The shift to Audi Field was always going to bring change from RFK Stadium, but some fans are worried about stadium design, tailgate and ticketing issues heading into Saturday's opening game. Media and fans got a first look at parts of Audi Field Monday before Saturday’s opening game. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank What will eventually be a fan plaza was still fenced in and under construction Monday. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank The entrance to the tailgating spot for the Screaming Eagles supporters’ group, down where Half Street SW skirts the Anacostia River. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank The steep grade in the supporters’ section on the north side of Audi Field provides great sight lines, but sparked safety concerns among some fans. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank ( 1 /4) Share This Gallery: Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share via email. Print. WASHINGTON — D.C. United has plenty to celebrate this weekend as it opens its flashy new stadium, Audi Field, and expects its newly acquired star player to take the field for the first time. But not everyone is as excited for the opening of the new venue as one might expect. Tailgating, ticketing and stadium safety concerns have left some of the team’s biggest fans apathetic and others ready to protest. From talent to the tailgate Wayne Rooney, England’s all-time leading goal scorer and one of the most recognizable names in soccer, officially joined the team last week. But after years of bottom-dwelling and a front office unwilling to spend for bigger talent, some fans say it isn’t enough. “They just haven’t spent money, really, in the last 10 years,” James Lambert, President of the Screaming Eagles supporters’ group said of the team. “Rooney has the capability of being a really strong step along the way … But the Rooney move has to be the first of a few moves.” Even with a backloaded home schedule giving them anywhere between four and six more games left than the rest of the Eastern Conference, United sits in dead last, five points back of the next closest club and 13 points out of a playoff spot. They’ve won just two of their first 14 games. The opportunity to make a run is there, but we’ve yet to see if the talent can take advantage. There is also the matter of the tailgate, the heart and soul of the fan experience. While the team is opening a new fan plaza with a beer garden, games and food trucks, there will be no large, communal space available like there was at Lot 8 at RFK Stadium for all fans to convene. With a significantly different geographical layout, there really isn’t a logical space. “It’s a change, right? People are unsettled with change in general,” said Lambert. “You’re coming from RFK, where it was so unique, and not a modern stadium.” The closest open space is likely the Bardo Brewery, just on the other side of South Capitol Street, but it has recently lost a chunk of its capacity due to the construction on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. Even so, the brewery says it has not been approached by the team or supporters’ groups. Lambert said the Screaming Eagles started looking for a tailgate spot six months ago, eventually entering into a partnership with Earth Conservation Corps on Half Street SW, along the Anacostia River. There’s both indoor and outdoor space with roof decks, as well as a small green space out front, which can accommodate maybe a few hundred fans, well short of the roughly 1,200 or so total membership of Screaming Eagles, not to mention nearly another 2,000 from other supporters’ groups. “There was always a question looking ahead, even years out, knowing where Audi Field is and how tight it is in that neighborhood,” said Charlie Boehm, a local journalist who has covered the team for 15 years. Audi Field also lacks the huge, easily accessible parking lots of RFK. Privately, a D.C. public official expressed great concern about the transportation issues the new stadium creates. The team’s website says there are 6,500 spots nearby, but offers no specifics of what that means. The three listed lots on the Capitol Riverfront website are tiny lots at Half & R streets SW and Potomac Avenue SW and South Capitol Street, as well as a lot of a few hundred spaces at 1880 2nd St. SW. The biggest lots will be at Nationals Park, more than a half-mile from the stadium. The city official’s primary focus has been to encourage fans to arrive by any means possible other than driving. There are bike valets on gamedays, as well as secure bike parking on the southwest corner of the stadium. The D.C. United website lists Navy Yard as the closest Metro Station, at less than a 10-minute walk. But it took this reporter, who is able-bodied and walks quickly, 12 minutes to go from the ticket office on the near corner of the field to the gates at the Metro entrance. Google Maps measures the distance at 0.7 miles, or a 14-minute walk. Stadium concerns While the team didn’t quite hit its ambitious, original completion date of June, the turnaround time to get the new stadium open was still impressively quick, just 502 days after breaking ground. That’s more than 100 days faster than the comparably-sized Banc of California Stadium opened in April. But concerns have been expressed about the rushed nature of the project. As DCist reported in June, the design change that omitted the fully enclosed roof included in the original plans has led to the sun pointing directly into stadium cameras as it sets. This has already forced the start time of a handful of night games, back to 8 p.m., including Saturday’s opener. But Carrick Baugh, of the District Ultras supporters’ group, says his group raised what it considers the most pressing design issue to the front office — a lack of safe standing space in the north-end of the stadium where official supporters’ groups are allocated tickets.