What to watch as D.C. United kicks off 2024 season
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Audi Field. Photo: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
D.C. United is back on the pitch Saturday and looking to bury the luckless Wayne Rooney coaching era.
Why it matters: The Black and Red have the second-most MLS championships in history, but the last one was twenty years ago — so we're overdue for a turnaround.
Driving the news: The season opener kicks off at Buzzard Point's Audi Field at 7:30pm against the New England Revolution.
What we're watching: D.C. could see Lionel Messi in action on March 16 against Inter Miami.
- Home tickets are running hot, starting at about $320, which is about 10 times the usual fare.
State of play: United named Troy Lesesne as head coach last month. He joins from (archrival) New York Red Bulls, a team he led from last place in the Eastern Conference to the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Star forward Christian Benteke returns for his third season with D.C. But boomerang United players Andy Najar and Chris Durkin both left the team again in the off-season.
The intrigue: It's a tumultuous season opener, with referees in a labor dispute with the MLS. The refs are locked out by the league after they voted to reject a new union contract and are replaced with non-union officials.
- Meanwhile, hardcore D.C. United fans are on a bit of a strike: Five supporters' groups say they will protest the team's preseason spent in Saudi Arabia, blasting it as "sportswashing" to distract from scrutiny over the regime's human rights record.
- The supporters fill up the rowdy stand behind the stadium's north end goal. But for the first four home games, they will not bring drums, wave flags, or sing for the team, the Washington Post reports.
- But one prominent group, the Screaming Eagles, said it won't go as far as withholding their fan support.
Between the lines: Those who want to up their D.C.-core fashion should grab the new United home jersey — with new sponsor (here's the kicker) local consulting firm Guidehouse.
- McLean-based Guidehouse signed on as sponsors for the Adidas kits, unveiled this month.