2020 Virtual Town Hall
Thanks to all who attended our Virtual Town Hall on Monday night. If you would like to listen to the recording, you can access it below.
The Beer Garden will be permanently closed and the Supporters' Section will be moved to Sections 112 and 113.
Field-level seating has been removed league-wide beginning in 2021. This includes the "field-level" bleachers in the Garden, and would reduce the Beer Garden capacity from 1000 to around 400. Given the capacity reduction, the front office made the decision to move Supporters' Groups and build safe standing in 112 and 113, which we have been asking for in the Garden for years. These sections are shaded.
Regarding security, there have been a number of issues this year relating to security policing fan conduct inconsistently. These incidents have been a combination of non-compliance with the fan code of conduct as well as questionable refereeing from Security. Moving forward, Sections 112 and 113 will involve DBG and El Matador self-policing, and FC Dallas Front Office will approach DBG & EM leadership if there are issues before getting security involved. We have shared specific verbiage that is used in DBG chants, as well as clarified use of terms such as "suck" and received approval from the FO for our commonly used chants that don't involve racist, sexist, or homophobic comments or hate speech of any kind. We have some commitments in writing, but are continuing to get additional clarification and confirmation in writing where possible.
The beer trailer that was previously located in the Beer Garden will relocate to Sections 112 and 113 in some capacity. Craft beer choices are not dictated by the Hunts, but by Legends, who owns and manages concessions at Toyota Stadium. We have asked previously for a meeting with Legends, and will continue to push the FO to connect us. We are not sure if the beer trailer will be limited to those seated in 112 and 113.
There are no plans to have a full bar within the Supporters' Section. We do not know of dedicated food vendors for the Supporters' Section at this time.
We don't have confirmation on access to the Hall of Fame Club bars. The generally accepted rule at the moment is that if we have access to it today, that access will continue (with the exception of the Garden).
We have made suggestions that we feel good about regarding the planning of the Supporters' Section. We have commitment on a bi-weekly meeting, but acknowledge that we need to do more to insist on being involved in the planning.
We understand that members have a concern around limiting the number of "regular" fans purchasing tickets in the Supporters' Section. This happened frequently in the Beer Garden, and with more limited capacity, supporters don't want to get priced out. We've discussed bringing back the purchase of individual game tickets through DBG and EM. Season ticket memberships will continue to be sold through the club. Our recommendation is that members who want to ensure that they have a ticket in the Supporters' Section purchase season tickets.
Since we will not be in the Beer Garden anymore, there is a discussion that it may be time to shed "Beer" from our name and become the Dallas Guardians. On bank and tax filings we operate as Dallas Guardians, so this would not be a complicated change. We have had conversations informally as leadership group about making this name change for a number of years now, and feel that it might be a good time to make the change, coinciding with DBG's 10th Anniversary Season in 2021. We will not make this change without bringing the option to our Full 90 Members.
Discussions around planning for our 10th Anniversary Party have begun. We're ideally targeting 4th of July Weekend 2021. The inaugural 24 Hour Tailgate was not held at the beginning of the season, and we have proposed having an Anniversary Party on Friday (July 2), 24 Hour Tailgate on Saturday (July 3) with an anticipated home match on Sunday (July 4). Obviously the pandemic plays a huge role in the planning, and we will not have a massive superspreader event. We are looking for ways to create a virtual event if necessary.
If you would like to be involved in the planning of our Anniversary Party, or get involved with DBG in other ways, we're always looking for volunteers. You can get in touch with us at dbgofficial@gmail.com.