<doc-sep>For the remainder of the season, D.C. United figures to entertain curiosity. Sure, the stadium is a reward for die-hard fans who stuck with the team through good and bizarre times at RFK Stadium. But it’s also an opportunity to grow the fan base, to tap into a changing D.C. and provide an entertainment option at a more comfortable establishment. On Saturday, a curious crowd saw the home team play close to its best. The stadium was electric on two occasions: when Rooney replaced Darren Mattocks (at 9:25 p.m., for those documenting history) and before that, when Yamil Asad scored in the 27th minute, kicking a laser from outside the box into the right corner of the net over leaping goalkeeper Brian Rowe for Audi Field’s first goal. It was 8:34 p.m., and it’s safe to say no 8:34 has ever felt better here.<doc-sep>The D.C. United team is ready to move into its new home at Audi Field. Mayor Muriel Bowser is cutting the ribbon today to unveil D.C.’s new 20,000-seat soccer stadium at Buzzard Point, noting in her remarks that this is more proof that D.C. is the “sports capital of the United States.” The stadium’s expected to attract one million new visitors annually, according to a press release. The new stadium includes high-tech energy and water efficiency measures funded through a $25 million private clean energy financing deal, part of the District’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program. The project broke ground in February 2017. Located just two blocks from Nationals Park, soccer fans will head to Audi Field at Second, T, and R Streets and Potomac Avenue SW on Saturday when the first game is held there at 8 p.m.<doc-sep>On the field, D.C. United got a dream opener at Audi Field, though the there are still some kinks to be ironed out before the team's next home game. Vendors sold Wayne Rooney shirts outside Audi Field before the stadium’s inaugural game Saturday. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank Members of La Barra Brava and District Ultras supporters’ groups protested outside the stadium before the game. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank The view looking east away from the stadium from the top of the northeast stairwell. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank The glare of the sun from the press box at 7:30 p.m., the originally scheduled kickoff time. A handful of games, including the opener, were moved to 8 p.m. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank The team store, impressively put together almost from scratch since last Monday’s ribbon-cutting. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank Paul Arriola scores the first of his two goals on the night, to put D.C. United ahead 2-0. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank One of the several railings that stadium crews duct taped after a railing fell and hit a team employee. (WTOP/Noah Frank) WTOP/Noah Frank ( 1 /7) Share This Gallery: Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share via email. Print. WASHINGTON — D.C. United stepped onto the grass at Audi Field Saturday night needing a win and three points in the worst way. They got a dream performance, with three quality goals and a successful debut of new star Wayne Rooney en route to a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. Yamil Asad scored the first goal in Audi Field history on a beautifully curled one-timer over the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper. Crisp passing from Rooney and Zoltan Stieber opened up Paul Arriola for the second goal, and Arriola rocketed a screamer home for his second and the team’s third to put the game on ice, earning the club its first win in six games, nearly two months prior. The rest of the story wasn’t nearly the same unqualified success, but more of a mixed bag. While some elements of gameday were a success, there is clearly room for improvement and some fixes before the next home match, a week from Wednesday against the New York Red Bulls. Carry-overs from RFK With a construction timeline tight enough that the team store was entirely unfinished as recently as the ribbon-cutting last Monday, there was question as to whether every aspect of the stadium would be fully ready for the opener. In at least one instance, that was not the case. A piece of railing fell from section 111, reportedly grazing the head of team sideline reporter and public relations director Lindsay Simpson, landing on her shoulder. A team representative told WTOP Simpson was not seriously injured and was treated on site. Railings around the upper deck were duct taped as a precaution against other incidents. Those are the RFK-like incidents the team is desperate to leave in its past. But one well-loved vestige of the old stadium successfully made the transition to Audi Field: Factoria Maria Pupuseria. Started by a Salvadoran couple as a roadside concession for local soccer games around the D.C. area in 1990, it became a favorite of D.C. United front office members, who would ride a golf cart down from the front office to buy pupusas and steak and rice. Eventually, the team offered to bring them to RFK, where a single stand blossomed into five. But with the team moving, the future was unclear. “Originally, we thought we weren’t going to get the contract to be in the stadium,” Jocelyne Polio, whose parents started the business, told WTOP. “Luckily, our fans got to work and they were calling D.C. United, Twittering, requesting that we had to be in the new stadium.” That got the attention of Jose Andres, who has a large presence among Audi Field’s concessions, and who worked with the pupuseria to build its branding for the new stadium. There are three stands, one behind each goal and the third up behind section 109, where Polio was stationed all night, serving big crowds of familiar faces. “Today was amazing. We had a lot of our loyal customers come. I even had some customers come