MLS: LAFC, D.C. United stadiums gunning for international recognition

MLS stadiums are gaining international recognition with the Stadium Database’s Stadium of the Year award. For LAFC and D.C. United, the two clubs nominated for the award, it is a vindication of their growth.

The first Major League Soccer stadium to win top public recognition as Stadium of the Year might be either home pitch either for Los Angeles FC or D.C. United.

LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium came the closest of three U.S. sports centers in Stadium Database’s 2018 Stadium of the Year jury competition, ninth edition. The Los Angeles FC palace just missed making the final 10. But that pitch and Audi Field of D.C. United still have a chance to win the public vote.

A jury of top architects reviewed them among a field of 27 total stadiums in 11 different countries, with the Banc of California Stadium ranking the higher of the two. The MLS stadiums, however, are now in the public running have only one other U.S. facility to compete with: Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona.

The other competing stadiums span the earth, with seven in Russia and six in Turkey. Russia spruced up their sports arenas for the recent FIFA World Cup. Turkey is completing a government-backed program to update sports centers throughout the country. That has now delivered two dozen new stadiums.

Of the 10 finalists, for the first time in the competition’s history, only five countries have candidates. Russia has four stadiums. Two each are in China and Hungary. The remaining two rest in Australia and Turkey.

The three jurors are:

• Robert D. Kennedy: He has designed 500,000-seats worth of stadiums from Glasgow to Gujurat.
• Alfredo Angulo Quevedo: From Paraguay, he has a slate of designed stadiums in his résumé.
• Gino Zavanella: The designer of the historic Stadio Delle Alpi and its reconstruction as Juventus Stadium.

But the three jurors don’t have the only say. At the link following, every fan gets one ballot they can cast by March 3 for their favorite stadiums at the StadiumDB.com site. All they’ll have to do is pick five stadiums from the 27 candidates. That means MLS fans have the clout to pick both MLS stadiums in the running, plus Sun Devil Stadium if they want.

Stadium Database expects tens of thousands of public voters every year. The organization issues a separate award for the winner of the public’s internet ballot. MLS has started getting attention in the competition. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, shared by Atlanta United and the NFL Falcons, came in third in both jury and public voting last year. But the top prize has remained elusive.

The two MLS stadiums, not to mention Sun Devil, are out of the running for the jury prize. But with time running out March 3, fans still have a chance to make one of them a winner for the public prize.