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DCU Executive Chairman Victor MacFarlane.
(Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)
Now, this is far from the first time that MacFarlane has threatened to move the team from the confines of the District. But the recent falling apart of the development at Poplar Point has led ownership to begin materializing its threats, regardless of their emptiness at the time of delivery. There's a whole lot of impediments for both sides to overcome—like, you know, building a shiny new stadium in a recession using any public subsidies in a state with some severe budgetary crises—and many of the specific logistics involved in the relocation are still unknown. The team has to fulfill its lease to play in RFK Stadium for at least two more seasons, but from all vantage points, this is as close as to moving out of D.C. as the franchise has come. Of course, we'll keep an eye on the proceedings as more details come in during the next few days.
If the move does go down, will you make the trek out to Largo or Morgan Boulevard to watch United play?
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This is bullshit. Stay your ass in DC. If they move to PG County, they will lose tons of game-goers, including myself.
According to Greater Greater Washington, the DC Government screwed itself on the Poplar Point deal and, consequently, the soccer team. This does not surprise me in the least. Now, they're stuck with the upkeep of Poplar Point and no developer in the pipeline.
I might consider it, when Wegmans builds their store there. Until then, they can pi$$ up a rope.
Yeah, buy you are getting one right up the street from you in Alexandria.
Yeah, but when I head out to Landover to buy my heroin, sometimes I get a hankering for some Zweigle's white hots, one of the essential elements of the garbage plate.
There is nothing quite like two cheese burgers with mac salad and home fries topped with hot sauce.
I like mine fries on fries w extra frank's
Boo, I will never attend a match again. This whole "must have a stadium" thing makes me angrier than anything about MLS (even more than the retarded designated player). For some reason they feel like its the only way to grow the league yet all it accomplishes is moving the teams out to the suburbs.
I guarantee if United move to PG county, they won't draw as many fans. No one from Virginia will want to the trip all the way across town for 7:30 games.
I understand that it's a point of pride for the club to have their own, modern stadium ... but shouldn't actually playing in the city you're named for be a point of pride? Guess not.
You mean like the Landover Redskins?
This whole "must have a stadium" thing makes me angrier than anything about MLS (even more than the retarded designated player). For some reason they feel like its the only way to grow the league yet all it accomplishes is moving the teams out to the suburbs.
As Kev29 says, the reason that it is so important for MLS clubs to have their own stadium is economics. Right now, United (and any other club playing in someone else's stadium) is paying rent and not receiving revenue from sales of concessions, parking, etc. It is also subject to the whims of DCSEC when it comes to scheduling and, to a certain extent, maintenance.
With its own stadium, United would eliminate rent payments (though would be subject to other fees associated with ownership), would be able to receive revenue from sales at the stadium, and could rent the stadium out to others looking for a smallish venue. A 24-27K seat outdoor venue could be fairly popular for shows, football games, etc.
That's different. The Redskins would still fill the seats if they payed in Richmond. With United its different. Its a struggle to even get 20,000 people in the stands. I don't know what their fan demographics actually are but I'd think its fair to say that moving farther into Maryland would force a large number of the fans in Virginia, which is probably close to half, to reconsider.
I understand that PG is better than no team at all, I mean as long as they're still on metro that's fine I guess.
west: There's a bit of chicken and egg at play with the fan demographics. United have always been at RFK - an incredibly easy destination for Northern Virginians. You even have your own access road into Lot 8. Since the team landed there, that fan base grew around them - not the other way around.
If a Maryland move happens, I believe a slightly altered fan base can grow around a PG location. With a small drop off in Virginians - there could be a small increase in Maryland fans who find it easier to get to matches. If the stadium is nice and the team respectable - they will draw fans.
There's pro soccer in America?!
I'm going postal the next time I see/hear another foot stomping temper tantrum from a f-ing Virginian. It's not a "point of pride" for United to have a stadium - it's vital for their economic survival. If you can't make it to weeknight matches, shame - but they are few and far between in MLS now.
If you don't want to drive an extra 15 minutes on a Saturday evening to support your team in its desperate attempt to stay financially viable - then you weren't a real supporter to begin with. VA doesn't want a United stadium. DC doesn't want one either. Marylanders will pick up your slack.
Have fun watching matches on TV in Virginia. Though I predict you'll stop crying in your spilled milk around the time of the first match in the new stadium.