find me, specifically … I wanted to cry. I don’t think there’s anything better than cooking for people, making them happy, especially at a soccer game,” she said. Atmosphere As some of the team’s loudest fans were outside protesting the game instead of cheering the team on, there was some question as to how the atmosphere inside the stadium would change. Early on, the results were discouraging, with an on-field host trying in vain to pump up the crowd before the game. The team didn’t do itself any favors by absolutely blasting the public address system, which was so painfully loud during the national anthem that the sound was actually cutting through the speakers. Sometime around the 10-minute mark, a fan standing in the Heineken rooftop bar in the northwest corner of the stadium spotted former D.C. United and U.S. Men’s National Team coach Bruce Arena down below, a handful of sections over, and began heckling him about the national team’s failure to make the World Cup this summer. There was so little ambient crowd noise that the heckler’s voice rung out loud and clear, drawing the attention of fans for several sections along the lower level on the East side. The crowd started finding its sea legs a bit once Rooney made his debut and the team pushed a second, then a third goal across. But the time between the big moments was subdued, with much of the stadium content to watch passively and the supporters section somewhat muted in the background. Ever the winking diplomat, head coach Ben Olsen’s postgame remarks about the crowd told the story. “They got there,” he said. “The energy got there. It took a couple goals to get the place rocking.” Opening Day bumps There were, as one might expect, some logistical issues. The move to all-digital tickets for Audi Field is nothing new for Ticketmaster, which has implemented the technology in over 130 venues.<doc-sep>
It’s finally the week in which Audi Field will host it’s first game, and D.C. United and the city of Washington, D.C. marked the occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday afternoon. After years of toiling away at the friendly confines of RFK Stadium, United will finally have a place of their own, with the opening game this weekend against the Vancouver Whitecaps. On Monday, members of the team, ownership, city officials, fans, and media gathered around the northwest entrance of the stadium for the official unveiling of the $400m project. “Today is the day we have been waiting for. A landmark day, in a landmark year for D.C. sports,” Managing General Partner and CEO Jason Levien told the crowd. “It’s difficult to overstate the magnitude of what today represents. Today we christen our glistening new home.” When Levien and General Partner Erick Thohir took over the club in the summer of 2012, they had one mission on their mind - keep United in D.C., by getting a new stadium within the city limits. The stadium will open almost five years to the day when the original plan for the stadium was released in July of 2013, but finally, United will have a place to call their own. “I want to give a big thank you to all the D.C. United fans who have stuck with us for more than 20 years,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said, recognizing the difficult road it took to get the team a stadium in the city. Monday’s ceremony was the first chance that many people had to get a close-up view of the stadium. The groundbreaking for the stadium came back in February 2017, and since then, the team has been quickly trying to get everything ready for July 14th. MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who was at that ground breaking ceremony, was also present on Monday. He has long advocated that United needed a stadium of their own to keep the team in the city, but allowed United to continue at RFK, even while it held the team back amongst its peers. At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Garber spoke highly of Audi Field, which is just one of three soccer specific stadiums that will have opened from April 2018 to March 2019. “One of the great new cathedrals for our sport, a great beacon for hope….. for what our sport can be throughout our region,” the commissioner said of the stadium at Buzzard Point. Wayne Rooney was also a featured speaker, as he continues to make public appearances at every opportunity, ahead of Saturday’s game, which is more than likely to be his Black-and-Red debut. Rooney, who recently arrived at the highest paid player ever in United’s history, spoke about what the stadium meant to him, when he first came over to visit with the team at the end of May. “When I spoke to [the team] about coming here to play, I could tell the excitement which they had about the stadium, and also the new training ground, which will be here next year,” said Rooney. “It played a big part in me coming here,” the 32-year-old said. “And hopefully, in the next few years, we can climb up the table, and bring titles, and create some wonderful history in this stadium. I’ll see you’s all on Saturday, and hopefully three points.” From there, the ribbon was officially cut by Thohir and Levien, and United opened the gates to the stadium for fans to get a view from the northwest corner opening. It was evident that there was still work to be done at the stadium, and that all of that likely won’t be finished by Saturday. But that didn’t dampened the mood as players and fans mingled in the concourse of the new stadium. The team has spent most of the first four months of the season on the road, and while the team has struggled to pick up many points in their endeavors, there’s almost a new sense of hope surrounding Audi Field. That was best summed up by Charity Blackwell, the Director of Writing for DC Scores, who opened up the ceremony by reading a poem. “D.C., like soccer, is a space where we can all feel United,” said Charity at the end of the poem. “And let’s go, D.C. United.” .