I want to see some nice luxury suites so I do not have to sit with the unwashed masses who post on boards like this!!!!!
I would like a stadium with a capacity of around 25,000. http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/reading1.jpg http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/reading3.jpg With seats that are close to the field. I believe that the Home Depot Center is a beautiful stadium but, i would have liked the seats to be a little closer to the touchline. http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/ipswich7.jpg http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/norwich5.jpg It would be nice to have the intimacy of Loftus Road or any typical English stadium. http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/qpr4.jpg http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/qpr9.jpg http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/qpr1.jpg The seats should have a picture of Ray Hudson and Bruce Arena in them. http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/preston9.jpg http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk/pictures/preston5.jpg
Now this is a great idea. An area with some grass for every group to set up and hang out together - preferably near the stadium so as to allow for a little extra drinking time.
The good stuff... Seating close to the field, good drinks on tab, conveinant ATM Machines, restrooms, MLS/FIFA/DCU store for all those hard to get kits from around the globe, and all your playing needs, cleats, goalie gloves.... Sadly, as for the stadium being called "AOL stuadium" or the like. I don't think it's avoidable.... though wish it was. As has been said, paint the seats Red and Black with white letters w/DC United, and supporter names on them Some good brews in the corriodor, and along w/the Pizzas, nachos, and burgers I want some Salvadorian and Bolivian food. Maybe have"Pollo Loco" or "Pollo Campero" sell chicken How better to get the DC poppulation than Papousas and Saltenas .... And even offer Orchata for the kiddies, yeah!
Not trolling, saw a referral to this thread. Loftus Road is really a bandbox; too small for US gans. The low roof reflects/directs sound towards the field, but creates a cramped feeling. MLS stadiums should have at least one "Kop" end-zone for the supporter's clubs: a single-tier stand. The standard two-tiers with regular,premium & luxury-boxes are fine, but the ends should belong to the standing, singing fans. Small away-fan sections would be helpful in the East with DC/Metros/Revs proximity.
It would be great to have the goal ends steeper than the sidelines (making them much louder) as well as having a roof that covers all the fans (like most of the ones in England). But finally if you could get all of the supporters clubs to be behind one of the goals, you could make it so that end bounces.
Word. I would hope they'd try and build the stadium in a way that we would remain geographically accurate. And keep us low to pitch level like we are now. I want to make sure that La Norte remains every keeper's nightmare. I would like something like the classic stadiums of England. Every time I play a home game with DCU in FIFA 2004, they're playing in some kind of Olympic-style stadium with a racetrack. I don't want that, and I don't want that terracing crap that makes HDC look like an overgrown high-school or junior college field. And bouncing seats are a must. And my biggest pipe dream of all: hopefully the stadium will be privately owned by DCU/uncle Phil so there aren't any non-soccer events to tear up the pitch and the stands (are you listening, WHFS?) brilliantly arranged by a money-hungry DCSEC.
If it looks half as good as this place is gonna look . . . . . . I'll be thrilled. New stadium in Braga, Portugal. Seats 30K. Can't find the new pictures, but they just laid the field down and it is stunningly beautiful.
Why do people think terraces = atmosphere? They don't. Fans=atmosphere. Not hunks of concrete and steel. Sachin
The stadium in Braga, Portugal is really impressive - it's built right into the side of a mountain - but I'm not sure that's the look they ought to try for with DC. More pictures below ... http://www.cm-braga.com.pt/euro2004/estadio/imagens/imagens.asp
I've been tracking the construction of the Braga Municipal Stadium for almost two years now. It's a remarkable and unique stadium. Good progress photos over the course of the construction can be viewed here
That stadium would be cool no matter where you put it. Can you just see U - N - I - T - E - D painted across those sections? You could do it on existing land at RFK if you sunk it 30 feet. You'd have a great open area at each end overlooking the field.
