The National Guard is close to an agreement with the city to become the sponsor of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for Washington Nationals games over the next three seasons, several sources said yesterday.
Under terms being considered last night, the Guard would pay $6 million for a three-year deal that would start April 14, the date of the Nationals' first home game, the sources said. The D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which operates RFK, could finalize the agreement Monday.
Under the deal, the name of the ballpark would likely become National Guard Field at RFK. The commission has two other parties interested in the sponsorship in case the talks with the Guard fall through, according to two D. C Council members and others with knowledge of the discussions.
Council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) said he was told Monday that the National Guard, which has a unit in the District, is the primary option for the commission. "It would be truly outstanding," Orange said. "It's the perfect marriage."
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said the Guard has been talked about for a while. "It's great," he said. "I started laughing when I first heard it because you usually think of Verizon or a bank for a sponsorship. But I wouldn't object to that as long as we get the money."
Sports commission spokesman Tony Robinson declined to comment yesterday on the sponsorship, saying the negotiations were continuing. A National Guard spokesman referred questions to another spokesman, who did not immediately return a message left at his home.
The commission has been seeking a sponsor to pay $1 million to $2 million per season for the three years that the Nationals will play at RFK, which will seat about 45,000 fans. Typically, sponsors pay $4 million to $5 million a year to put their names on a new stadium. The money collected by the commission would go toward improving youth programs in the city, including renovating recreation centers and athletic fields, officials said.
Private businesses have dominated the competition for stadium naming rights, but in recent years, the Army has entered the game as a recruiting tool. The Army has sought to raise its profile by sponsoring NASCAR, high school football and professional rodeo.
Last month, city officials reported that the Army might be willing to pay about $1.4 million per season to become the primary sponsor at RFK. An official in the administration of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said the Army was interested because of the large number of young people who watch baseball.
The National Guard has Army and Air Force units in each state and territory and in the District. The Army National Guard has more than 300,000 members. According to the Guard's Web site, after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, more than 50,000 members were activated, and many are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At least 198 D.C. Guard members and reservists have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the Pentagon, three have been killed: Spec. Darryl T. Dent of the Army National Guard, and Lance Cpl. Gregory E. MacDonald and Maj. Kevin M. Shea, both of the Marine Corps Reserve.
In ads, the sports commission directed interested organizations to present sponsorship proposals that would maintain "the stadium's historically significant identity as a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial." A sponsor would get advertising space inside and outside the stadium.
RFK was known as D.C. Stadium when it opened in 1961 and was renamed for Kennedy eight years later. The stadium has had the name through seasons of the Senators, the Redskins, D.C. United and the Washington Freedom.
At a news conference several weeks ago, Williams said the city would seek to maintain the Kennedy legacy at RFK and at a proposed stadium along the Anacostia River in Ward 6. The sports commission has said that some of the youth fields that would be created with sponsorship money also might bear Kennedy's name.
Ethel Kennedy could not be reached yesterday for comment.
