DC United’s brand-new stadium is called Audi Field. The team had long desired to construct a new soccer-specific stadium to take the place of the RFK Stadium, which was too big and unsuitable for their needs. Around 2005, the first preparations for a transfer were formed. Different ideas followed in the following years, but they were all abandoned for a variety of reasons, including a lack of funding and a lack of support from the local government.
Plans for a potential location at Buzzard Point, south of Washington, DC, not far from Nationals Park, began to take shape in 2011. According to these proposals, the new DC United stadium would be a part of a larger neighborhood revitalization initiative that included investments in both residential and commercial development.
But more delays prevented the plans from moving forward until a formal agreement with the Washington DC council was declared in June 2015.
The new stadium’s construction began in 2017 and was finally finished during the 2018 MLS season, a little later than anticipated. The inaugural game at Audi Field, a league game against the Vancouver Whitecaps, was played a few days after the stadium’s formal opening date of July 9th (3-1).
The name Audi Field came about when a naming rights sponsorship agreement with the automaker Audi was revealed in 2017.
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How to get to Audi Field
Just south of the heart of Washington, DC’s downtown, in the Buzzard Point neighborhood, is where you’ll find Audi Field. It is practically adjacent to National Park, home field of the Washington Nationals.
Capital Hill, the National Mall, and downtown Washington, DC are all within a 30-minute stroll of the property.
On the other side of Nationals Park from the closest metro station is Navy Yard metrorail. Waterfront Station is an alternative that is situated equidistant from the ground. The green line, which travels through downtown and links to a number of other lines, stops at each of these stations.
D.C. United is it owned by Yo Gotti?
This Monday, D.C. United announced the addition of four new minority owners, including multi-platinum rapper and record producer Yo Gotti. Yo Gotti, real name Mario Mims, shares ownership of one of the most illustrious MLS teams with Mark Ingram II, a former Ravens running back.
Yo Gotti, who is from Nashville, Tennessee rather than the nation’s capital, became well-known by producing a number of top hits, including as “Down in the DM” (2016) and “Rake it Up” (2017). He established Collective Music Group (also known as CMG Records) in the early 2010s, and since then, he has signed some of the most talented new rappers, like 42 Dugg and Moneybagg Yo.
“Yo Gotti said in a D.C. United news release on Monday, “I was exposed to the game through my kid and witnessed how quickly it has expanded in our country. I’m thrilled to join the D.C. United ownership group.” “I’ve long admired the passion and entrepreneurship of [D.C. United co-chairmen] Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, and I’m looking forward to working with them and the rest of the ownership group to further elevate D.C. United’s dedication to fusing soccer, entertainment, community, and culture. We’re working to improve the fan experience and offer interesting events to Audi Field together.
Jake Silverstein, a former owner of Houston Dynamo FC and current co-owner of Swansea City AFC, a team that competes in the English Championship, is one of the three other recently appointed minority owners of the team (one level below the Premier League). The other two people on the list are Granite Associates, Inc. CEO Adam Gerry and local businessman Joe Mamo from Washington, D.C.
D.C. United relocated to Audi Field when?
When the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area received a Major League Soccer franchise in 1995, the history of D.C. United officially began. Prior to relocation to their new home, Audi Field, in 2018, D.C. United played its home matches at RFK Stadium, which is situated in the city’s seventh ward close to the Eastland Gardens area and D.C. Armory.
The first franchise given out by Major League Soccer was D.C. United, who dominated the league in its early years. United is frequently referred to as MLS’s “flagship franchise” for these reasons. [1] [2] [3] The team has more regular season and league titles than any other sports franchise in the Washington, DC, area as of 2013. The group has also won a CONCACAF championship and three U.S. Open Cup championships. [3]
What portion of D.C. United does Yo Gotti own?
According to The Washington Post, rapper Yo Gotti is one of a group of investors who bought a share in the Major League Soccer team D.C. United. Located in Washington, DC, is D.C. United.
Gotti will own 6% of the soccer team together with his group of investors. The record executive is investing alongside Eyob “Joe Mamo, a petroleum executive from Ethiopia, and a number of other unidentified investors.
