Where would the semifinal be played?

Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
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Tank55
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Where would the semifinal be played?

Post by Tank55 »

Far from a sure thing, but DC is two games up on St. Louis and Seattle with five games to go. Tiebreaker is secured against St. Louis and a win in hand over Seattle.

If they do win the division, where would they play the semi? We know in 2020, they would not have been able to go back to Audi. We don't know if that's the case in 2023, but seems like a reasonable concern.

The options:

1. Audi Field. DC United is home on Sat 4/29. Could the Defenders play the Sunday semifinal? DCU isn't home again for two weeks, leaving time for the field to be repaired or replaced. Certainly the best potential option.

2. Another venue in the area. There are other football stadiums, including FedEx Field, UMD's stadium. Both are way too big for the Defenders' fan base and would presumably be expensive if available at all. Howard's stadium (capacity 10,000) might be a better fit. Navy (34,000 plus you could close the upper tiers) might work too.

3. The 2 seed's stadium. It wouldn't be fair, but it would ensure fans are in the stands. The Sounders are away that weekend. As far as I can tell, The Dome is also available.

4. Neutral site. It wouldn't be great for attendance, but it would at least not be advantaging the lesser seed. Choctaw would obviously be convenient; maybe the Alamdome would draw a bit better and be weather protected. (Plus I could go!) Theoretically, they could get really crazy and go to, like, Columbus or something.
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DCDEFENDERFANKENNY
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Re: Where would the semifinal be played?

Post by DCDEFENDERFANKENNY »

Should definitely be played out Audi field home field advantage would be huge, I would and can only dream if we could play a RFK just to bring back the memories of the good ole days 8-)
Tank55
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Re: Where would the semifinal be played?

Post by Tank55 »

If the XFL wanted to be heroes, setting up a temporary field in the shadow of RFK could actually be a huge hit if they did it right. But that seems like a logistical nightmare for a league still getting its feet under it.
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