Subaru Park will host D.C. United-Santos Laguna Leagues Cup game in last minute change

A series of events at D.C.’s stadium beat the grass up so badly that it needs a new surface installed sooner than the team had planned for, and Subaru Park was the easiest replacement venue.

Outside the Union's Subaru Park.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 26, 2024, 7:07 p.m. ET

The Union have stepped in to host next Wednesday’s Leagues Cup game between D.C. United and Mexico’s Santos Laguna, because the playing surface at D.C.’s Audi Field is in too bad shape to host the game.

In the last two weeks, Audi Field has hosted a U.S.-Scotland rugby game, two D.C. United games, and the U.S. women’s soccer team’s Olympic send-off game. The grass was bad enough already for that July 16 U.S. game, and while players kept quiet about it, they and TV viewers nationwide had enough proof.

On Saturday, a music festival will kick off at Audi Field, and the installation of facilities for it started a few days ago. The festival sent one of the stadium’s other tenants, the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, out of town for its two group stage home games in that league’s equivalent summer tournament with Mexican teams.

The first of those games was played at Subaru Park last Sunday, and the second will be played at a longtime soccer venue in Richmond, Va., next Wednesday. That kept D.C. United from being able to use the venue, and a lot of other ones closer than Chester weren’t feasible.

The Washington Commanders’ NFL stadium’s field is too narrow for soccer, and the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium presumably either wasn’t available or would have cost too much to rent. (Whatever that number is, booking Subaru Park surely cost less.)

The University of Maryland’s college football stadium has artificial turf (and might not be wide enough), and the campus soccer stadium doesn’t have professional-standard locker rooms or broadcast facilities.

Along with the usual Apple TV broadcast, Wednesday’s game will be televised on FS1. Kickoff will be at 8 p.m., the same time it was before the venue move.

United had planned to resod Audi Field after the Santos game, but the situation became so bad that it the club was forced to move the work earlier. The Washington Post repoted that United lobbied to move the game later, but officials didn’t budge.

D.C. was issued “an undisclosed fine,” the relocation announcement said. A source with knowledge of the matter said United is expected to offer its season ticket-holders free bus transportation to and from Chester.

All involved know those buses might hit some significant traffic on the way up I-95, and not just because of rush hour. Lincoln Financial Field will be sold out that night for another soccer game, an exhibition between English Premier League superpowers Arsenal and Liverpool.

That will dent the crowd at Subaru Park further, but that was also well-understood when the move was agreed to.