The co-chairmen of D.C. United, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, are pals with the hip-hop artist. Levien and Kaplan introduced Gotti to them through their ownership of the Memphis Grizzlies. Gotti is a native of Memphis.
At the MLS All-Star Game in Los Angeles in August, the rapper also had a meeting with MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
D.C. United plays its home games at Audi Field, which seats 20,000 people.
Equity finance has been used by the team to raise money for the completion of the north side of the stadium, completion of training headquarters, expansion of VIP sections, and development of the east side of the pitch. Mark Ingram II, a running back with the Houston Texans who won the Heisman Trophy, also acquired a 1% share in the organization in June.
Not just Gotti and Ingram have made investments in the league. James Harden, Patrick Mahomes, and Kevin Durant have all made investments in the MSL. Will Ferrell and Matthew McConaughey, both actors, are MSL investors.
Gotti, 40, is a record label owner as well. The musician and his brother Brandon Mims established Collective Music Group, often known as CMG, in 2012. The record company and the international record company Interscope Geffen A&M recently partnered. The MSL still needs to provide its final permission for the arrangement with Gotti’s organization.
Who is the owner of the DC film industry?
A division of Warner Bros. controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery, DC Films is an American film production firm that specializes in creating movies based on DC Comics characters.
Who is CMG Label’s owner?
Yo Gotti started the record company Collective Music Group (abbreviated CMG; originally Cocaine Muzik Group). Yo Gotti’s cousin Brandon Mims serves as the label’s president at the moment.
Who owns the most money in the MLS?
MLS, which begins its 27th season on Saturday, is still a work in progress. It has drawn some of the biggest stars in soccer since its establishment in 1996, including David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andrea Pirlo, David Villa, and Thierry Henry. But none of these players joined the league until they were well past their prime.
Undoubtedly, claiming that only aging elite performers travel to the US is hardly a novel, original view of the position of MLS in the world of soccer. Additionally, it is losing validity. Only take a look at how Lorenzo Insigne, the Napoli captain who is just a little bit older than 30 and won the Euro 2020 with Italy last summer, was acquired by Toronto FC.
Meanwhile, the caliber of some of the youthful players creating a name for itself in the league is demonstrated by South American powerhouse River Plate’s close-season chase of New York City FC forward Valentn “Taty” Castellanos, who scored 23 goals in the 2021 season.
As things are, though, MLS is still a very long way from challenging the dominance of European leagues like the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, and Germany’s Bundesliga on the field.
New York franchises lead moneybags MLS rich list
The financial heft of many of MLS’s team owners, though, allows it to compete head-to-head with the largest domestic leagues on the planet.
That is partially due to the fact that they typically turn out to be people or organizations that are in charge of major league clubs outside of the United States. Consider the two New York teams, which top the MLS ownership rich list. The Premier League champions Manchester City are owned by City Football Group, the holding company in charge of New York City FC, while Red Bull GmbH, the organization in charge of the New York Red Bulls, also owns clubs like Red Bull Leipzig in Germany.
New York Red Bulls: Red Bull GmbH
Since 2006, Red Bull GmbH, the energy drink business co-founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya, has owned the New York Red Bulls, formerly known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. In 1984, the two created Red Bull. They based the beverage on Krating Daeng, which Yoovidhya had created in his home Thailand in the 1970s.
Mateschitz, an Austrian who at the time was a marketing manager for a German shampoo brand, started a commercial relationship with Yoovidhya after learning that Krating Daeng relieved the jet lag he encountered while traveling frequently to Thailand in the 1980s. In order to fulfill international standards, Yoovidhya and Mateschitz jointly modified the drink’s recipe before introducing it to the world market in 1987.
Mateschitz has since accumulated a wealth that, based on the most recent estimate from Forbes, is worth $21.9 billion. Yoovidhya passed away in 2012, leaving his family with a 51 percent ownership interest in Red Bull. The sole owner of a little portion of that interest, or 2% of the business, is Yoovidhya’s son Chalerm. The Yoovidhya family’s current net worth is $24.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Despite the tremendous fortune of their owners individually and collectively, the New York Red Bulls have yet to win any important championships. In 2013, 2015, and 2016, they won the Supporters’ Shield, an additional prize granted to the MLS team with the greatest regular-season record. The Red Bulls were defeated by Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup final in 2008, which was the closest they had ever gotten to capturing the league championship. In 2003 and 2017, they finished second twice in the US Open Cup.
