even able to register Raljon with the United States Postal Service as a legal alternate address for the 20785 zip code of Landover, Maryland, in which the stadium is located, and went to some lengths to require media to use Raljon in datelines from the stadium. This ended when Daniel Snyder bought the Redskins from the Cooke estate, and the Redskins now give the stadium's address as Landover.

Redskins fans at FedExField in October 2003.

A special exit, Exit 16 (Arena Drive), was built from Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway.

After Snyder bought the team and stadium, the stadium's naming rights were sold to FedEx in November 1999 for an average of $7.6 million per year. FedExField has sold out all of its non-premium tickets every season of its existence. Even though it's the NFL's largest stadium, the waiting list for Redskins season tickets is over 160,000 names long. However, according to The Washington Post, Redskins ticket office employees improperly sold tickets directly to ticket brokers for several years before the practice was discovered in 2009.^[10]

Although the Redskins have never sold out the entire stadium, the team has not had a game blacked out on local television since 1972 (when home game broadcasts were banned outright) because it does not count "premium club level seating" when calculating sellouts (their sellout streak dates to 1965, eight years before the new blackout rules were implemented).^[11]

From 2004 to 2010, Redskins fans set the NFL regular-season home paid attendance records. In 2005, the team drew a record 716,998 fans overall. The December 30, 2007, 27–6 win against the Dallas Cowboys was the most watched game in Redskins history, with 90,910 fans in the stands to see Washington clinch a playoff spot.^[12]

On January 8, 2000, the Washington Redskins defeated the Detroit Lions 27–13 in the first NFL playoff game at FedExField. On December 29, 2002, the Washington Redskins defeated the rival Dallas Cowboys, 20–14, in Darrell Green's final game. The game also broke a 10-game losing streak to the Cowboys. On December 2, 2007, the stadium held a commemorative game in memory of Sean Taylor. The Redskins lost to the Bills (17–16).

Design

Redskins players enter the field during a game in October 2006.

FedExField during the 2004 BCA Classic.

The stadium has five levels – the Lower Level, the Club Level, the Lower and Upper Suite Levels, and the Upper Level. The Lower, Club, and Upper Levels are all named after important figures of the Redskins, NFL, and Washington, D.C. area. The Lower Level is officially named "George Preston Marshall Lower Level", The Club is named "Joe Gibbs Club Level, and The Upper Level is called "Pete Rozelle Upper Level." The Suite Levels have 243 suite, lounge, and Owner's Club luxury boxes and 15,044 club seats.^[13] After Daniel Snyder purchased the Redskins, five rows of "Dream Seats" were installed in front of what was the first row of the lower level, extending down almost to the level of the field. Whereas sitting in the first row of the lower level was sufficient to see over the players on the sidelines, fans in the "dream seats" need to stand or their view will be blocked by players on the sidelines. This, in turn, has created a "domino effect" where everyone in the lower bowl now stands throughout the entire game.

College football

FedExField hosts the annual Prince George's Classic college football game, which is a game usually between two historically black universities. It has hosted several other college football games as well, including the 1998 game between the University of Notre Dame and the United States Naval Academy, as well as the 2004 Black Coaches Association Classic between the University of Southern California Trojans and the Virginia Tech Hokies. On November 14, 1998, Notre Dame defeated Navy 30–0. The August 28, 2004 BCA Classic between the Virginia Tech Hokies and USC Trojans attracted 91,665 spectators.^[14] On September 6, 2010, Boise State defeated Virginia Tech 33–30, before a crowd of 86,587. On December 10, 2011, the stadium held the 112th Army-Navy Game. On September 15, 2012 the West Virginia Mountaineers defeated James Madison University 42-12.

