UFL T1SDALE

My experience as a Defenders fan going to STL America's Center & The Dome for an away game. This was a solo trip, did not bring my family on this one. The St. Louis Battlehawks home games truly are one of the special environments for United Football League. I’ve been to 4 AWAY games for DC Defenders over the last 12 months and the environment for this one was fired up! They definitely should NOT move STL to a soccer stadium if they keep showing out like they did yesterday. I got to my hotel at 1AM on game day after a late flight from the west coast. I woke up 6 hours later, walked towards the stadium and randomly caught the STL player walk-ins. Then, I walked over to the tailgate and met up with The Bottom Line and enjoyed some mimosas and breakfast burritos with Ed Ploeger and his gang. Thanks for the hospitality! I was able to get him a signed Sam Kidd jersey as a thanks for all he does for the UFL community! After the tailgate, got in for gate drop at 0930, and went straight down to the field. I was able to say hi to a few players and talk with Steven McCrane as his son was nailing 50+ yard field goals with ease. Chatted up and made peace with a few STL fans around me. Once the game started, they had the place LOUD, and my watch kept alerting me that my hearing was getting damaged 🤣 . Being there for the first ever 4 point field goal by Matt McCrane made the travel worth it. After the home fans had a few rounds of beers, the heckling began (which was expected), but I had to pop about 6 beach balls/🎈 as I became the 🎯 for drunk fans as the only DC fan in the section. I tossed the balls back a few times until I immediately got hit with about 3 balls in a row. So that part was a bit of a let down, as I was just trying to enjoy a game. The halftime show was great. Overall, the game experience itself left something to be desired with the penalties and getting harassed by fans who were clearly recording trying to get rage bait engagement on 🎥. Probably won’t be going back to a STL game again, but I’m glad got to check it out! Pregame/Tailgate: 5/5 Halftime: 5/5 Game experience: 3/5 Getting to/from stadium: 5/5