Red Bull GmbH’s portfolio of sporting entities also includes the F1 team Red Bull Racing and the Austrian soccer club Red Bull Salzburg in addition to New York and Leipzig.
New York City FC: City Football Group
New York City FC was created in 2013 by City Football Group, which is principally controlled by the investment company Abu Dhabi United Group, which is owned by the Emirati sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. According to estimates, Sheikh Mansour is worth roughly $22 billion.
The 51-year-old prince also serves as chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Emirates Global Aluminium in addition to serving as chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, which manages the emirate’s $243 billion sovereign wealth fund. In addition, he holds the positions of minister of presidential affairs and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Since joining the MLS in 2015, New York City has won one league championship. In a thrilling 2021 MLS Cup final in December, The Boys in Blue overcame Portland Timbers by winning on penalties after surviving a final-second Timbers equalizer. After defeating Santos de Gupiles of Costa Rica 6-0 on aggregate on Wednesday, Ronny Deila’s team advanced to the quarterfinals, keeping them in contention to win the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time.
Along with NYCFC and Manchester City, the clubs controlled entirely or partially by City Football Group also include Girona in Spain, Melbourne City in Australia, and Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.
Elsewhere in MLS: Charlotte, Dallas, Galaxy, Rapids
There are at least four additional teams with ownerships that are still in the 11-figure range behind New York City and the New York Red Bulls that would prevail in a wallet-weighing competition with the majority of their international rivals. Newcomers Charlotte FC are owned by hedge fund manager David Tepper, whose current estimated net worth by Forbes is $15.8 billion. Charlotte FC will play their first MLS match on Sunday against D.C. United.
Clark and Dan Hunt, whose father Lamar Hunt, a co-founder of Major League Soccer, bought FC Dallas in 2003, are the team’s owners. The family’s fortune, which was inherited from oil billionaire HL Hunt, Clark and Dan’s grandfather, is $15.5 billion. The owner of the five-time MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy is another of the league’s co-founders, Philip Anschutz. Forbes has currently pegged Anschutz’s net worth at $10.8 billion. A close second to Anschutz is the president of the Colorado Rapids, Stan Kroenke, whose business, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, also owns the Premier League franchise Arsenal. Kroenke is worth $10.7 billion.
What MLS team is the least expensive?
Many people are predicting who will come the closest to winning the title and associated rewards as anticipation for the new Major League Soccer season grows. The 2022 season will include 28 teams, and as is common throughout the world, money often talks when it comes to success.
Most valuable MLS teams
Which MLS franchises are the most valuable, then? For this, we look to Sportico’s statistics from the previous year, which showed that Los Angeles FC had the highest value at an impressive $860 million.
Naturally, despite having so much support financially, LAFC disappointed many last year. In order to maximize the potential of star striker Carlos Vela, the team has recruited seven new players to the roster ahead of upcoming season. We’ll know if it works out over time.
Atlanta United ($845 million) and LA Galaxy ($835 million) are the teams in front of LAFC. The Seattle Sounders ($705 million) and New York City ($655 million) are a fair drop down after that. The Colorado Rapids are the team on the available list from last year with the lowest price tag at $370 million. View the complete list.
Is the MLS in the red?
Sacramento Republic was supposed to join Major League Soccer in 2023. It was provisionally reported in October 2019 that California’s capital city has been awarded a slot in the league following extensive and drawn-out talks to gain a franchise. However, with billionaire Ron Burkle withdrawing as the primary investor due to the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, that might be the closest Sacramento ever gets to the Major League Soccer. The club’s MLS admission is currently on hold.
Don Garber, the commissioner, estimates that the MLS will lose close to $1 billion in income by 2020. “He admitted to reporters in December that the losses had been shocking. “Clubs will need to handle their finances as carefully as they can. Even more astonishing was Garber’s assertion that MLS could lose roughly the same amount in 2021 just a few months later.
Such claims are troubling for a league that has made permanent, uninterrupted growth its goal for the past 15 years, especially when an investor like Burkle walks out of an expansion team. So, with North America experiencing economic unrest, is the MLS bubble in danger of popping?
