I got a $20 ticket in the South before they released $15 SRO or the east non-club section. I showed up shortly before kick and had no problems getting in although not all gates were open. It felt like a cross between a college night (which I hate and don't miss) and maybe a WWE crowd. There were a couple of moments where I was concerned about red hats and I thought I might have to do something about the Ben Shapiro type sitting next to me yelling on the phone that he didn't want people (likely mommy) to buy food for him. In the end, it was just the football crowd that was left, but some of the people in attendance were off-putting. I think most in attendance had a good time. It was a sell-out as of last night. The announced attendance was 17,163. I know there were seats for $180 available at the ticket office. I have no idea what the capacity of the stadium is. The mythical west stand camera was a real thing today. A camera location was at the top of section 27. I expect the XFL to be part of a money laundering operation for Vince Mcmahon. I don't know how the league has been canvassing, but the place was somehow sold out. Likewise, people were wearing Defenders gear today AND at the event I went to a couple of weeks ago. I don't know where they're getting it from. I swear a couple of Seattle fans I saw were plants. It was a big production and very professional surrounding most things that were part of the on field operations and visible fan engagement. I did not check on concessions on the upper east side. I noticed a lot of stands were not open. This was nowhere near a sell-out a few days ago. I was very surprised by how large of an operation it was especially compared to the team that actually owns the stadium.
We watched a few minutes, in the 2nd qtr as the game was on the big screen at WFM when we were having a late late lunch after little PSUs indoor game. The club level seating looked about as abandoned as is does on a Wednesday night DCU game. Late arrivals?
There were late arrivals, but most sections were not completely full. Here is a shot during the first half and when half time began... Notably, DC had to wait for Seattle since of course the tunnel is small and they wanted to keep the teams separated going into the small locker rooms. I know not all of the concessions were open during the game. I assume the previously weatherized bathrooms were all open, but heard there were long lines. I will still surprised so many people left the stadium and were using portable toilets immediately after the game. The hotel in the background is coming along quickly. The ornate arches are going up and do well to show the progress of the structure.
Pretty decent crowd for the XFL game. Who knows if it’s sustainable. But, between this and Spirit games, that’s probably some good money for DC United.
How many would have shown up for that XFL game if temps had been in the 39s with a north wind and rain?
There's no way that's 17k in either picture. The club level and field level seating is 1500-2000 seats, and are well more than 2/3 empty. I'd bet close to half the upper deck is empty. The boxes are very underutilized and there are empty seats at the top of every section. This isn't the Wayne Rooney crowd who hang out on the concourses all game long. Great photos, thanks for continuing to post!
We watched a tiny bit (muted) just to see stadium shots - the best thing we saw was the "HTTD: Sell the team, Dan" banner in the upper deck Saw it again in the news where they added that since Danny doesn't control all content at this stadium, it was allowed to stay up
I think that all of us are failing to understand that the capacity of Audi Field is not 20,000. It is actually 30,000 so when the various football entities that use the stadium report crowds of 15/16/17 thousands, they are being truthful.
T-shirts are thrown into 136/137 for Defenders' games. The empty beer cup collection that began as one guy and then stretched more than 10 rows was the highlight.
Speaking of football, it'll be interesting to see how United draws on the 29th. For the life of me, I don't understand why Garber decided to end MLS' regular season in the first week of August, when MLS playoffs will coincide with the baseball playoffs. What kind of ratings will MLS playoffs draw under these conditions. As I posted before, the XFL will last as long as Vine McMahan continues to have a tax advantage in writing off his profits from the WWE.
I don't understand putting down the attendance. People have been doing that for years as a way to dismiss soccer. The more, the better for United and DC. I'm not sure how they're counting. It's probably tickets sold. The number seems legitimate to me as someone who wrote that message from inside of the stadium shortly after it was announced. It was one of the coldest days of the year yesterday and there was some wind. People showed up.
New picture of the box suites. Ugly grey trimming is gone with something much better. Still want actual names of the championships and years, but this is a good start. #DCU pic.twitter.com/EpdbYfDc3z— RFK Refugees Podcast (@RfkRefugees) February 18, 2020
I thought something like this would happen when even USSF was skinning those areas. It took longer than I thought for them to get paint over there after realizing the original colors looked bad.
Perhaps I missed it but is there any word on whether or not the gridiron lines/Defenders endzone branding will remain on the field until the end of the XFL season? I'm assuming DCU is looking to replace the pitch once the XFL season is complete? TS.
No clue how effective they'll be removing the football lines before DCU games, but XFL is on the hook to replace the pitch after the last game.
That's good to hear. It's a shame that the pitch for the season opener will look worn but i guest the revenue has been worth a few weeks of poor optics. TS.
Hung these new signs because we won the World Series. P.S. We play a baseball game today.#SpringTraining // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/UpjGufMKne— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 22, 2020 It's interesting to see Spring training facilities getting what would be considered significant upgrades to EagleBank Field.
A couple of points today, from my conversation with my ticket rep: 1) Gate B is now the STM entrance. She wasn't too excited about the location, and I tend to agree. We'll see if that gate is any faster. 2) Tickets need to be turned in for FAM at least 5 days before kickoff to get 100% of face value. I forgot to ask her whether you get partial credit for turning in your ticket late. The website is silent on that question. She said that if you want to be sure to avoid any potential screwup, turn your tickets in at least a week ahead of time. So, the STM gate is generally a neutral-to-positive change. The change to FAM is negative.
Gate B was faster than Gate A even before it became the STM gate, so I would imagine it'll stay faster than A now. I haven't used C enough to use it as a point of comparison.