Austin FC kicks off its third season on Saturday evening, February 25, at home against St. Louis City SC, an expansion team playing its first-ever match. Following a successful second campaign that saw the squad advance to the Western Conference Final, Austin FC — and the stadium in which the team plays — is getting some upgrades for 2023 and beyond.
Here’s what to know following a press event held by Austin FC on Tuesday morning, February 21.
The Sonoran Dog from T-Loc’s is spirited and delicious.
Chris O’Connell/MySAQueso, Green Buns, and Other Food Items
As we entered the stadium, a bartender passed around espresso martinis, made with Don Julio tequila instead of vodka, simple syrup, triple sec, and, of course, espresso. It’s more of an espresso margarita, but name recognition counts here. This could be a nice pick-me-up at late-starting matches at Q2.
It wasn’t particularly strong, to which the bartender said: “If you can taste the tequila, I’m not doing my job.”
The team showcased five food vendors at Q2 on Tuesday morning: street tacos from OneTaco, extreme hot dogs from T-Loc’s, fluffy buns from Bao’d Up, ceviche and burritos from Casa Chapala, and queso from Kerbey Lane.
The latter is the newest edition to Q2 Stadium, and will replace the queso fountain after Saturday’s opener against St. Louis. An official queso partner? Only in Austin, baby.
A highlight was T-Loc’s Sonora dog, replete with a sickly looking green bun that made waves online last season.
A bacon-wrapped frank topped with pinto beans, sauteed and raw onions, tomato, mayo, mustard, and jalapeño sauce on a verde bun; The thing looks monstrous. But it’s a fatty, salty, acidic treat with a good amount of heat from the sauce, and the bun, weird looking as it is, might be the best thing about it. It’s pillowy soft and makes the dog worth having in the first place.
Some of the food, like the buns from Bao’d Up and the ceviche don’t seem like your normal stadium fare. For one, neither is particularly easy to consume on-the-go. But Austin FC Executive Chef Sam Boisjoly explains this was intentional on the team’s part, in reflecting the city, representing the culture of Austin, and to keep it interesting.
“Our food story is the Austin food story, and we want to incorporate everybody,” he says, noting that if someone had a three-hour layover at the airport and wanted to get the complete Austin food experience, they could knock a lot of it out at Q2 Stadium.
And for what it’s worth, it seems to be working.
“It’s funny seeing everyone now kind of copying us all over MLS,” he says. “I’m like, hey, it was great that we started it here.”
The team will be adding three gigantic Yeti water coolers around the stadium, a necessity especially on warmer game days. Two have been constructed, and a third will be added in May.
Q2 Stadium will also have returning favorites Easy Tiger pretzels, Slovaek sausages, tacos from Tacodeli, and barbecue from Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ.
Grab-and-go just became even easier at Q2.
Chris O’Connell/MySAGetting In and Around
The Austin FC folks deferred to Capital Metro regarding difficulties getting to Q2 Stadium as the McKalla Station continues construction, but the folks at Austin FC have made it a bit easier to get in and to grab-and-go beverages at one stand.
At entrances, where bottlenecking can occur as folks normally have to stop, take out their phones and keys, place them in a tray, and pass through metal detectors, entry will be much more streamlined.
Austin FC has purchased new magnetometers that will eliminate the need for emptying your pockets at the gate, which should speed up entry as folks rush to grab beer and food in advance of kickoff.
“This is a pretty significant investment in new technology while also keeping our guests safe and secure,” said Austin FC President Andy Loughnane. He did not have exact numbers for the amount of magnetometers at each gate.
Inside the stadium, ATX Market is one of a few grab-and-go beverage spots added during the first Austin FC season for convenience and speed. This season, Austin FC has partnered with Amazon, who brought its Just Walk Out technology to Whole Foods locations last year.
It’s a bit of surveillance state tech that might be easy to overlook when you need a beer before halftime ends. Essentially, customers swipe their cards at the entrance to the store, grab what they want, and, as the name implies, walk back out without swiping again. Q2 Stadium is the only soccer-specific stadium in the world with this type of technology.
Loughnane explained that a series of cameras trace the shapes in your hands and bill you accordingly. Again, a little creepy, but it’s hard to imagine anyone complaining when the lines are overwhelming for tallboys around the stadium.
Austin FC says that they are piloting the program with ATX Market and could utilize the technology elsewhere around the stadium after this season.
Austin FC President Andy Loughnane gave a tour of Q2s new amenities on Tuesday morning.
Chris O’Connell/MySANew Matches, New Media Partner
Austin FC qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League after a stellar finish in 2022, and will play a home-and-home — sort of — in March against Haitian club Violette.
Because of political turmoil in Haiti, Loughnane confirmed that the March 7 match against Violette will be played in the Dominican Republic, followed by a match at Q2 on March 14. The Austin FC president said that he anticipates both games will be played.
All MLS and Liga MX teams will compete in the 2023 Leagues Cup, a World Cup-style CONCACAF tournament featuring a group stage and knockout round beginning July 21 and lasting almost a month. Loughnane said that Austin FC’s opponents will be Mazatlán FC and FC Juárez, and called the tournament “an important one,” because the winner, runner-up, and third-place finishers receive an automatic bid in the next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.
Televised matches will all be available through the MLS’ new media partner, Apple. For $79, Apple TV+ subscribers can watch every Austin FC and MLS match, and for $99, anyone can do the same. Some matches, Loughnane said, will be in front of the paywall for non-subscribers.
As for radio broadcasts, Austin FC is bringing back its usual media partners, Univision and iHeartRadio.
