On the Name of the Stadium at McKalla Place

Though it has now become the center of many Austin soccer fans’ universe, none of us had ever heard of “McKalla Place” just a few years ago. We’re proud to have published the pragmatic and insightful post by Lee Nichols that introduced many to that name: My Stadium Pick: McKalla Place.

I’m assuming Anthony Precourt is going to read this, so let’s invite him: Mr. Precourt, make a visit to the McKalla tract. It won’t look very impressive. But try to see its potential, not just its present.

Fast-forward a few years, and suddenly there’s this thing out there, making that tract look a lot more impressive:

McKalla Place Stadium under construction, 2021

We all knew it wouldn’t be called “Austin FC stadium” forever, that there’d be a sponsor someday. Sure enough, we got the announcement in January: it’s now officially Q2 Stadium.

Which is fine. We’d never heard of Q2 before – probably why they’re paying to put their name on a stadium – but the little we know seems: fine. Those of us in the corporate world might be a little thrown off by a term that also means the second financial quarter of the year, but at least it’s easy to pronounce (looking at you, MAH-fray Stadium), and even easier to spell. The fact that “Q” can also refer to “a disproven and discredited American far-right conspiracy theory commonly called a cult” makes saying something like, “see you at The Q!” less great, but here’s hoping that particular meaning of the 17th letter of the alphabet fades quickly. (Betcha the marketing department at Q2 corporate headquarters hopes so, too.)

To be clear: we’re not against stadium sponsorship generally, or against this sponsorship in particular. Both are good. It’s part of pro sports, and we hope the huge piles of money it brings in are spent wisely on the stadium and our team.

But here’s the thing. To us, it will always be McKalla Place. It’s the name our soccer dream had before there  was a stadium, and it’s the name that will be there after the current sponsorship deal is up, and the one after that, and the one after that.

Plus, it’s key to one of our favorite La Murga songs:

McKalla (Havana)

McKalla Oh-La-La
All of my heart is at
McKalla Oh-La-La
Please take me home to
McKalla Oh-La-La
All of my friends are at McKalla
There’s something bout McKalla

Violet Crown Verdict on the name “Q2 Stadium”: sideways thumb

Violet Crown Verdict on the name “McKalla Place”: two thumbs up