Audi Field has been the official home of the Washington Spirit club since late 2022, after the club shuffled between several stadiums for nearly a decade. The Spirit are one of the original eight teams that launched in the NWSL’s 2013 debut season, and the team generally has a winning history in the league, with one NWSL championship win to date (they almost got a second one but lost 1-0 in the 2024 Championship).
Audi Field is a European-style, steep-sided pitch with a generous concourse area below with lots of room for concessions surrounding the park. Spectator capacity maxes out around 20,000, and for the 2025 season, most Spirit home games attracted over 15,000 fans to each match.
Washington D.C. is a beautiful area to visit with obvious ties to the governing and history of the United States. It’s a great venue to take in a match as well as a wonderful vacation destination, so let’s look at how you can make a fun weekend out of visiting D.C. for a game.
Stadium information
Audi Field opened in July 2018, initially for the MLS men’s soccer squad, DC United. The Washington Spirit played several games here each season until 2022, when the team secured the stadium as its permanent location for home matches, sharing it with the DC United team.
There’s an overhanging roof on both the western and eastern sides of the field to provide some shade and coverage from rain. The sides behind each goal lack any kind of overhead coverage, so be prepared for the elements in those areas.
The stadium has steep sides, similar to Bay FC’s PayPal Park, so every seat offers a good vantage point to watch a match with minimal blocking of your view from anyone in front of you.
Where to sit
We’ve found the best seats in the house are on the western side of the pitch, between sections 123 and 131, with the best options near the midpoint, sections 126, 127, and 128. Along the western side, you have an overhanging roof to protect you from the elements, and it guarantees shade for your seats at most afternoon and early evening matches. Seats on the western side are only reached via stairs with no walkway between sections, so you’ll have a long walk up to most rows.
The steep-sided bowl design means every seat in the stadium has a great sightline — no blocked views from the rows in front
The eastern side of the pitch, from sections 101 to 110 and 201 to 210, will be in the sun for most daytime matches, and for much of summer, when there’s a 7 p.m. kickoff, you’ll have the setting sun in your eyes until around halftime. You will get rain coverage from the overhanging roof, though.
Seats behind either goal lack any sun and weather coverage from a roof and are generally used for supporter groups, and seat prices in those areas are much more affordable.
- Sections 126, 127, and 128 on the western side are the best seats in the house — roof-covered, guaranteed shade for afternoon and early-evening games, and right at midfield
- Eastern side (sections 101–110 and 201–210) get rain protection from its own overhanging roof, but bakes in direct sun during daytime kickoffs and has the setting sun in your eyes at summer games
- Accessible seating is best on the eastern side where there's a walkway and flat areas near the luxury boxes; other sides only have field-level accessible spots
What to eat and drink
We had a great time enjoying a variety of food at Audi Field during our visit. By far our favorite items offered here were the meat and cheese pupusas, which were so delicious they’d be in our top 3 of best items from the entire 2024 season. We also tried wood-fired pizza that tasted great and had a good crust. The fried chicken sandwiches and fries at Roaming Rooster are also something you shouldn’t miss.
The stadium offers a variety of food, from hot dogs and burgers to regional cuisines like pupusas and arepas, and there were plenty of options when it came to finding drinks.
There were beer spots with tap lists, bars, and quick service self-checkout stores to grab cans of beer or wine. They also offer sodas in refillable cups instead of plastic bottles, which was nice to see. It was great to see real ice cream in addition to Dippin’ Dots being sold. We also liked seeing drinks and hot dogs sold by hawkers walking up and down the stairs, since it was such a long walk from our seats back down to the concessions area below.
Team merchandise, accessibility, restrooms, and pre-game activities
Spirit team merchandise is sold at several temporary pop-up stands around the stadium. Unfortunately, while there was a real team store at Audi Field, in the 2024 season it was used exclusively by the DC United men’s team and closed during Spirit matches. Hopefully in the future, the Washington Spirit will figure out a way to swap out the United merch or share the stores equally like most other stadiums shared by both MLS and NWSL teams.
Accessible seating seemed to be best found on the eastern side of the field where there was a walkway and luxury boxes with flat areas for wheelchairs and companions. On other sides of the pitch, there may only be accessible areas found at field level.
Restrooms offered good privacy though at halftime we saw lines at both the men’s and women’s sides. Our game had a bit over 15,000 fans present, so everything was near capacity.
We happened to attend a Pride Night match and there were free bucket hats for everyone, live DJs spinning classic hits, and drag queens performing lip syncs. It was a fun, summer party kind of atmosphere.
Pre-game, in-game, and post-game vibes
Pre-game vibes were good, as our Pride Night created a real party with free gifts and entertainment all around the arena. Fans were upbeat and were there to have a good time. We spent most of the pre-game time taking in all the sights and smells from concession stands.
During the game, the supporters section was loud and boisterous. The crowd was very much there to vocalize support for the Spirit. The steep-sided seats really gave a great view from virtually anywhere in the stadium, and we enjoyed seeing the whole pitch from the midfield line.
Post-game, we saw the best process for fans to interact with players in the entire league.
