Review: 2019 Audi Field Experiences

Discussion in 'D.C. United' started by morrissey, Feb 25, 2019.

  1. ulyssesbob

    ulyssesbob Member

    DC United
    United States
    Mar 22, 2019
    Not sure if this is the best location to ask questions about getting individual tickets. Live northeast of Baltimore, so games are a rare occasion but talked wife into going to a game vs Toronto in late June as a Bday present.

    Where are the best seats for non soccer enthusiast who hates rain? I know there are issues with lack of roof cover for both rain and sun just not sure whether East or West is the better side from an environmental protection perspective.

    Also, anyone know the best market to purchase tickets? Isn't there an exchange, not Stubhub, where season ticket holders sell/exchange tickets, can I access that market as a non season ticket holder? Or should i just purchase directly from DC United/Ticket Master?
     
  2. JayRockers!

    JayRockers! Member+

    Aug 4, 2001
    I think Ticketmaster is the only place that has verified resale seats. There were PLENTY available for the home opener before kickoff. And some of the broker seats that were on Tickemaster were briefly $20 below face, or what the team was selling them for in the midfield sections. I think they got told to bump their tickets back up in line.

    The second home game saw less "action" by regular seat holder selling below face. Broker holders were mostly $5-$10 below face compared to the venue seats. However, with "dynamic pricing" the tickets started out at $29 on opening sales day and were steady until game day, when they inexplicably jumped up to $32. As there were hundreds of seats available in the corners (111-114, 120-122) after kickoff I'll say their attempt to soak a possible walk-up market for a few extra dollars failed. And hardly any were available lower from STH. My guess is most STH are keeping their seats, the brokers are willing to dump, but not for a great deal because they are being pressured by the team to hold a line.

    https://www1.ticketmaster.com/dc-united-v-toronto-fc/event/1500563CF64D7092

    If anyone as a STH has a link to where STH tickets are being posted at "buy me now" prices instead of "I don't understand how a ticket market works" prices, please post up.

    Thx,

    Jay!
     
  3. pats1237

    pats1237 Member

    Oct 28, 2006
    The District
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Best places to avoid inclement weather are 101-110 and the upper rows of 123-131.
     
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  4. DC Braveheart

    DC Braveheart Member

    D.C. United
    Scotland
    Jan 2, 2001
    Oak Hill, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    I sit in section 127 row 16 ... never got wet once (well in my seat ... walking to/from AF is another matter :)). On the west side stick to the middle 5 sections row 12 or above and you should be fine unless the wind is coming from the east. You'll also not need to worry about the sun!
     
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  5. griffin1108

    griffin1108 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 5, 2003
    Virginia
    West side as well, Section 126. I'm in Row 14 which is the first row that really is covered. If the wind is from the east as @DC Braveheart notes, you're screwed until you are up against the top row. Now, just because you're covered, doesn't mean the roof won't leak on you.:) Bottom line -- if you are really worried about inclement weather, AF isn't really any better than RFK -- unless you can snag one of those private suite/boxes.
     
  6. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    I'm in 106 on the east side, row 11 and I've never felt a drop of rain while seated, even during last year's torrential rains. As DC Braveheart points out, if it's raining, you will get wet walking to the stadium, as most of the parking is a good distance away. My section, 106, is at midfield. As long as you stay in the central sections and above row 5, on the east side, you shouldn't get rained on.

    asitis
     
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  7. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    Yesterday some friends told me they went to the RSL game with a special promotion : $30 end line ticket plus a beer. When they went to the concession stand at halftime to get their beer they were not too happy to be told, "no more 'free' beer....." Nice bait and switch job, team.

    I told them they next time to meet me at our tailgate and partake of the margarita keg....
     
  8. DCUdiplomat96

    DCUdiplomat96 Member

    Mar 19, 2005
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Since the opening of AudiField I been to about 5 DCU games.. most games was in cold or bad weather. All pretty good experiences. concessions are too high IMO and I'm bothered that it took about $600 million to build it. I don't think it was worth $100m... Ofcourse not to sound like a prude but wish it was more diversity among the crowds, DCU doesn't do any marketing , they hardly on TV as it is if anything at all. overall the Game experience is good the product on the field has potential for another long over due championship.
     
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  9. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    Despite the ownership saying this I don't believe it was 600 million.
     
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  10. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    The team often bundles the District's contributions as part of the total. That may have been more than the stadium itself.
     
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  11. John L

    John L Member+

    Sep 20, 2003
    Alexandria, VA
    I have no idea what that other guy is talking about
     
  12. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    I assumed this but the District's contribution was capped at 150 million and I don't believe the ownership paid 450 million on top of that.
     
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  13. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    When I look at Banc of California and Allianz Field, I’m disturbed at what we got for $450 million.
     
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  14. DCUdiplomat96

    DCUdiplomat96 Member

    Mar 19, 2005
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Structurally they look worth the price compared to AudiField
     
  15. John L

    John L Member+

    Sep 20, 2003
    Alexandria, VA
    blah - blah - blah

    Nobody in the DC government seriously wanted a DC United stadium in the district. NO-BODY. Every other stadium has had a political champion somewhere high up in the city, county or state (as in the governor of PA or Utah or most other places).

    And the current site of Audi Field isn't fit for anything. Not even a decent junk yard, because its necessary to allow access to utility pipeline that can't be moved. Directly to the North is a nice looking brick building, but its really just a shell surrounding a huge transformer station. And directly to the East is big open transformer station. And then a cement mixing factory. Location is the pits, and thats what they threw at us.

