“What I really remember is a lot of screaming kids,” said Laura Hendricks, a longtime fan whose family has attended the franchise’s games since the league’s first season. “There was no real investment. They were there because it was something to do.”

Often, the team’s performance on the field felt secondary. In the early years, team executives met each Thursday before a Saturday game to discuss that weekend’s promotional gimmick. One official recounted a day when heavy rain began near the end of the first half, prompting another anxious executive to screech over the team’s in-house walkie-talkie system that “whatever we do, don’t cancel the mini-ponies!” that had been rented to give rides to fans at halftime.

“To be fair, a lot of that was happening all across the league early on,” said Chris Klein, who played for the Wizards from 1998 to 2005 and is now the president of the Los Angeles Galaxy. “Everyone was trying to figure out where M.L.S. fit into the American culture and how to make it work.”

In the standings, the Wizards actually had a measure of success. They even won the M.L.S. championship in 2000, but the club still struggled to embed itself in the community. Rob Thomson, the team’s executive vice president for communications, recalled driving home from work once in the early 2000s and seeing another car with a Wizards bumper sticker. Thomson excitedly sped up to try and wave at the person in the other car. “I pulled up alongside and it was someone I worked with,” he said.

By 2004, with attendance languishing despite good results from the team, the Hunts — who also owned M.L.S. teams in Dallas and Columbus, Ohio — began exploring a possible sale. Given the commercial struggles of the club, there was persistent speculation that the team might be moved (Philadelphia was often suggested), and Garber acknowledged that relocation was considered.

Ultimately, the club stayed put after the Hunts found interest from a six-man, locally based group led by the co-owners of an electronic medical systems company. The sale of the team was completed in 2006 and the goal, Garber said, “was an immediate sea change” in approach. The new group set out to rejuvenate operations, with a stadium designed for soccer at the heart of the plan.

A New Approach

By the summer of 2010, Robb Heineman, the team’s president and one of the six new owners, knew the coming six months would be crucial. The Wizards had spent the previous four years playing in a minor-league baseball stadium, essentially treading water while waiting for their transformation.