I don’t think I noticed that although the roof has never been a thing for me, just an emblem of this teams half ass execution in everything. Given the choice I’d love to see a $10M playmaker long before the roof, although I seem to be in the minority on that take.
This was one of the very final renderings after most of the design had been finalized and significantly scaled back. Notably, even after this, some materials and colors still did not happen in the end after some materials were even installed and then taken down to save money. The tacky tarp experiments on the west side to block the Sun wouldn't have been as necessary if they had done the skin that the "Cube" has. This actually was something that was taken into consideration for east side views and camera angles. The canopy remaining "unfinished" was one of those things that was easy to anticipate since it happened in Bridgeview and San Jose too. It was laughable enough that they installed one type of cheap material for the canopy and then took it all down for something just slightly more durable since it would need to support a solar array. I had plans for Tuesday's game. I knew it was going to be postponed, but went because of the group I was going with. Only one other person in the group returned for yesterday evening. I left the Nats game early and followed that loss on my phone during the beginning of United's game.
The thing you have to understand is that the roof was only one of a series of broken promises to season ticket holders. The FO lied about completing the roof over 3 years during each seaon ticket campaign. Originally the roof was supposed to cover the entire stadium to keep the weather out, the sound in and minimize the affect of bright sunlight in covering games (The Athletic, Wash Post and even Twellman talked about these issues with the stadium where he had to call games from a monitor adjacent to the broadcast booth in the stadium because the sunlight was so intense he couldn't see anything). As someone who bought tickets and spend thousands of dollars over multiple years on that expectation I was really pissed about the fact that we had chosen seats that were told were under cover and in fact they were not. Being rained on or having the sun blaze down on you takes away from enjoying the game. The lack of a roof also minimizes the sound so the energy of the stadium is dissipated. But its not just the roof, it was the safe standing areas for the Barra and Eagles, the concession stands access and number, the lack of parking tailgating and distance to the metro and goes on. Many overlooked these issues initially because they were just happy to get a stadium ANY stadium, but as ususal DCU was short sighted not just with players but also facilities. People rightly look at the players and are frustrated with the performance of the FO. But those of us who closely follow other aspects of the team on the Stadium business side see the same problems manifest.
I get it. I am right there with you. Our seats were sold as covered, but I've been to enough different sporting events to know what I was getting, especially where I was looking to buy my seats. I was one of the harshest critics of the stadium before it was built and after attending games there. I remain so today, but I've accepted that the physical structure is not really going to change. Should the roof have gone all the way around, absolutely? Should it cover everyone, for sure? But here we are today with a bunch of pikey investors collecting their tax write off. There is only so much they can do with the space and structure as constructed (eg- no roof over the north/south stands) While I am certain the roof is only getting done because of the all star game. Regardless of where that $10M comes from, whether its a loan or cash out of Kaplan's pocket, I have to wonder what that $10M loan is going to to the roster. $10M is the fee for the Cucho who almost single handedly sunk us last week. $10M DPs are going to become the table stakes to compete at the MLS table. Oh how I wish these guys were even half as smart as Will Chang in realizing their limitations and the realities of competition in this league. If you're one of the poorest ownership groups in the league, the ability to compete is only getting harder as more and more deep pocket owners come into the league.
Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist or anything, but... There used to be a rule in MLS that the money earned from the sale of a homegrown player had to be put back into the team within a certain time frame (I think it was a year). But "put back into the team" was a vague terms and could be used, for instance, to upgrade facilities... This is what they did with the sale of Najar (at least I think it was Najar - can't really think who else it would be and it was definitely homegrown money). They took the money and used it to returf the practice fields at RFK. Now, there's an awful lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda, maybe this, maybe that in my statement above. Is this rule still in effect? If so, what is the actual timeframe they have to use the money within? But when I heard about the roof plans the first thought that went through my head was how much did we sell Paredes for?
When I heard about the roof plans, the first thought that went through my head was "they must want to upgrade the lux boxes and premium areas, and they know they can't away with it unless they do some work on the roof over the economy-class customers."
It's interesting that many people seem to think that the plan is to put a roof over the whole stadium rather than just adding a little bit overhang along the sidelines
I haven't seen any indication they will do anything other than fill out the existing framework. Has there been some hint they'll go beyond that?
$10-$12m is for total project, not just roof. About the roof, Goff just said this, which would fit that description. The rest of the money to the "expanded premium areas"? Completing the roof on the east and west sides (sidelines), no plans yet for end zones— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) July 13, 2022
I went to the first games because why not? I decided to finally just go ahead and buy season tickets. I was even masked for the final Saturday United/Sunday Defenders weekend. It was nice to get that refund quick unlike United holding onto money.
With season ticket renewals out, I'm curious whether anyone here with season tickets is seeing a price increase or not and where you're sitting. For me in 106, I got no price increase. Same price as last year.
that league was designed to lose money as a tax write-off - so the more money they had to refund, the better
For my 2 seats in 126 they are expecting me to pay $2,120 - price went up $100 a seat for combined total of $200 or 10% And for that I also receive the privilege of paying an additional $20 convenience fee. on the other hand, it seems the list of benefits is a little bit more substantial than last year: Tickets | D.C. United (dcunited.com) I think the in-stadium team shop/concession discount is being increased from 10% to 20% (is it already at 20?) and each account can have 4 tickets to a Loudoun game and it appears they will have more access to team events/member forums(fora?)/chalk talks, etc. along with a $500 discount for a suite rental. When I expressed to my rep how the member gift was, um, underwhelming, there was a pause on his end. I hope the package wasn't his idea....