page_title: FedExField
section_title: Criticisms
hierarchical_section_title: FedExField / Criticisms
caption_attribution_description: English: During an NFL Game, 2014
context_page_description: FedExField, originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, is an American football stadium located near the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County, Maryland, 5 miles east of Washington, D.C.. The stadium is the home of the Washington Football Team of the National Football League. From 2004 until 2010, it had the largest seating capacity in the NFL at over 91,000. Currently, the capacity is 82,000. FedExField is in the Summerfield census-designated place and has a Landover postal address.
context_section_description: 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.  In January 2007, The Washington Post reported that team owner Daniel Snyder was meeting with Washington, D.C., officials about building a new stadium in order to return the team to the District. There were also reportedly meetings with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
  Problems were created when the design of the stadium was modified in an effort to maximize revenue. Over the years, "party zones" requiring paid membership (such as the Touchdown Club and Tailgate Club) have sprouted on the concourse outside the stadium.  Entrances adjacent to the "party zones" are no longer accessible to fans who do not purchase a "party zone" membership.  Installation of "Dream Seats" are another modification of the stadium that has increased revenue.  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.  Because some of these seats are too low to see over the players on the sideline, occupants of these seats stand in order to see the 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. A Redskins team official admitted that the seats were removed due to lack of demand. 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.  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 FedExField with 56,247, most likely because of the team's poor record at the time and inclement weather. Attendance in the 2014 season averaged less than 78,000 per game, and never rose above 81,000. On June 1, 2015, The Washington Post reported that another 4,000 to 6,000 seats, primarily in the top eight rows of the upper decks, were tarped off using chain link fencing and tarps during the 2015 off-season. Team officials said the removals were made due to "season ticket holder feedback", and declined to say how exactly many seats had been removed.
  The location of the stadium has made traveling to it through public transportation difficult, inconvenient and time-consuming as residents and visitors in the region rely heavily on 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 method is not cost effective, fans taking public transportation must walk to and from the stadium.
caption: During an NFL game, 2014
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