    But a stadium is still better for attracting people than a UStorage building or whatever. And those people are then going to wander around looking for a place to eat and drink and spend money. So despite all that, DC got the better of the deal.
     
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  16. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    At the end of the day, the site was the site once they committed to it. I'd have rather seen it at Poplar Pt and built the stadium they originally sold everyone on, but that didn't happen. Instead they crammed 100 lbs of shit into a 50 lbs sack. The current site was barely big enough and had restrictions out the yin yang, but what they've done with the space is mediocre at best.

    When I watch Max Bretos' videos of the clubs at BoC stadium it positively buries the club level we got. BoC's clubs look like Vegas grade facilities. I've got no idea how well run or staffed they are, but my guess is better than ours. Our club level has 1 poorly laid out, staffed and run bar that serves small beers and a set of taps they put outside sometimes. They got a couple hot bars with whatever food. When we looked at club seats, they could make no promises about parking, they had no preview/layout map of the interior of the club space, nor could they provide sample menus. The seat is a little wider and more cushioned. Nothing about the sales experience said to us that this was a premium experience worth 150% more per seat/game than we spent on midfield preferred seats on the west side. The low end ($125) seats we were looking at were essentially the same site lines we ended up with on the west side.

    For the west side fans, which I'd guess is the most dense clustering of fans, they've devoted the least amount of concessions space to. You can go around the north side for that burger place, pizza place or the papusa stand. Or you can go under the west stand that has some fabulous looking concessions, but you'll get killed on the amount of time you have to spend, especially if your close to midfield or the SG stands. We loved the taco place and want to try the other new stand they opened, but unless we're waaaay early, we're never going under there. They've got a portable Heineken bar that they set up, why can't they do that for some of the other non-cooked or pre-prepared concessions? They've got roving beer guys, sometimes they have water, sometimes they don't. They've never got soda or lemonade. Why don't they people walking with popcorn, candy, plain & pepperoni pizzas in heated bags, pretzels, hot dogs? These are all things you can get in various parts of the stadium, but aren't necessarily easy to get to at half time. Those are all things which were available at RFK from walking vendors.

    They've got a VP of Ops who is supposed to be really good, so he's either stealing his money or someone else has decided to say FU to the fans. I get people's aversion to in seat delivery from a blocking the view standpoint, but there have got to be ways to alleviate the crush at halftime, especially under the south stand.

    Safe standing ... Orlando has it, LAFC has it, I don't see why is wasn't a consideration, other than money. They better get it done this off season.
     
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  17. Eastern Bear

    Eastern Bear Member+

    Feb 27, 1999
    Great Falls, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    I’m just glad the AAF Or whatever they were calling that football league has died and won’t be damaging Audi field.
     
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  18. greatscott

    greatscott Member+

    Dec 21, 2002
    Richmond
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My main gripe is how cheap the stadium looks and feels. It's also going to look very dated very quickly.
    In 15 years this stadium will be a rust bucket.
     
  19. UnitedBorn

    UnitedBorn Member+

    Dec 7, 2015
    301
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    XFL is what is coming to Audi Field and they haven’t even started yet. Two different leagues.
     
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  20. Eastern Bear

    Eastern Bear Member+

    Feb 27, 1999
    Great Falls, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Ugh. Hard to keep track of leagues I don’t care to watch. Hope XFL is a dud too.
     
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  21. Potowmack

    Potowmack Member+

    Apr 2, 2010
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Let’s not do this again. Nobody can seem to figure out how to make Poplar Point work. If DCU held out for Poplar Point, we’d still be watching a bottom of the league team playing at RFK.
     
  22. ImNumberTen

    ImNumberTen Member+

    Oct 4, 2007
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Where are you getting that number from? If you're saying – and it's true – that that is what DC United spent over and above the $150 million that the city contributed in land costs then a whole bunch of people got ripped off.

    But $450 million including the land seems reasonable for what we got (this is an expensive market to build in).

    Are those other stadiums nicer than AF? Yeah, seams so.

    I don't really care, though. I've sat all over the stadium and had great views in every seat (including the top row in the corner), and it will be exceedingly rare that I have a club level seat.

    We have our own stadium, it's in the city, and the team is winning. While I still have numerous beefs with the front office ("demand" pricing, FloSports, stadium roof, etc.) I am also pleased with the ton of progress that has been made.
     
  23. rickinva

    rickinva Member

    Feb 8, 2002
    Fairfax, VA
    Stop being so reasonable. It's unbecoming.

     
  24. griffin1108

    griffin1108 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 5, 2003
    Virginia
    Like the two posters above me, I just don't get the continued whingeing about AF. RFK was and is, a dump with horrible sight lines for soccer. I've adapted to driving and parking for AF -- in fact it's easier for me to get to than RFK and takes less time. The sight lines are superb. The food choices -- if you want them -- are far better than the dreck that was served as "food" at RFK. Sure the food and drink are pricey, but I don't go to the match for the food and drink, I come to watch the game. AF appears to have provided the means for a much better team on the field, a "minor league" team in LU. Sure, I'll rag the team about leaks in the roof and the sometimes effed up screening at the entrances and so on, but jeebus who wants to go back to the good old days of 2013? or when Lionard Pajoy was the "tip of the spear?"
     
  25. stangspritzring

    stangspritzring Member+

    Apr 3, 2006
    NorMD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    AF isn't perfect, but it's ours. Yes, Poplar Point would have been ideal, but 20 years on and the district STILL has no idea what to do with it, given its current state.

    I'm happy with it.
     
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