While its stadium remains unused as the league returned to action in its Orlando ‘MLS Is Back’ bubble tournament, DC United ensured its pitch wasn’t an idle asset and made it available to more than a dozen local fitness businesses for outdoor workouts.
The initiative came in response to both a determination to be part of its community support efforts during the pandemic and from a recent ClassPass survey which found that 70% of people currently express a strong preference for outdoor classes.
DC United’s two year old stadium, Audi Field, has been underused through March and April during the pandemic, so socially distanced workouts have taken over the pitch with at least 12 local fitness companies using it to hold outdoor classes.
“We wanted to be good neighbours,” said DC United SVP of Brand And Events Harry Hardy.
“Going into this year, DC United and Audi Field had a ton of momentum with a growing fan base, but we were looking to engage with the community in a more meaningful way. That’s actually something these group fitness classes gives us. This could be the first time many people taking these classes have been to Audi Field. If they have a great experience and – when we are allowed to host games with fans again – that could help grow our fan base as a result.”
Hardy himself was walking around Washington watching outdoor fitness classes taking place in a parks and thought of the idea of inviting group fitness studios to use the team’s ground.
“While growing our fan base could be a consequence, our main goal here was to help small businesses navigate [the pandemic],” Hardy said.
The fitness businesses use the field for free and are limited to 45 participants (in step with Washington’s mass gathering limit of 50 people).
Jackie Krakowski, co-owner of District Flow, fielded an email from Audi Field officials in June to see if she wanted to use the stadium for her studio’s hot yoga classes.
“It’s been wonderful,” Krakowski said. “We appreciate them taking the initiative to help support businesses in the community. We are all grateful for that in these crazy times.”
District Flow’s first class on July 11 sold out more than a week ahead of time and each Saturday morning class has had a waitlist.
“The majority of people who register [for the Audi Field] classes had never been with us before,” said Krakowski, who charges a reduced rate of $5 for the stadium classes. “I’ve lived in Southwest D.C. for seven years and I know it’s hard to find truly community-oriented activities. That’s why I’m so thrilled about and grateful Audi Field has allowed us to use it. This is great for the community.”
Comment:
With July seeing the most 90-degree days on record in Washington ever and indoor fitness facilities (which were all closed in March) opened only with a mask mandate from 22 July as the pandemic surges across the country, the need here is great and the trend for outdoor fitness is booming.
After all, the fitness business is struggling with major gym chains like 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym filing for bankruptcy.
While we haven’t heard of another major professional US sports teams offering up their facilities in this way.
Whether it is using the stadium for local emergency services or as a supply logistics centre, or for downward dogs and bear crawls rather than headers and volleys, this is another example of professional football making its assets available as a pandemic utility.
Links:
DC United
https://www.facebook.com/dcunited
https://www.instagram.com/dcunited/
https://www.youtube.com/user/dcunited
District Flow
https://www.districtflowyoga.com/
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