Q2 Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located in the North Burnet section of North Austin, Texas, United States. It is the home of Austin FC, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team that began play in 2021. The stadium hosted its first event on June 16, 2021, an international friendly between the United States women's national team and Nigeria.
McKalla Place | |
 | |
 Austin FC vs. Columbus Crew in June 2021 | |
  Q2 Stadium Location in Texas  Q2 Stadium Location in the United States | |
| Full name | Q2 Stadium at McKalla Place |
|---|---|
| Former names | Austin FC Stadium (tentative name) |
| Address | 10414 McKalla Place Austin, TX 78758 |
| Coordinates | 30°23′16″N 97°43′10″W / 30.3877°N 97.7195°W |
| Public transit | CapMetro Rapid Braker/Stadium station McKalla station |
| Owner | Anthony Precourt |
| Operator | Two Oak Ventures LLC |
| Type | Soccer-specific stadium |
| Seating type | Seated, safe standing[1] |
| Capacity | 20,500[2] |
| Field size | 115 yd × 75 yd (105 m × 69 m)[3] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 9, 2019 |
| Opened | June 16, 2021 |
| Construction cost | ~$260 million |
| Architect | Gensler |
| Builder | Austin Commercial |
| Structural engineer | Walter P Moore |
| Services engineer | Henderson Engineers |
| Main contractors | Idibri |
| Tenants | |
| Austin FC (MLS) 2021–present | |
Site history
editThe earliest noted development of the tract of land was in 1956, when the land was christened as a 23.5 acre chemical manufacturing plant. The manufacturing plant produced various chemicals for Reichhold Chemicals, generally peroxides, for the majority of its 29 years as a chemical plant. The facility was closed following a series of on-site safety incidents in December, 1985, which made it economically infeasible to operate.[4]
The land was annexed into the Austin city limits on July 19, 1973.[5]
Reichhold's parent company, DIC Corporation, sold the land to the City of Austin in 1995 for $1.4 million, with the city planning on using it as the Austin Water North Service Center. However, during construction of the facility in 2003, an explosion occurred, with workers finding illegally stored chemical waste on the site. Remediation was undertaken, stripping the site down to bedrock. The city sued DIC, and received $3.6 million.[6]
When Precourt Sports Ventures, operator of Columbus Crew SC, announced they were intending to move the team to Austin, city staff identified eight potential sites for a permanent stadium.[7] 10414 McKalla Place was identified as one of those eight sites, and following some public debate, became the prime candidate following the Austin City Council meeting on March 22, 2018.[8] After several sessions, the Austin City Council granted the City Manager the authority to negotiate and execute a lease with the 7–4 vote during a special session on August 15, 2018.[9] The city announced that the lease had been completed and signed on December 19, 2018.[10]
The 20-year lease of the site includes yearly rent of $550,000 beginning in year six, with an additional $3.6 million being given to CapMetro for transit. The stadium would be fully financed and built with private money, though stadium ownership would be held by the city itself. The club has the ability to extend the lease up to three times, with each extension being ten years.[11]
Construction
edit
The approximately 20,500-seat stadium was expected to cost $260 million, with team operator Precourt Sports Ventures privately financing the construction.[12] Other elements for the 24-acre site and surroundings include green space, potential housing, and mixed-use retail.
In March 2019, Precourt Sports named Austin Commercial as the construction manager and Gensler as the lead architect for the stadium, and announced that groundbreaking will take place in September 2019.[2]
Re-zoning the site to stadium requirements passed Austin City Council unanimously on June 6, 2019.[13]
On August 19, 2019, a site plan for the Austin FC stadium in North Austin was approved by the city of Austin, Texas.[14]
In January 2021, Austin FC entered a naming rights partnership with Q2 Holdings, a local online banking provider, resulting in the stadium formally being named Q2 Stadium on January 25, 2021.[15][16]
Public transportation
editQ2 Stadium sits next to McKalla station on CapMetro's Red Line commuter rail service, opened in 2024 specifically to serve the stadium.[17] Before then, the closest existing station on the Red Line was Kramer station, about a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) walk from the stadium. The new station provides a much shorter and more direct walking route from rail services to the stadium without having to cross any roads. Kramer station is expected to be relocated about 0.6-mile (0.97 km) north to the Broadmoor campus and be renamed Broadmoor station.[18]
Bus connections to the stadium include CapMetro Rapid route 803 and CapMetro Bus routes 3, 383, 392, and 466.[19]
Events
editThe stadium opened on June 16, 2021, hosting an international women's friendly between the United States and Nigeria. Christen Press scored the first ever goal in the stadium.
Austin FC played their first ever match at the stadium on June 19, 2021, against the San Jose Earthquakes.[20] The match ended with a 0–0 draw in front of a sellout crowd of 20,738.[21] On July 1, 2021, Jon Gallagher scored the first ever competitive goal in Q2 Stadium history, during the 27th minute of Austin FC's 3rd ever regular MLS season home match versus Portland Timbers, eventually finishing as a 4–1 win to Austin FC.[22]
On July 29, 2021, USA beat Qatar in the Gold Cup Semifinals on a Gyasi Zardes goal in the 86th minute, and Q2 hosted its first World Cup qualifying match that October, a 2–0 win against Jamaica. Q2 hosted its first Nations League match on June 10, 2022, a 5–0 win against Grenada. FC Dallas striker Jesús Ferreira scored 4 goals for the Americans in the match, the first ever hat-trick in Q2 Stadium.
