Protective Stadium confirmed and more

In a move that surprises absolutely no one, the Legion today officially announced that it will be playing at Protective Stadium in 2022. This had been expected ever since the deal with UAB’s PNC Field was reported as ended.

At the same time, the club opened up 2022 season ticket sales. And that is exceptionally good news. Take a look at the pricing chart for 2021:

Now compare that to the equivalent chart for next year:

That is a massive cut in ticket prices. And in a far nicer stadium to boot. Can’t get a much better deal than that. Of course, parking is going to cost you about ten times as much[efn_note]This is of course a joke. Quit panicking.[/efn_note]. It therefore goes without saying that the team is looking to fill far more seats than it has in the past.

How many more, you wonder? Well, a review of the stadium seating chart indicates that the sections allocated for Legion games have a total of 15,065 seats, and an additional 182 wheelchair-accessible seats. That’s a little over three times as many as PNC Field can hold. Clearly, the club has every intention of filling as may of those seats as possible. Obviously, the field level seats are gone, but that’s not much of a concern to the average fan.

One thing to note, though: the new lower season ticket prices do not include US Open Cup, USL Championship playoff and exhibition games as previously, but do allow for priority buying options for those games, as well as discounts on additional single game tickets. Oh, and you get a 10% discount at the team store.

And no, USFL and World Games tickets are not included either. So don’t ask.

The announcement was accompanied by a video, which added some otherwise unstated hints. The video featured Phanuel Kavita, Bruno Lapa, Anderson Asiedu and Jonny Dean. That last is of most interest to fans, and was pretty much immediately picked up on by anyone who watched. Jonny Dean was out of contract at the end of the 2021 season, so this looks like a backhanded announcement that he has been resigned.

On top of that, the foursome are shown wearing what looks to be a new away kit for 2022. The all-white kit features a shirt with embossed patterning all over and three gold sparks above the player’s name on the back. It looks pretty rad and well worth exercising that 10% discount for.

So, from now on don’t get off I-65 at University Avenue. Unless you’re heading to Good People first, that is. But go easy on the Snakehandler, OK?