Soccer

FedExField is not well known as a soccer venue, as D.C. United of Major League Soccer elected to remain at RFK Stadium after the new stadium's opening. As Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, it hosted four preliminary matches and one quarterfinal doubleheader in the 1999 Women's World Cup. On July 1, 1999, the United States Women's National Soccer Team defeated the German Women's National Team 3–2 in the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 quarterfinals. During the July 2005 World Series of Football, D.C. United hosted Chelsea F.C. there; the stadium did not sell out, but the 31,473 spectators represented D.C. United's third-highest ever home attendance. On August 9, 2009, D.C. United hosted another international friendly against Real Madrid at FedExField. On July 30, 2011, Manchester United ended its 2011 Summer Tour with a 2–1 win over F.C. Barcelona at FedExField in front of 81,807 fans. This represented the largest soccer crowd in D.C.-area history.

Concerts

• October 23, 1997 – The Rolling Stones performed during their Bridges To Babylon Tour.
• May 28, 2000 – The stadium played host to the HFStival.
• October 4, 2002 – The Rolling Stones returned to perform during their Licks Tour.
• July 18, 2003 – Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Deftones & Mudvayne performed during The 2003 Summer Sanitarium Tour.
• September 13, 2003 – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed during The Rising Tour. (Sold out)
• August 1, 2009 – Paul McCartney performed during his Summer Live '09 Tour.
• September 29, 2009 – U2 performed during their 360° Tour, with Muse as their opening act.

Criticisms and potential replacement

Many fans feel FedExField does not compare favorably with RFK Stadium. Sports Illustrated's rankings of "NFL Fan Value Experience" rated FedExField 28th out of 31 NFL stadiums.^[15] In January 2007, The Washington Post reported that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was meeting with Washington, D.C., officials about building a new stadium in order to return the team to the District.^[16]

Problems were created when the design of the stadium was modified in an effort to maximize revenue. When the stadium opened, there were numerous entrances and no lines were encountered. Over the years, "party zones" requiring paid membership (such as the Touchdown Club and Tailgate Club) have sprouted on the concourse outside the stadium. ^[17] Entrances adjacent to the "party zones" are no longer accessible to fans who do not purchase a "party zone" membership. This has greatly reduced the number of entrances for fans holding only a game ticket and resulted in long lines to enter.

Installation of "Dream Seats" are another modification of the stadium that has increased revenue, but negatively impacted the fan experience. The original architect calculated the lowest possible height at which the first row could be set in order to still see the field over the players standing on the sideline. In 2005, eight years after the stadium opened, 1,488 premium "dream seats" in three rows were added in front of what was the first row when the stadium was built.^[18] Because these seats are too low to see over the players on the sideline, occupants of these seats stand in order to see the game.^[19] This has caused a chain reaction where all fans in the lower bowl now stand for the entire game.

In the 2011 off-season, nearly 10,000 seats were removed from the upper deck to reduce capacity to around 83,000, making FedExField the second largest venue in the NFL during the 2011 season.^[20] A Redskin official admitted that the seats were removed due to lack of demand.^[21] During the 2012 offseason, 4,000 additional seats were removed to make way for new suites and party decks and the stadium's capacity dropped to 79,000^[20] The seats that were removed permit the team to continue to sell out and avoid the NFL television black-out rule. In December 2013, the Redskins set a record for the lowest announced attendance ever at FedEx field.^[22]

The location of the stadium has made getting to the stadium difficult and time-consuming through public transportation. The stadium is about a mile away from the Morgan Boulevard station, the nearest Metro station to the stadium. Furthermore, federal regulations prohibit publicly paid shuttle service from public transit agencies as long as a private service is available. Since this isn't cost effective, fans taking public transportation must walk to and from the stadium. ^[23]

More recently, the field had fallen under considerable criticism for the poor quality of the grass surface. In 2013, the Redskins installed Latitude 36 sod, and also installed a new drainage system along the sidelines. Yet, by mid-November, the sod was so unplayable that it was replaced again.^[24]

Gallery

Notes and references

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FedEx Field.

• Stadium site on Redskins.com
• FedEx.com site
• Redskins Set Attendance Record...Again – March 21, 2005
• Redskins Fans Break Attendance Record – January 6, 2006