Austin FC has opened its ‘Experience Centre’ where fans will have the chance to check out the club’s future Major League Soccer stadium through virtual reality.
The franchise, working with a third-party vendor via stadium design firm Gensler, has created a 360-degree VR experience of the 20,500-seat facility.
The Experience Centre is located at the club’s current headquarters in North Austin, less than a mile from where the new stadium will be built to welcome the team to MLS as an expansion franchise in 2021.
The experience starts by putting the user on the centre spot of the pitch before walking the user through suites, seats and public spaces. A time-lapse then shows the changes from day to night, and how the stadium’s roof shields the pitch from the glare of the sun.
Club spokesperson Tom Webb told Pro Soccer USA that the Experience Centre would allow the club to “make the theoretical into the practical”.
Austin FC president Andy Loughnane added: “This is an important next step in providing a three-dimensional preview into the stadium we are proudly building for all of Austin.”
The Experience Centre’s presenting partner is SeatGeek, which was unveiled as Austin FC’s official ticketing partner last month.
Just days earlier, investment and management company Two Oak Ventures replaced Precourt Sports Ventures as the owner of Austin FC, assuming responsibility for overseeing the stadium project.
Austin FC recently announced it has secured deposits which presently total in excess of 35,000 seats, including the successful deposit launch which produced 30,000 seats reserved in the first 24 hours of availability – an MLS record.
Groundbreaking work on the stadium site could begin as early as next month.
Image: Austin FC