I'd rather see D C U across the seats since there's about 20 other clubs named "United" in the world. Even better would be an approximation of the Eagle crest on one side, and a gold star for each championship on the other.
In no particular order: the ideas I've seen in this thread so far that I like, plus a couple of my own 1. Bouncing stands 2. Closed on all 4 sides 3. roof on all 4 sides 4. fans close to field 5. tons of tv's 6. soccer bar (HELL YES) 7. tailgate area, with permanent restroom facilities (port-o-johns suck) 8. SOCCER FIELDS AROUND STADIUM, some of which would be near tailgate area for pickup games before the matches; perhaps small sided fields as well, for 5 v 5 and stuff 9. 20k capacity, with room for additions later 10. Visitors section, with its own entrance 11. seats painted with DCU 12. name it BRUCE ARENA STADIUM 13. accessed via Metro 14. steep stands, so those neat top have great view of field
Put it in Virginia. Better concession contractor. Less outrageous concession pricing. Better seating. Orient the stadium so that the sun crosses the long access, not along it. I second naming it Bruce Arena Stadium. More parking lot entrances, better thought out for exiting the stadium. Park-like Tailgating areas, with BATHROOMS! CSC is not permitted in the stadium, under penalty of tresspass arrest. Seating in Barra Brava, La Norte and SE sections are colors that contrast with seating around them, highlighting the supporter clubs. 25K+ capacity, to accomodate US teams as well as DC United. Lots of FIRST Quality practice fields, reasonable rental of which to local leagues could help off-set stadium costs. An in-stadium store, accessible during regular retail business hours, as well as before, during, after games. Mark
25k black seats, im sick of orange, more durable seats ( ) metro accessable wavy roof. for expansion, leave one end with a gap between the roof and seats for 5 k expansion. bar inside (for legal aged patrons) restaurant ONE, BIG, BOUNCING SUPPORTERS AREA, BLEACHERS (for reason number 3 above ), WITH NO SOLD SEATS BEHIND. for those wondering why i said with no sold seats behind, its because i have heard that a big reason they wont let us have flags (besides the obvious) is because of complaints from other patrons who are behind the supporters. thats just word on the street though.
1. A Roof on all four sides....designed to keep sound in and direct it onto the field 2. Bouncing stands for the supporters section. 3. Have the supporters clubs formally recognized in the stadium. Instead of having to hand the SE, Barra and Eagles banner they should be permanant signs up. 4. The seats should have DC United painted or color schemed onto them. 5. Quality practice fields and traing facilities 6. A bar inside the stadium for post game parties, off season happy hours etc
Every idea I could think of . . . . 1. Roofing on ½ to ¾ of the sides. The sides left bare will be the ones used for expansion. Its not easy to lift off a roof and add on to the side, so if future expansion is a need which it is, we must not roof the entire stadium right away, unless its built at 40k right off the bat, which it won’t be. - Be sure to make a large part of the roof transparent to allow the sun to get to the grass so we can avoid ever seeing the new field looking something like that of St. James Park in the winter. 2. Leave a sufficient amount of space around the base of the stadium to allow for future tiers to be built above. 3. Have a good number of concession stands located conveniently throughout the concourse area, with a screen above showing what’s going on in the game at the time. I think it would be good to place them on or near the concession stands if at all, in the theory that if the fans are standing around watching the game from the screen, then they will likely be buying something if it is located near a concession stand. And considering that D.C. United will hopefully regulate revenue and receive all the profits from the new stadium, money from concessions would be very important. 4. Have a very nice indoor press facility overlooking the field from one end of the stadium. Not sure if its ever a problem, but this would absolutely prevent any reporters or journalists from not coming to games because of weather conditions. 5. Have several large restrooms that allow for quick use (no lines) if possible. 6. For tailgating, have a small brick restroom facility in the outermost grassy perimeter area of the parking lot where the tailgating will take place. Not sure if its important to those who regularly attend games, but it could maybe have some benches or tables or maybe just a little goal to shoot on. I doubt its possible to provide a full field for public use outside the stadium, but you never know. 7. It absolutely must have a huge official store that contains everything imaginable. I mean shirts and pants of all varieties and sizes, balls, scarves and flags, jerseys, sheets, pens and pins, toys and bobble heads, bumper stickers, license plate frames, and please please please some DVDs of all the championship games. Maybe even one dedicated to our “glory years”. 