It wasn’t exactly the start D.C. United was hoping for when the team opened its glistening, brand-new, $500 million stadium on Saturday.
Even with a 3-1 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps and the debut of English soccer star Wayne Rooney, D.C. United’s first game at Audi Field was marred by structural defects and protests by its own fans.
In fact, they could barely keep parts of the stadium together. Lindsay Simpson, the team’s director of communications and sideline reporter, was hit by a falling section of railing shortly before kickoff, according to WJLA. She was hit in the head by the railing, treated by medics on the scene and did not end up working the game.
There were at least two incidents of the stadium’s railing falling down, and the stadium’s staff was seen securing the railing in other sections with duct tape.
APThe bathrooms featured unwrapped paper towel dispensers, and there were problems with the WiFi in the press box, the Washington Post reported.
There were also problems with the mobile ticketing system, creating long lines outside the stadium, according to The Undefeated.
“It’s a great stadium,” Rooney told the Washington Post. “At the end of the day, we have to create the atmosphere on the pitch. We have to excite the fans.”
Before the game began, two of the club’s three supporter groups protested the club’s new group ticketing policies, which they claimed favor the third group. D.C. United previously had an agreement to sell the two groups discounted tickets, allowing them to re-sell the tickets with a mark-up to pay for pregame tailgates and events.
D.C. United is 3-7-5 with 14 points, good for last place in the MLS standings. The team had played all of its home games in RFK Stadium, the former home of the Redskins and the Nationals, since its inception in 1996.
