DC United will move into Audi Field in '18, but "because of MLS’s concerns about scheduling complications and competitive advantage late in the year, the club will have to play between two and four home matches at alternative locations" before the new stadium opens, according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. The Southwest DC venue is "slated to open on time in late June, almost four months into the season." DC United had "hoped to play all 17 home games there by front-loading the schedule with away matches and squeezing the entire home slate into the last four months" of the season. But with MLS "balking at that plan," the team is "preparing to play multiple early-season home games elsewhere in the area, such as Annapolis, Baltimore or Richmond." DC United "could play all of them at a single location or spread them out." Sources said that the "most likely number of off-site home games is three." A source said that the team is also "unlikely to consider" FedExField, Nationals Park or RFK Stadium. DC United Dir of Media & Communications Lindsay Simpson said that if the team plays at alternative sites, it "would not charge season-ticket holders if they did not want to attend those matches." There is also the "possibility of season-ticket holders applying their seats" toward a proposed four-team summer club tournament at Audi Field. A source said that if MLS "isn’t going to fill available dates at Audi Field with regular season matches," then DC United "would fill them with a tournament and try to reclaim revenue lost" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/29).