On July 4, 2022, Q2 Stadium held its first non-sporting event, when it hosted Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic and Firework show, an annual event that was started in 1972.[23]
On July 30, 2022, Q2 hosted its first non-soccer event, Premier Rugby Sevens, featuring a single day Rugby sevens tournament with the Experts, Loonies, Headliners, and Loggerheads.[24] PR7s returned to Q2 on June 17, 2023, for the Eastern Conference Kickoff.[25]
In December 2023, Q2 was selected to host 2 matches for the 2024 Copa América, a quadrennial CONMEBOL soccer tournament. Copa América is the oldest national team soccer tournament in the world. Q2 was one of fourteen stadium selected in the United States and one of three soccer specific stadiums chosen to host matches.[26] Later that month, the 2024 Copa América draw revealed that the first game would feature Venezuela and Jamaica, and the second game would feature Paraguay and the winner of qualifying play-off match between Costa Rica and Honduras.[27]
International Soccer
edit| Date | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Tournament | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 16, 2021 |  United States |
2–0 |  Nigeria |
Women's International Friendly | 20,500 |
| July 29, 2021 |  Qatar |
0–1 | United States |
2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinal | 20,500 |
| October 7, 2021 | United States |
2–0 |  Jamaica |
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying | 20,500 |
| December 8, 2021 |  Mexico |
2–2 |  Chile |
Friendly | 17,202 |
| June 10, 2022 | United States |
5–0 |  Grenada |
2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League A | 20,500 |
| April 8, 2023 | United States |
2–0 |  Republic of Ireland |
Women's International Friendly | 20,593 |
| November 16, 2023 | United States |
3–0 |  Trinidad and Tobago |
2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A | 19,850 |
| June 30, 2024 | Jamaica |
0–3 |  Venezuela |
2024 Copa América | 20,240 |
| July 2, 2024 |  Costa Rica |
2–1 |  Paraguay |
12,765 | |
| October 12, 2024 | United States |
2–0 |  Panama |
Friendly | 20,239 |
| October 24, 2024 | United States |
3–1 |  Iceland |
Women's International Friendly | 18,580 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Spedden, Zach (April 26, 2019). "Austin FC Stadium Design Taking Shape". Soccerstadiumdigest.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ a b "Precourt Sports Ventures names construction manager and design team for Austin FC stadium" (PDF) (Press release). Austin FC. March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^ "Rising stadium signals that Austin FC, MLS are on their way".
- ^ "History of McKalla Place". Estadiomckalla.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Geocortex Viewer for HTML5". Austintexas.gov. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Lyttle, Kevin. "McKalla Place: The good, bad and ugly for possible MLS stadium site". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Neely, Christopher (December 12, 2017). "MAP: Austin recommends these 8 public properties for a new Major League Soccer field". Community Impact Newspaper. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Council approves study of McKalla Place as soccer stadium site". Austin Monitor. March 26, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Lyttle, Kevin. "Austin City Council votes 'yes' to MLS at McKalla Place". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Jimmy Maas (December 19, 2018). "Major League Soccer And Precourt Sports Sign Lease For Stadium Site In North Austin". Kut.org. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "LEASE AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT by and between CITY OF AUSTIN, as Landlord and AUSTIN STADCO LLC, as Tenant" (PDF). Austintexas.gov. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Details of potential McKalla Place soccer deal emerge". Mystatesman.com. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ Jankowski, Phil (June 6, 2019). "On to No. 97, rezoning McKalla Place to build the MLS stadium for @austinfc. Some speakers on this one. Could get interesting! #ATXcouncil #mls2atx #AustinFCpic.twitter.com/HZsbvo7xb3". Twitter. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Site plan approved for Austin FC stadium". bizjournals.com. August 19, 2019.
- ^ Rosner, Mark (January 25, 2021). "Austin's MLS stadium now officially has a name". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas: Statesman.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "Austin FC announce stadium naming rights partnership with Q2 Holdings Inc". MLS. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ KUT, Nathan Bernier (February 26, 2024). "New Cap Metro train station opens at Q2 Stadium as 'quiet zones' take effect". Austin Monitor. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ "CapMetro Rail Red Line Map" (PDF). CapMetro. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- ^ "Capital Metro Memorandum" (PDF). Austin, Texas. Retrieved June 20, 2020.[dead link]
- ^ Klick, Andrea; Jankowski, Philip (June 16, 2021). "How to get in and out of Austin FC's new soccer stadium: First big test looms". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
- ^ Sigal, Jonathan (June 19, 2021). "Recap: Austin FC 0, San Jose Earthquakes 0".
- ^ Sigal, Jonathan. "Austin FC Savor "Momentous Occasion" Of First Win, First Goals At Q2 Stadium". MLS.com. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ "Willie Nelson Announces 4th of July Picnic and Fireworks At Q2 Stadium". www.AustinFC.com. Q2 Stadium. April 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ "The Championship for Premier Rugby Sevens Comes To Austin's Q2 Stadium". KXAN Austin. July 26, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ "Premier Rugby Sevens' return to Austin shows budding interest, potential audience". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ "Q2 Stadium Named As A Host Venue For The 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America". www.AustinFC.com. Q2 Stadium. December 4, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ "2024 CONMEBOL Copa America Draw Confirms Matchups To Take Place at Q2 Stadium". www.AustinFC.com. Q2 Stadium. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
External links
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