The three new stadiums MLS welcomed for the 2021 season

Three stadiums were inaugurated for the 2021 MLS season. The 2019 expansion team FC Cincinnati opened the TQL Stadium, before the club moved to their new stadium, the club played its home games at Nippert Stadium of the University of Cincinnati. 

The expansion MLS team Austin FC debuted for the 2021 MLS season and brought us a new stadium that the fans enjoyed as well as the MLS clubs that had the opportunity to visit El Verde´s home. 

The 2-Time MLS Champions Columbus Crew move from Historic Crew Stadium to Lower.com Field due to the facilities the location gives and the new projects that the club have for the future.

TQL Stadium

The stadium was part of Cincinnati’s proposal to join the MLS that was submitted in early 2017, just over a year after FC Cincinnati was founded.

The project was confirmed in 2018 when the MLS selected Cincinnati as one of the expansion teams. The club settled on the site of an existing high school stadium in the West End district, which would get demolished.

Construction works started in April 2019, and the stadium officially opened just over 2 years later on 1 May 2021 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first match was played two weeks later on 16 May when Cincinnati hosted an MLS match versus Inter Miami (2-3). Brek Shea scored the first goal at the stadium.

TQL Stadium is fully covered. It has a capacity of 26,000, amongst the highest of the soccer-specific stadiums in the USA, including over 4,500 premium seats. The stadium furthermore has a safe standing section of just over 3 thousand seats.

Q2 Stadium

Was designed and built by global architecture and design firm Gensler. Q2 Stadium opened in June 2021 and is the official home of Austin FC, Austin’s first and only major league team.

The stadium opened on June 16, 2021, hosting an international women's friendly between the United States and Nigeria.

Austin FC played their first-ever match at the stadium on June 19, 2021, against the San Jose Earthquakes.

The stadium’s maximum capacity is 20,500. One of the unique features of the stadium is an amphitheater right outside the stadium, with a maximum capacity of 3,000. The modernly designed stadium is a must-see, located near the Domain, a popular shopping, dining, and entertainment area.

Q2 Stadium was the first Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium to use Whole Building Life Cycle Analysis (WBLCA) to environmentally optimize its structure and enclosure and reduce embodied carbon. 

The stadium complies with the COA Dark Skies initiative to reduce light pollution and reduce both outdoor and indoor water consumption from its calculated baseline by 55 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

Lower.com Field

The move from Historic Crew Stadium (best known as MAPFRE Stadium) comes as part of a facilities makeover for  Columbus Crew, which moved into a new training center, the OhioHealth Performance Center.

The new home of the MLS Columbus Crew is located in the Arena District in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Lower.com Field is a state-of-the-art soccer venue complete with a beer garden, fan terraces, Nordecke supporters stand, and enhanced seating. It's the ultimate venue to watch a match.

The football-specific stadium offers 20,000 seats and the first-ever complete roof over the auditorium for Crew's fans. They also have a new vast north terrace with a single tier to lead organized support from.

On June 19, 2021, the same date as Austin FC opened their stadium, Columbus closed out Crew Stadium — the historic first soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer — with a performance that made the final game a memorable chapter in the club’s history. Gyasi Zardes scored twice in the opening 35 minutes of a 2-0 win against the Chicago Fire.