The Spirit had signs above the sections where the player benches were (where you usually get autographs at other stadiums) that directed people to section 136. Once you got to section 136, there was an organized line leading up to some ushers who would take your hat or your jersey or your poster, then hand it to a player on the field for them to sign, and the usher would immediately hand it back to the fan who requested it.
It was remarkably fair, orderly, and very efficient. It took about five minutes to get from the back of a long line up to the ushers along the pitch, and several players hung out to sign things for fans. It was a great simple system we’d love to see replicated at other stadiums.
- Theme nights like Pride Night lean heavily into the party vibe — free merch giveaways, DJs spinning classics, drag performances
- The supporter section is loud and vocal despite sharing the stadium with DC United — hometown energy for the Spirit comes through clearly
- Hawkers walk the aisles selling drinks and hot dogs, which is a real perk given the long staircase trek back to the concourse from western seats
- Post-game autographs are the most well-organized in the league: head to section 136, ushers will take your jersey/hat/poster, walk it to a player to sign, and hand it right back
Getting there
Flying in
When you book flights to Washington D.C., the cheapest flights on most airlines will land at Dulles International Airport (IAD). Unfortunately, Dulles is about 30 miles outside of Washington D.C. in northern Virginia. It can take 30 to 60 minutes and cost over $100 for an Uber or Lyft ride. If instead, you fly into Reagan National Airport (DCA), you’ll be close to downtown Washington D.C. with a much faster, easier trip into town using the Metro train system.
Renting a car or going car-free
We’ve traveled to Washington D.C. half a dozen times before and whenever we had a car in town, we mostly kept it parked in our hotel’s garage while we walked or used the DC Metro system to get around. If you’re spending a weekend in Washington and landing at Reagan Airport, you can take the Metro system to many areas with hotels and also reach most destinations the city is famous for. Like New York, this would probably be the only other American city with a NWSL squad where we’d say it’s best to avoid having a car at all unless you need it to travel out of town.
Driving in
We attended our game with a friend who drove us there. Parking was a bit of a problem, as there aren’t any dedicated parking lots adjacent to the stadium. Instead there was parking nearby in the GEICO garage at $60 per space. The team’s own website suggests using an app called SpotHero to try to reserve paid parking within walking distance. We opted for street parking, after spending about 15 minutes circling nearby neighborhoods.
Taking public transit
The DC Metro system is fantastic, easily one of the best public subway systems in the U.S., with gorgeous stations and interesting architecture to boot. The Green line has stops at the Navy Yard as well as the Waterfront, both putting you about a 10-minute walk to the gates of Audi Field.
Where to stay
Washington D.C. has no shortage of hotel options. It’s a popular destination city and there are ample accommodations all over the district. We tend to stay at places near Georgetown, DuPont Circle, or as close as we can get to the National Mall, since that’s where we tend to spend most of our time in D.C. Again, the Metro is an efficient transit system and chances are most any hotel you choose will have a station nearby.
What to do in Washington D.C. (besides watch soccer)
The District of Columbia is our nation’s capital and it’s an unforgettable place to visit. For many Americans, you’re most likely to go there as a kid on a class trip to learn how our government operates, and when you’re in D.C. today, you’ll likely see big groups of young people taking those kinds of trips.
As adults, we’re still awed by the city and the sights. All the museums on the National Mall are top-notch, and most are free. We’d highly recommend The National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Every museum offers unique collections of items seen nowhere else and are worth a visit.
If you can score a tour of the White House (ask for tickets from your home state’s senators and congresspeople), it’s worth doing at least once, since the building has so much history wrapped up in it (even if you don’t like whoever happens to be the current occupant of it).
The memorials and monuments along the National Mall are also worth checking out. The Lincoln Memorial is striking, especially at night. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial really makes its point when you walk along a wall bearing the names of every American soldier who died in the conflict, and by the time you hit the center of the sculpture, you realize you’ve walked six feet below from the starting areas on both sides. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Washington Monument are also great to see up close.
We’ve had great food almost everywhere in Washington D.C. though restaurants are generally a bit expensive, close to what you’d spend in New York City when going out. One thing you shouldn’t skip: We always try to get at least one meal at an Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurant when we’re in D.C., since you’ll find the best examples of those cuisines in the entire U.S. there.
The National Mall has so many things to see and do that you could barely scratch the surface of what’s possible even after multiple trips to the area. We tend to spend most of our time walking the city, visiting the free museums and monuments, and marveling at the classic architecture all along the way.
- Fly into Reagan (DCA) instead of Dulles (IAD) if you can — Reagan is Metro-connected and drops you right into downtown, while Dulles is 30 miles out and easily a $100+ rideshare fare away
- The DC Metro is one of the best subway systems in the country with amazing stations — skip a rental car entirely if you're staying downtown
- The Smithsonian museums on the National Mall are free and world-class
- All the memorials are genuinely moving, especially at night
- Get at least one meal at an Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurant — DC has the best examples of those cuisines in the entire country
- Stay near Georgetown, Dupont Circle, or as close to the National Mall as you can manage — every part of the city is Metro-accessible from those neighborhoods
Washington D.C. is a wonderful place to visit with centuries of history to enjoy and learn from. The Washington Spirit is a great team with a well-designed stadium that gives fans a great view from every seat. If you’ve never been to D.C. as an adult, by all means make plans to visit and take in a Spirit game while you’re there.
