Audi Field

About

Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the home of the D.C. United, Washington Spirit, and DC Power FC soccer teams, and the DC Defenders football team. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000. Previously, D.C. United had explored sites in the Washington metropolitan area. Following the failure of an initial stadium proposal in 2006, D.C. United made two additional stadium proposals that also failed to be built. In January 2011, the club explored using previously unused land at Buzzard Point to build a stadium; this was confirmed in July 2013, when Buzzard Point was announced as the stadium location. The ground-breaking ceremony occurred in February 2017, with construction completed in July 2018. In North American competitions, the stadium is known as Washington, D.C. Stadium due to advertising rules.

D.C. United and Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber raised concerns about scheduling conflicts with the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium in July 2004, with Garber stating that a soccer-specific stadium in Washington, D.C. "needs to become a priority". Later that year, D.C. United unveiled a proposal to build a 24,000-seat stadium at Poplar Point along the Anacostia River, to open in time for the 2007 season. The stadium's size was later increased to 27,000 and incorporated into a mixed-use development on the site to revitalize the Anacostia neighborhood, with the support of Ward 8 councilmember Marion Barry after he initially opposed the stadium. The stadium project was neglected by the city's leadership during the debate over a baseball stadium at Navy Yard. After a change of ownership for D.C. United in January 2007, the $200 million stadium project was moved into public review, where it drew criticism over its public financing, gentrification, and displacement of residents. By mid-July, the Poplar Point plan was abandoned and D.C. United began looking at other locations for the stadium. Despite the failed bid, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty opted to have a closed-door meeting in February 2008 to discuss the city funding $150 million for the club. However, despite a short-lived renewed interest, when the D.C. Council recessed in July 2008, the plan never was brought up, and ultimately died after the main developer for the Poplar Point project withdrew their funding. In February 2009, the team announced plans for a new stadium in nearby Prince George's County, Maryland, close to FedExField. This proposal ran into similar trouble, however, when the Prince George's County Council voted to send a letter to the Maryland General Assembly opposing the stadium plan.

Originally, D.C. United proposed building a stadium at Poplar Point on the Anacostia riverfront in Washington, D.C. as part of a planned 110-acre (0.45 km2) mixed-use development that would have included a hotel, offices, housing, and retail. Plans were formulated as early as 2005 and were formally announced in January 2007. However, in July 2007, the talks stalled between the team and city officials. There were disputes over the financial arrangements proposed by the team, which would have the city providing $200 million in subsidies and development rights while the team assumed construction costs. In January 2008, the team announced it was looking at other possible sites in the area for construction of the new stadium. In February 2008, Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty suggested at a closed-door city council meeting that the city might offer as much as $150 million towards the costs of building a soccer stadium at Poplar Point. There was apparently renewed interest on the part of the city in providing public funds for the stadium at Poplar Point. However, in July 2008, the D.C. Council recessed without considering the proposed stadium plan. With sites in Maryland entering the discussion, negotiations continued throughout 2008 before collapsing in early 2009 as the developer pulled out of the project.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.