Since the middle of the 2000s, the MLS has swiftly added teams while simultaneously increasing the expansion fees it charges. Toronto FC only paid $10m for a seat at the table in 2007. 2015 saw New York City FC pay $100 million, while FC Cincinnati, Nashville, and Austin FC each contributed $150 million. Following that, David Tepper, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, reportedly paid $325 million for a franchise in Charlotte in 2019.
For comparison, Forbes estimates that $325 million would be enough to purchase a mid-table club in the Premier League or pretty much any of Europe’s other top five leagues. MLS is already competing with some of the top soccer leagues in the world in terms of market value.
But unlike these well-established leagues, MLS has yet to mature. Because of this, the league is theoretically more exposed to the effects of Covid-19, at least in terms of valuation. In the not-too-distant future, MLS will expand to 32 teams, and there will still be demand from around the United States and Canada to fill the open spots. But will investors be prepared to pay such exorbitant prices for the privilege?
“Joe Mansueto, a wealthy businessman who acquired full control of the Chicago Fire for $320 million in 2019, told The Athletic that Major League Soccer is a growing organization. ” Instead of paying for what is already there, you pay for where the puck is heading. The sales pitch has been effective since Garber had predicted that by 2022, MLS would rank among the top soccer leagues in the world.
This is not too unlike from what happens frequently on Wall Street, where the potential value of an asset frequently outweighs its market value. In essence, MLS is doing what tech disruptors have been doing for years: raising their valuation on the presumption that they would eventually rule the market. Consider that Ford, a business that produced eight times as many automobiles as Tesla in 2020, has a market cap of slightly more than $48 billion compared to Tesla’s present value of roughly $635 billion. The theorycrucial it’s to stress that this is only a theoryis that advancements in electric vehicles and batteries will make Tesla the best-selling automaker in the world one day.
MLS also functions according to a similar theory. The league doesn’t now have the power to negotiate $100 billion television contracts in the manner of the NFL, but one day it might because soccer is a developing sport in the US and North America is a vast, lucrative sports market. As long as this theory is still tenable, MLS will be able to market itself and maintain its high valuation. Any form of sadness, though, would jeopardize this. A negative precedent will be set if the league sells its upcoming expansion spot for less than it did its previous one. At that point, actual growth rather than merely the prospect of it would be needed to point the arrow upward once more (greater average attendances or TV viewers).
It might be a good idea for MLS to temporarily halt its growth plans. The Covid-19 epidemic has significantly changed the environment for investing. The league might put its chips back in their pocket until there is more money on the table if expansion fees are not required to make up for losses logged during the previous 12 months.
Additionally, the World Cup in 2026, which the US, Canada, and Mexico will co-host, is approaching. For everyone connected to soccer in North America, this is an opportunity that comes along only once in a generation. If the 1994 World Cup had been the catalyst for the creation of Major League Soccer, the event’s return 32 years later might have given the league a boost. People who don’t typically watch soccer will purchase uniforms and tickets. Some might even agree to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars for an MLS franchise.
There are numerous justifications for MLS’s continued bullishness in its sales pitch. The demographics of the league are often younger and more diverse than those of the other major sports leagues in North America, where franchise values are much greater. With significant efforts being made to deliver the finest matchday experience possible, the majority of teams now play in stadiums designed specifically for soccer. Building downtown sports arenas reflects the evolving preferences of sports enthusiasts. MLS is adaptable enough to react to emerging industry trends despite being a young company overall.
It is challenging to obtain a complete picture of MLS’s state of health because League HQ drip feeds financial results. It’s possible that people who need to know more do so because of the centralized structure, which enables Garber and Co. to share information only with those who have a legitimate need to know. The figures MLS generates during discussions for a new TV deal that will begin in 2023 will serve as a baseline. Even though there has been a recession, the continuous streaming wars may keep prices high.
Sacramento’s expansion spot will likely be filled by another city and ownership group that the Major League Soccer will discover. It wouldn’t be surprising to see any of these towns renew their interest as Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Diego were all interested in becoming the league’s 30th team initially. However, a lot will be learned by how MLS handles the difficulties of 2020 and 2021 as well as what has happened in Sacramento.