I'm questioning everything about your post that RFK is a superior soccer viewing experience to Audi Field. It's not. RFK had a different atmosphere (that's totally rooted in nostalgia at this point), but the actual viewing experience of soccer is vastly improved at Audi Field.
Not for me. They moved me from midfield to the end. Now I can't see what's happening on half the pitch.
I'll admit I don't care much one way or the other whether Audi Field is better or worse than RFK. It's main value is that the economics of it allowed DC United to stay in the DC area.
Not necessarily. There were good spots at RFK as there are probably good spots at Audi. But they way Audi was put together does not guarantee a great seat everywhere. Audi is a cheap piece of shit MLS cookie cutter. Even their suites suck, designed like a prison cell. If they had any brains, a foot bridge would connect the east end to the bar roof. There is so much wrong with that stadium and it is brand new.
some of my most magical DCU memories there were, um, getting more than one girlfriend in various spots around the stadium (the only good thing baseball did for us was the new "press box", he he). Oh, and the sisters from Venezuela. but also storming the field after dispatching the 'pukes in the '96 playoffs, T-Faul handing the mallet for my 4-year-old to bang his drum. So many more.. (thea, Aprile, post-game in Skip's office). But lots of other non-DCU good times there - Mick and the Gang for the Steel Wheels tour when no-one thought any of them could even live another 30 years let alone still be performing; Sir Paul, The Who, Pink Floyd, being on stage with the Foo Fighters for '98 HFStival (ooh, and sharing brownies with Fred and Kate - that was definitely cool). Watching Cruyff with the Dips (he lived a block from my elementary school!), US V Germany 100th Anniversary game....place has never been so packed. Even Wembley got taken down.....
And you would be wrong. My view at Audi, as I have said before, is not better than it was at RFK. Yes SOME sight lines at Audi are better but maybe 30-40% of them. Most people have the same or worse sight lines at Audi.
Going old school - either '74 or '75. Allman brothers and Grateful Dead in a 12 hour jam. After ingesting substances, somehow ended up back stage. Still couldn't take my eyes off the bouncing balls....
I guess some had great seats at RFK, but for me the pitch of the seats was too shallow and the curvature of the stands meant you were too far away from the touchlines. Those problems are dealt with at Audi. I suppose, however, that those seated behind the goals at Audi have a legitimate complaint, if they formerly sat on the sides at RFK.
Yeah, RFK was mostly a football stadium. It wasn't all that good for baseball when the Nats were there. It had very little appeal for a soccer match. The low angle of the seats was especially annoying. If you had anyone taller than 5'6" sitting in front of you, they'd impede your view. My current seats are 14 rows back in the west stands, and other than a small part of one of the corners, my view is 100% unimpeded, regardless of the height of the people in front of me. At RFK, the seats closer to the field did not typically give you a better view of the field.
I'm 5'-6" and the seats in RFK sucked. I'm also 14 rows up in the west stands and Georghe Muresan could sit in front of me and I still would have a great view.
RFK's 100 & 200 seats on the Quiet Side were for baseball. They were bad for football and soccer, but the seats in the corner were the worst. The seats on the Supporters side were pretty good. The best seats were in the 400's on the Quiet Side.
We had seats in the Mezzanine, near @griffin1108. A terrific view, and it was protected from the elements. Seats were a good size, and like @UnitedBorn said, there was sufficient legroom.
The seats were a little wider at RFK, which makes no real difference to me (bein' skinny), but those around me? Lookin' at you, Abner. Gonna try the red seats maybe....The "Free upgrade" seats are quite nice and comfy, but it's hard to see what's going on, and they're far from the included food and booze...
Yeah, we finally moved up to the Mezz the last two or three seasons at RFK because our seats down below sucked. The Mezz was great, I could stand up and watch (never anyone behind us) and you had seat side service for food and drinks. My wife was terrified of all the cracks in the concrete and fact the Mezz started shaking if the visiting fans were packed up in the upper deck in the northwest corner. I miss the Mezz, but AF is better in so many ways.
One row in from the top of section 107 (so people walking along weren't bumping into my back like they did to everyone in row 10) was fantastic because both benches heard me every time I jeered the opposition (like asking (especially) Sigi how his IRS audit was going, or shouting "Dancy is a Felon", etc) or asked Ben "they do know we are attacking the other goal, right?" they definitely heard me (they would even sometimes turn around). They were lucrative seats to resell when Mr. Posh Spice came to town and I could sell them for $150 per and the ladies could be up close when he took off his jersey.....l Also because it was right on the aisle with the gate down to the field and we would often get to talk with VIPs as they walked by. One particularly fine memory is in the late 00's when they still let us bring in confetti. I used to bring big trash bags full of weapons grade confetti (the kind of really awesome federal government shred that make chads seem large. This stuff was insidious - it was itchy and if it got inside your clothes you would continue to find it 2 days later coming from places you didnt know existed on your body). We sucked so bad that year the last game of the season I still had an entire bag to throw. So we just let all the kids go nuts and have confetti wars for the second half. KP comes walking by on his way down to the field at the end of the game while the urchins are happily making a mess. He gets clobbered from behind with a huge handful. He spins around with a furious face ready for blood. But what could he do? Its a bunch of little kids having a good time! This pisses him off even more and he stomps down to the field. We watch him on the sideline impatiently waiting for the dreadful season to finally end and vigorously trying to shake the stuff out out of his hair and lucky light-brown hounds-tooth blazer (he did own at least one more, right?). But as he does it just keeps going deeper and deeper and then he starts scratching and making it worse. If we thought he was mad after getting slimed, well, let me tell you, we hadnt seen anything. But half the section was laughing watching him scratch and making it worse! Some years later at a post-game party I asked him if remembered it. Damn straight he did! Right down to not knowing which kid to choke for sliming him. I didnt have the heart to tell him it wasn't one of the kids but a "grownup." No, it wasn't me and I will never tell who it was...
Memories... One quibble. I believe confetti was banned in the middle aughts. It was blamed for blocking the drainage and I believe the Nationals were behind it.
I don't blame loss against Universidad Catolica in the Copa Sudamerica on the Nationals because it happened on the road.