TBF, I wouldn't have many problems with the new stadium in its current incarnation, if it weren't emblematic of everything our house poor, clueless, shitbag owners have done over the last decade. I've long since reconciled the location & parking situation and we've worked around it to our benefit, even if it cost 5x more per game to park. I bought front row seats on the west side, I had no expectation of the roof doing much, especially with the breeze that blows in from the NE corner. There are only a couple of MLS stadia that I think an objective evaluation of could yield a favorable result for our stadium. Soldier Field and Gilette are the only ones that are in the conversation IMO. Our stadium relies heavily on location and sight lines and drops off fast when it comes to the rest of the amenities you're likely to judge by. When you down play the location of several of those cities you cite above, remember many of those cities don't rely on extensive mass transit systems - Denver, Dallas, KC. While Philly has an extensive bus network, for most of my life, SEPTA has been in the same state as WMATA is right now. And where would have put a stadium in NY, especially on an MLS budget? Driving to places like Giants Stadium & the Prudential Center are norms that have existed for decades. The Rangers, Knicks, Yanks and Mets only play in the five boroughs because their original stadiums were built 50+ years ago or more and even the rebuilds were accomplished via adjacent land swaps and outlays only mega-billionaires could cover.
Do I have a load of problems with our FO? Absolutely. Would I like Audi to have some cool touches that add to the atmosphere? Sure. So, I get where you're coming from. And do I miss Lot 8? Of course, absolutely. 100%. I am upset with our results and disappointed at the weaknesses of our ownership (and, frankly, I wish there were cheaper parking options) but at the same time I do feel lucky to be watching DC United in the District from a nice seat with a good view at a price I consider affordable and with a Senate Beer in hand and a couple of pupupsas awaiting my attention. I've been to most US soccer stadiums, either for DC or US games (I'll be making my first visit to Minnesota in a couple of weeks and it looks really cool!). There is nothing at quite a few of them that I think "boy, I wish we had that." And, for many of the ones where I do have a twinge of envy, the main thing better about my experience there is what the roof adds. As for access points to services, we're better than several, including some new ones -- I had longer waits to get a beer in Cincinnati and Orlando, for instance, because Audi has so many roving vendors and mini-stands that relieve pressure on the main stands. Do I wish that they could have built us a Children's Mercy Park or Allianz Field? Sure. But I'm just not feeling the gulf in the gameday experience that some others may feel and we've been there just long enough that I'm beginning to have a soft spot for Audi, I suppose.
I don't think you'll find any other stadium in the country without parking that also isn't within a 15-minute walk of any public transportation (and I loved those Circulator bus routes until the city shut them down because they got a bigger payoff from the charter bus lobby than DC United). I've made the walk about 50 times since 2018 and, at my not-too-slow pace, it's 17-19 minutes there and 17-20 minutes back, depending on crowd. I find that I usually dread the walk in ways I never did to and from RFK. Metro trip planner says it's a 26 minute walk (it isn't). 4:51pm - Board GREEN LINE towards BRANCH AVE 5:03pm - Arrive at NAVY YARD METRO STATION Walk - 26 min - 0.8 miles Exit station at HALF ST SE & M ST SE to destination Walk approx. 1 block S on Half St SE. Turn right on N St SE. Walk approx. 1 block W on N St SE. Turn left on South Capitol St. Walk approx. 3 blocks S on South Capitol St. Turn right on Potomac Ave SE. Walk a short distance SW on Potomac Ave SE. Walk straight on Potomac Ave SW. Walk approx. 2 blocks SW on Potomac Ave SW. Bear right on R St SW. Walk approx. 1 block W on R St SW. RFK was on the Metro line and had parking. CapOne Arena is on Metro. I don't think anyone could say Audi Field is on Metro or that it has parking.
