WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 17, 2026) - D.C. United today announced that the club and Theta Labs have agreed to a multi-year partnership deal. Theta Labs artificial intelligence will be integrated into the club's website, giving fans access to an AI agent that delivers real-time information while creating a more engaging and personalized digital fan experience.
Theta Labs is the leading provider of decentralized cloud infrastructure for AI, media, and entertainment. The AI agent is trained on D.C. United and Major League Soccer data deployed on the Theta EdgeCloud’s distributed GPU infrastructure. It uses Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), which means responses are generated only from verified club and league sources rather than from the model’s general training data. As a result, fans get accurate answers on schedules, results and roster information rather than plausible-sounding guesses.
“D.C. United are proud to welcome Theta Labs to the Black-and-Red family this season and beyond,” said Leonard Edwards, Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Partnerships. “Innovation drives progress through technology, and we are excited to be able to elevate our fans engagement while creating new ways for our supporters to connect with the club.”
The Theta Labs AI agent helps with matchday assistance by providing live matchday updates, lineups, stats, as well as parking and venue information. It also provides team and player insight, covering player statistics, injury updates, historical data, and performance metrics.
Fan engagement is enhanced through trivia, polls, and interactive content while merchandise and ticketing support provides fans with ticker availability, team gear and behind-the-scenes content. Together, these features provide fans with a more interactive and seamless digital experience.
“D.C. United are one of the most exciting and prestigious clubs in Major League Soccer, and we are thrilled to be putting our technology in front of their supporters. Audi Field sits in the heart of the nation's capital, and having an AI agent built on Theta EdgeCloud serving Black-and-Red fans there is something we are genuinely proud of. This is the most exciting U.S sports deployment we have done to date, and we think it points to where fan engagement is heading across the league,” said Mitch Liu, founder and CEO of Theta Labs.
The partnership aims to create a more connected experience for the Black-and-Red faithful by providing a user-friendly interface to access information. D.C. United becomes the third Major League Soccer club to partner with Theta Labs, further strengthening the club’s commitment to enhancing the fan experience through innovative technology.
About D.C. United
One of the founding clubs of Major League Soccer in 1996, D.C. United are among the most decorated teams in the United States with 13 domestic and international trophies. D.C. United have called the District home for the last 28 seasons and play their home games at Audi Field in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Southwest, Washington, D.C, which opened in 2018. In addition to D.C. United games, the 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium hosts over 100 events year-round.
The Black-and-Red train at the United Performance Complex, a state-of-the-art training facility and performance center located in Leesburg, Va. The 40,000 square foot 30- acre training facility, that opened in 2021, features four outdoor practice fields, and a training center equipped with a weight room and recovery facilities. The Black-and-Red have won the MLS Cup four times (1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004), the Supporters’ Shield four times (1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007) and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup three times (1996, 2008 and 2013). For more information and club updates, please visit www.dcunited.com and find us on social media @dcunited
About Theta Labs
Theta Labs is the leading provider of decentralized cloud infrastructure for AI, media and entertainment, powered by a global network of distributed edge nodes and a native blockchain. Backed by Samsung, Sony, Google, Creative Artists Agency and more, Theta is among the top AI tokens on Binance.com and among the top 10 DePIN blockchains by market capitalization on Coingecko. Theta's enterprise validator and governance council is composed of global market leaders including Google, Samsung, CAA and Binance.
Theta EdgeCloud is a hybrid cloud-edge computing platform delivering on-demand distributed GPU compute. EdgeCloud counts more than 40 global customers including Stanford University, Imperial College London, KAIST, Seoul National University and NTU Singapore, alongside professional sports and esports organizations including the NBA's Houston Rockets, the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils, MLS's San Jose Earthquakes and Philadelphia Union, and esports teams G2 Esports, Cloud9, Gen.G, FlyQuest, 100 Thieves and Sentinels.