8. Some sort of restaurant that contains things that are wanted by fans that the concessions can’t carry such as the saltenas mentioned by someone else. 9. Have a large room dedicated solely to the club and its history. This room should have a screen constantly rolling film from games from the past, and should have large plaques on the wall of players that are in the D.C. United “Wall of fame”. This wouldn’t make much sense to have now, as the club came into being in ’95, playing its first season in ’96, but it would make sense in the future. Also in here would be pictures that show the fans and trophies, as well as a glass case holding the actual trophies. And there would be monitors, basically D.C. United encyclopedia’s that give you any factual info and records you could ever want to know. (ok, I went a little overboard with this one, but it would be quite sweet.) 10. The stands have to be close to the field, but not as close as Highbury, where players cannot comfortably and properly warm up, take throw ins, or take corner kicks. Celtic Park is perfect in my opinion when it cames to height of the front row, and distance from the actual touchline. The fans aren’t below ground level like at Highbury, yet they’re not as high up as they are at the HDC. http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/united_kingdom/scotland/glasgow_celtic.shtml 11. Box netting please! 12. Large monitors above each end that show the game as its going, as well as showing the fans and instant replays and such. 13. If D.C. United has or gets some very very wealthy fans, then luxurious mini suites would be a nice thing to have at some place in the stadium, although its not that necessary. 14. Have a location both on the ground and elevated a little into the stands for the coach or manager to sit, depending on his choice. If he wants to instruct one of his players he can go to ground level and do so, but if he wants to evaluate his team from an elevated position, he will be able to do so. The perfect is example of this luxury is that of Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. 15. The seats must be painted black with D.C. United painted white on one side. 16. Do not officially name any of the stands, at least not yet. Let names be created for them over time by the fans under the influence of great players and coaches. 17. And as for beer, I’m not old enough to drink it legally, but for those who are, it would be nice if they had a decent selection. 18. If having a crappy name that is basically “(the sponsor) stadium” makes the stadium more profitable, then I have absolutely no objections. Just because that is the name doesn’t mean the fans have to call it that. We can come up with a nickname for it that suits us. 19. The authorities must allow for things like the drums, standing and jumping, confetti, and singing to go on as that creates the atmosphere. I can’t imagine them putting too many restrictions on any of these, but I’ve read some stories. How about the no tailgating rule at HDC? The much more important things: 1. Be sure that this stadium situation allows D.C. United and MLS to receive 100% of the revenue and benefits, very different compared to the situation at RFK. 2. Be sure that the stadium can be reached from multiple types of transports conveniently, and try to find a place in the district or not far enough outside of it to push any of its fans away. (This is the biggest issue) 3. Be sure when constructing the security and stadium staff that the ultimate goal is to maintain a good relationship between the authorities and the spectators, something that has not happened at RFK many times in the past. In the new stadium, D.C. United will benefit from being able to choose and hire the staff themselves. 4. Keep the good relationship between fans and the higher authorities that allow the fans to notify Steven Zack and others if there is ever a problem at the stadium whether it be the facilities or the staff. 5. As important as the new stadium is for a number of reasons, an acceptable training facility is very much an issue as well, and its not something the club has right now. 6. Once the stadium and revenue issues are out of the way, the club can focus on proper marketing, expanding and improving the youth program to create more direct ties that would benefit our first team, and most importantly putting a great team out on the field. - Ryan
Of the position where your seat is, yes. But unless I can have a lounge chair or the like, then the mezzanine is not for me.