I certainly agree that the parking situation isn't great and that it would be better to be closer to the Metro than it is. I just didn't think the 15-minute-walk/0.7 mile distance from Waterfront Metro should result in the view that we'd be better off at the DC equivalent of Commerce City or Frisco. I don't think I've ever walked to Audi from the Navy Yard Metro. I've made the Waterfront walk many times, mostly in the first season, because we used to park at the two cheap garages just north of the Waterfront Metro. Unfortunately, having recently lost our other parking situation, we may return to those spots starting in August.
yeah - the city shoulda planned a dumpsite closer to Metro - oh wait, that's where the Nats stadium is I also like Audi Field because its NOT a plain symmetrical cookie-cutter stadium - I like the elevated stands on the West, the Heineken Bar, the steep stands all the way around, etc - And I would have brought the stands more over the sidewalk on the East and just ignored DOD's complaints
I feels a lot farther for my 75year old Dad. I can make the walk fine at 53 but he struggles vs the RFK Metro stop.
I'm kind of sad that the least depressing discussion we can have right now is about the pros and cons of our stadium.
Death would arrive from overdose before the beer goggles could be thick enough to have a rose tint about the front office.
The answer is a) finish the roof, and b) kick Dan Snyder out of the NFL, put in a new owner who is not a terrible person and will convince DC to let them build a fancy new stadium on the RFK site. Then when b) happens play 1 or 2 home games there as like "Lot 8 day" events. Let the old fans have a day or two a year to rekindle the tailgating nostalgia and make the needed improvements to have people okay with Audi field. If we're being real here the true answer is to boot the DC United front office out of town, hire people who know what they're doing and build a winning club again. I feel like a lot of winning would make people far more reasonable about these issues. Problem is DC United is so bad and worse yet mind-numbingly boring that there's nothing else of interest to discuss but to complain about this.
I definitely think the issue has shifted from ownership to FO. It seems ownership is willing to spend now. That's what I want from ownership. They are bad at other aspects such as necessary stadium improvements, fan appreciation, et al, and that's bad but not a huge thing for me personally. I want them to not be cheap with player acquisition, I think we've got that. The FO, on the other hand, has to go. They spent that money on Flores, they told us Hernan has to go because the talent is there, they said Ashton is the guy for the rest of the season. The result of that is the team is much, much, much worse and now they talk about rebuilding. GTFO, already. It's just a miserable failure, give someone else a chance. Kasper has been here forever, and DC has won zilch, miracle Open Cup aside. Pull the trigger, the sooner the better.
Fair enough. But to me, (whatever owner you or anyone else thinks is great) + Kasper and co. = crap. Bottom line for me. If you're saying it doesn't matter who replaces Kasper because of the ownership, I'd like the chance to find out. I'd also like to know how the ownership is stopping our FO from correctly evaluating talent.
The owner has publicly stated that he has no ambition to make the club great again. He wants to be a low spender that somehow manages to be mid-table. I think the words "stay in our lane" were used. But I do agree it's long past time for Kasper to be gone
You "dread the walk"? Really? Maybe it's that I'm a city-dweller who routinely walks further than multiple times a week that but it's just not a big a deal to me. I've noted here before my issues with Audi Field (mainly the lack of a complete roof) but the sightlines really are great and that is what matters most to me. Regarding the walk from the Metro: I used Google Maps to measure the walking distance from the Metro to the closest stadium entrances at RFK and Audi Field. RFK – Distance to stadium: .30 miles Audi – Distance to stadium: .63 miles It is .33 miles further to Audi Field. Based on a 20-minute mile walking pace (considered average) we're talking about a walk that is 7 minutes longer. Let's face it, if DCU was contending for trophies there would be much less hand-wringing over the stadium.
Of course but isn’t that the whole point? Part of the “environment” is a winning culture and atmosphere. Walking to see a stinker flush another turd doesn’t create ambience.
While I thought it was amusing, I was also troubled by the fact that it implied an equivalence between the comic genius of the original Three Stooges and their present day successors. Sort of a Curly to Curly Joe type comparison.
Oh, yeah. Most of the criticism is warranted (didn't mean to suggest otherwise). But we would have far greater tolerance of the stadium's shortcomings with attractive soccer and routine deep playoff runs.
I always really enjoyed going to RFK, especially when we were winning despite its many drawbacks, for example.