Construction hasn’t even started yet on the new Washington Commanders stadium in D.C., but President Donald Trump has signaled he hopes the stadium will be named after him.
ESPN was first to report that over the weekend, and the White House did not deny it. News4 has been digging into how realistic this may or may not be, and how D.C. residents are reacting.
Trump received a less-than-warm welcome at Sunday night’s Commanders home game. Some people could be heard cheering, but there was also a loud chorus of boos.
It comes as the president has signaled he’d like the new Commanders stadium to be named after him.
“Trump, does it make sense? I don’t think so. We would lose a lot of fans,” said one D.C. resident.
Another said, “I’m appalled; what else?”
The Commanders have already said they are not commenting publicly on this one, at the moment. The team owns the naming rights, and that was a really big deal for them. They insisted it was non-negotiable, telling the District they needed the money from the naming rights to offset the cost of building the new stadium.
Looking at past naming rights deals:
- FedEx paid $205 million for 27 years to name the Washington football team’s stadium in Landover, but they exited that deal two years early.
- The naming rights for SoFi Stadium, home of the LA Rams and Chargers, cost about $625 million for 20 years.
- The naming rights for Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, cost $220 million.
News4 reached out to the White House to ask if Trump plans to put up money, and if so, where it would come from, and if he’s talked to any companies about chipping in.
The White House did not answer our questions, but instead sent a statement from press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “That would surely be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”
But several D.C. residents had other thoughts on the possibility of a Donald Trump Stadium.
“I can’t possibly express my opinion on live television. Or in print,” said one woman.
“I’m sort of the opinion that I think maybe just keep it back as RFK again, since it’s such a historic name, but who knows?” another resident said.
For context, there are 30 NFL stadiums throughout the United States. Most of them have various corporate names, such as M&T Bank Stadium or Lincoln Financial Field. Right now, there’s only one stadium named after a person: Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. It was named after Earl “Curly” Lambeau, the team’s cofounder and former coach, several months after he died.
Other NFL stadiums with non-corporate names include Soldier Field in Chicago, named in honor of soldiers who died during World War I.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/qKZQkJb
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