An American oddity: the auto-oriented stadium

Real Madrid and Juventus shake hands prior to their August 4, 2018 friendly at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. The auto-oriented venue must have seemed quite foreign to the two European powerhouses, who both play in stadiums situated just steps from rail stations with robust gameday service (Photo by me) 

4 of DC’s 5 major professional sports teams – MLB’s Nationals, MLS’s DC United, NHL’s Capitals, and NBA’s Wizards – play in urban, transit-oriented venues integrated into vibrant neighborhoods.

But this past Saturday, I had the pleasure of watching Real Madrid beat Juventus 3-1 at FedEx Field, the region’s lone remaining suburban, parking lot-surrounded pro stadium that serves as the home of the NFL’s Redskins. The Landover, MD stadium opened in 1997, the same year the Caps and Wizards ditched that same suburb for a better future in Chinatown.

While Metro’s Blue and Silver Lines are the best way to reach FedEx Field, the 20 minute walk from Morgan Blvd Station to the stadium (and back) demonstrated just how absurd the concept of a stadium designed for driving is. While the International Champions’ Cup match was advertised as a friendly, Luis Suarez’s treatment of Juve’s Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s 2014 World Cup victory over Italy was friendlier than the transportation infrastructure surrounding the NFL venue.

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Pedestrians, we have our orders (photo by me)

Upon exiting the Metro station, which opened seven years after the stadium did, my friend and I were greeted with a large electronic sign telling us to “stay on sidewalk.” Police crime scene tape herded us, along with thousands of other pedestrians, onto the narrow walkway.

Cars face northbound on Morgan Blvd, towards FedEx field, but fail to move (photo by me)

Just a few minutes into the walk, we were moving faster than the cars on the adjacent road.

As they sit in stopped cars, drivers learn that they'll pay $50 to keep their cars stopped during the game (photo by me)

As we drew nearer to the stadium, overhead signs informed drivers that they needed to pay $50, nearly 13 times the cost of the most expensive Saturday Metro tickets, to park. This price, of course, was additional to the regular car ownership costs (such as fuel, maintenance, insurance, and the vehicle itself) required to drive to the stadium. At this point, though drivers had endured a long wait to make it near the front of the line, we saw several turn their vehicles around, perhaps to use the Metro station’s park-and-ride lot and walk to the game with transit riders. 

Park wherever you want, 5 minutes before gametime! (Photo by me)

The match between two high-profile European sides that rarely play in DC drew a near-capacity crowd of over 70,000, but the parking lot was largely empty. Nevertheless, once we passed the perimeter of the stadium’s parking lot, rent-a-cops lined the walkway with hand-held stop-go signs, regularly forcing as many as 50 pedestrians to halt to let one or two cars pass.

Pedestrians stroll through the portion of FedEx Field's parking lot nearest the stadium, 15 minutes before kickoff (photo by me)

Perhaps the most desolate area of the lot: the section closest to the stadium’s entrance, which hardly any cars appeared to use. I thought door-to-door transportation and minimal walking were among the auto industry’s primary selling points for their product? 

Is the sun setting on the era of driving to sporting events? (Photo by me)

After the game, the return walk to the Metro station was pretty similar, though as usual the sudden departure of large numbers of fans from the stadium made things more crowded than their more gradual arrival. We once again moved faster than car traffic most of the way. Pedestrians overflowed across the crime scene tape into the street; occasionally people ducked under the tape and crammed onto the sidewalk in response to police orders, only to spill over again once out of the officer’s line of vision.

As we walked, my friend expressed concern that the large crowd would overwhelm the Metro and cause us an extended wait. But transit’s incredible efficiency quickly alleviated her fears; not only did we get on an 8-car train that arrived to the station just a couple minutes after we did, but by moving to the far end of the platform we easily got seats. 

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FedEx Field's upper concourse offers some pretty striking views. That's Baltimore's skyline in the distance. Just ignore the asphalt in the foreground. (Photo by me)

We did not take the mode of transportation FedEx Field was designed for, but our gameday experience, despite paling in comparison to those of the DC area’s other professional sports venues, was far better than that of fans who drove. While it was unfortunate that there’s nothing to do near the stadium, before and after the game we had a great time in the city’s Eastern Market neighborhood, located just six stops (plus the walk) away.

Is there an allure to driving to games that I don’t understand? Is paying $50 + car ownership costs and sitting in traffic just to drag a grill to the stadium, stand in asphalt-amplified heat, and cook mediocre burgers and hot dogs with a small group preferable to hanging out in a restaurant, bar, or public space, bonding with fellow fans?

The Citi Open final between World No. 3 Alexander Zverev and young upstart Alex de Minaur, at DC's Rock Creek Park Tennis Center on August 5, 2018. Rock Creek Park's lush forest beats FedEx Field's hot asphalt. (Photo by me)

Personally, I’ll take the experience I had attending the final of the Citi Open tennis tournament on Sunday over that of FedEx Field. I walked through Rock Creek Park (a trail closure-free section!) to the stadium, then after the match took a pleasant Capital Bikeshare ride up to Silver Spring’s Denizens Brewing. I'll also take the Cal Bears gameday environment which, despite a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)-to-football stadium walk that’s arguably more strenuous than Metro-to-FedEx, is preferable due to the diverse Berkeley attractions to enjoy on the way. 

It seems many DC sports fans feel as I do. While our city’s other pro sports teams enjoy immense year-round popularity, the Redskins, who only host eight games per season, had to lie for years about demand for season tickets and in recent years have removed close to 10,000 FedEx Field seats that they couldn’t fill.