Scoop: D.C. United wants to expand Audi Field and add new roof

• The Commanders are talking about the RFK Stadium site, after Ted Leonsis scored $515 million last year for Capital One Arena. The Nationals have ideas, too.

D.C. United regularly sells out games — and expects to at its season opener this Saturday versus Toronto FC.

• Women's soccer teams Spirit and DC Power and the city's other (American) football team, DC Defenders, also use Audi Field.
• The stadium opened in 2018, and last year averaged 18,137 soccer fans. That's 90.7% of capacity at 20,000 seats.
• But newer MLS stadiums trend bigger, and Jason Levien, the CEO and co-chairman of D.C. United, has said they need to "catch up."

What I'm hearing: A roof could enable about 100 more events a year at Audi Field — which is mostly empty for the winter — creating a climate-controlled venue for concerts and preventing rainouts, said one source who asked for anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak about the talks.

• The concept involves a partially retractable roof, sources say.
• For soccer diehards, putting a roof on a stadium amps up the atmosphere. Imagine every chant and song reverberating off the dome. Audi Field is already an intimate stadium. Fans sit (or stand, in a beer-soaked supporters section) close to the pitch with uniquely steep stands.
• The team has been talking with the District for a year about the expansion idea, two sources said. What remains unknown is the potential price tag or whether the team will ask the city for subsidies.

Zoom out: It's a big year for Buzzard Point.

• Near the waterfront, the massive Stacks development is opening in phases, eventually to a total of 2,000 residential units. Luxury apartment building Vermeer is expected to open this year across from Audi Field, said Emeka Moneme, president of the Capitol Riverfront BID.
• A livelier Audi Field would knit the neighborhood with Nats Park and Navy Yard — across South Capitol Street, where the new traffic oval can feel like a chasm.
• "More activity will encourage more development around Audi Field," Moneme tells me.

What they're saying: D.C. United didn't comment on specifics but told Axios in a statement: "For the past 15 months, we have been evaluating opportunities to enhance the fan experience at Audi Field and expand the number and scope of event offerings to our diverse community through year-round programming."

Between the lines: D.C. United is part of American soccer royalty. Founded in 1996, the club won four of the first eight MLS cup titles, though it's gone trophyless since 2013.

• While playing at RFK Stadium, it spent about two decades finalizing a spot to build a true soccer stadium.

Follow the money: To build Audi Field, the District government agreed in 2014 to spend $150 million to get the once-industrial zone construction ready. The club kicked in more to build the stadium. (This is the same model that Mayor Muriel Bowser has hinted should happen at RFK Stadium, though the numbers would be bigger.)

• Levien, a lawyer and sports executive, was savvy when negotiating with the city for a public investment. But it was also a time when D.C. had a rosier economic outlook — and fewer sports teams actively vying for taxpayer dollars.

💭 I remember being at RFK Stadium in 2007 for David Beckham's U.S. debut against D.C. United. Town Talker is a weekly column about money and power in Washington. Tell me about the talk of the town: [email protected].