HERE HERE! Virginia can get its own local team - the NoVa Traffic is kind of catchy - or just quitchabichin.
That said, moving the team to PG county is rather stupid, given the location of the fan base. Sure, die-hards will schlep out there, but what about the casual fans? It's a lot of effort, and DC United is not the Redskins, which means the schleps to Landover for 'skins games are inapposite.
If Landover/Largo does happen, the only shame is that it's not a little closer to Montgomery County. But apparently New Carrollton and Greenbelt were explored and deemed not viable.
Sure, there might be some casual fans in (say) Reston, Falls Church and even Potomac that find the new location too inconvenient. But, with every closed door... A new stadium might be easier for people from Anne Arundel and Howard counties - not to mention places like Bowie, Crofton, Annapolis and points west. For myself, a MoCo resident, Landover would be about 20 minutes closer than RFK on a Saturday night. I'm saddened that a new stadium was killed by Fenty in DC - I'd much prefer it in the city. But this could lead to a larger, more consistent fan base on the Maryland side.
Couldn't agree more. Playing at RFK is a chore. Its not built for baseball and its not built for football. The team tried hard to move into a place that would have been the perfect fit.
I will still be at every game
Actually, it was built for both.
I realize what it was built for, but is an absolutely horrible baseball and soccer 'stadium.' Now, without seats behind one of the goals, and no seats existing behind the other, its hardly even a soccer stadium. Soccer is meant to be played in a smaller stadium, where you are close to the action.
As someone else said, building a stadium in PG county would open the door to a great music venue and other events, that DC United could actually profit from.
If they move out of DC they should really stop calling themselves DC United.
Right - just like the Redskins, Bullets and Caps did. Oh and the fine Jesuit Landover University that played basketball out there for 17 years.
You're one of these temper tantrum-having bitches from Virginia you were talking about above, aren't you?
Team needs to make money and they couldn't do it in D.C. It makes perfect sense if P>G> County can pull it off. Real fans will go to the games regardless of where they play. I am just happy they finally might get a stadium.
Think of the alternative. If they did not get the deal in either D.C. or PG County and they continued to lose money, what is keeping them from staying in/near Washington? As the league continues to expand, I could see them moving to another city. It has happened to teams that are way more financially sound.
if they move to PG, so be it, they're a business, and that's their choice.
but drop the DC moniker. sorry, you don't get to keep it. the 'washington' redskins, bullets, and caps you could kind of excuse by saying, "well, it's the washington area".
but DC is specific, there are some hard and set boundaries there. you cross western, eastern, or southern avenues, you ain't DC no more. sorries.
Plus, PGC United has just the right hint of European poseury that MLS craves.
wow, you have some real serious standards. Can you send me a map where with borders so i have exact details where dc area starts and ends?
Sure. It's right where DC no longer gets tax revenue.
yeah, i have maps that show where not just DC starts and ends, but every other political jurisdiction in the world as well! i know it's shocking, you might wonder, "where does this magical man conjure up these amazing things?"
i would direct you to 'ye olde mappe store', but it sounds like that's to scary for you. ooooh—serious standards.
It's not their choice. They were forced out of town by the grandstanding, gap toothed, f--kwad Mayor.
Anacostia lose out too - there's not going to be a single thing built on Poplar Point now. Douchebag Marc Fisher will be thrilled!
Look if they put it in PG county, especially in near Langley Park, Mt. Ranier, or Hyattsville there is a HUGH futbol fan base right there.
Maybe they should use Byrd (or whatever it's called now) Stadium.
Byrd Stadium is too narrow. The UMD soccer team has a separate field (Ludwig Field) to play on...seats only about 5K.
That would be fine. If they move the team out of the District, they aren't going to draw more than 5,000 fans per game anyway.
Real fans will go to the games regardless of where they play.
Unfortunately, they may also need casual fans, and a move to PG, even if Metro-accessible, could discourage more casual fans than it will attract.
I admit that I'm not a "real fan" of DC United; I usually go to only three or four games per year. If they go to a stadium within walking distance of a station at the ass-end of the Blue Line, I might do one. For every eight people who feel the same as me -- and I'm pretty sure that "hipster doofus casual soccer fan who doesn't own a car" describes a significant minority of United's ticket sales -- the team will lose a net equivalent of one fan.
Now, there may be a "right-sizing" element here. Maybe a smaller stadium with a lower rent will be a better fit than a bigger stadium they can't reliably fill, even if fewer people want to go to the new stadium. I dunno. But I sure hope United's done their homework if they're serious about considering a move.
Damn shame we can't just kick the Nats out -- even if the Lerner's weren't douchebags, it's not like they're using Nationals Stadium for baseball -- and remodel the field for soccer. Nationals Stadium is a bit big for an MLS venue, but it's still smaller and more modern than RFK and if United played there I'd go a whole lot more.
A soccer team leaving a city would be like a tree falling in a forest with no one that to hear it. I would wish the irrelevent sports team bon voyage except I live just on the Maryland side of the line and I sure don't want my tax dollars wasted on professional grass diving. I'll start writing my state legislators right now. Thanks for the tip.
Wow you don't like soccer; guess what we don't care. Go waste people's time somewhere else.
1) I support DCU's stadium plans. All the back-and-forth with the District government that 1)got raked over the coals with the Nats' stadium and 2)is still carrying a torch for the Redskins and hoping they'll move back to DC have led nowhere, and its time to shit or get off the pot. Maybe this is some sort of grand bargaining ploy, but whatever - if it means DCU can come closer to actually operating in the black (or at least less in the red) then I'm all for it.
2) They can keep the DCU name as long as they want. Amongst MLS teams, Real Salt Lake plays in Sandy, UT, not SLC, which is actually 15 miles north. The Los Angeles Galaxy play in Carson, CA, not LA (17 miles north). The Chicago Fire play in Bridgeview, IL, not Chicago (17 miles NE). FC Dallas plays in Frisco, TX, not Dallas (28 miles south). And it's not just soccer teams, too - the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? The Detroit Pistons (playing in lovely Auburn Hills, 30 miles north of their namesake city)? RFK to FedEx field? About 8 miles.
The difference is that will all those teams at least the state their namesake city is in gets revenue, so the city gets it indirectly.
With DC, we get zippo from any team not actually located in DC.
of course, if DC were a part of Maryland, that wouldn't be a problem.
true—and when monkey is viceroy of the potomac, i won't have to wear pants either.
That's Chancellor of the Exchequer! Now, kneel before Zod!
actually, a viceroy of the potomac isn't a bad idea. i'd vote for Monkey! solve a lot of the stupid jurisdictional problems that seem to plague the region.
without a little (or a lot) more information, it's tough to say whether or not i favor you not wearing pants...in general, i support that idea, too.
This is not as worrisome to me for the fans getting there as this is a shameful reminder of the abject failure of DC government to recognize a good thing when they saw it, and develop the Poplar Point site. They could have both secured the tax base, the close proximity to fans across the region, and pushed development across the river to places where it is most desperately needed. Instead, short sighted quibbling is forcing this kind of action, which would drain income and potentially reduce fan base as a result of convenience. United are not the Redskins - you can't put them anywhere and expect the same turnout.
Exactly... As a NOVA-based fan, this I would really have preferred a Poplar Point location, and would have loved to give the DC economy my money... but no, DC fucked it up, so now someone else gets that cash.
And as far as DCU is concerned, even if they get 40% less fans through the gates, they'll still be making more money. No brainer there.
Yep. The ending of that deal reeks of mismanagement and petty crap on DC's part.
The DC United folks did a TON of buttkissing all through that ward, lining up support.
And, as others have pointed out, they were paying for the stadium. They were only asking for DC to develop infrastructure for the site (a request every other developer would make).
But, no. DC pissed it away.
At least they are considering building the stadium by a metro station. So it's a few extra stops, bfd. There isn't other stadium in the MLS that's easy to get to, expect maybe Toronto, so we should consider ourselves blessed.
What's really important is the size/scope of the new tailgate area. We're very lucky at RFK no one cares really what goes on. :D
Maryland, the only place worse could be..., well..., nothing.
Spoken like a woman who's never been to Australia.
In Australia, we set everything on FIRE! In Australia, we feed our children to flaming dingos. In Australia, we wash our junk in bidets and lather them up in the sink.
Why can't the city build a stadium at RFK, or refurbish RFK itself? No one has ever explained why this is not an option. If the team moves to Maryland, it will die of lack of support.
Because the city doesn't own RFK. It's owned by the Feds. And the Feds are notoriously bitchy about who they give their land to.