A future stomping ground for United supporters?

After wrapping up yet another postseason-less campaign, the chatter surrounding D.C. United returns to an all-too-familiar topic: whether or not the team will actually remain in Washington for the long-term.

It’s a well-worn subject, to be sure. In case you’ve missed the years-long debate over the team’s future in Washington, here’s the short version: the club currently holds a lease at RFK, the terms of which have left United at a financial loss. The club has long scouted locations inside and outside the District in the hopes of securing a new stadium, but things are really coming to a head, as a group in Baltimore has started pushing for United to relocate.

In a candid interview with Post soccer reporter Steven Goff, D.C. United team president Kevin Payne didn’t want to discuss the specifics of other temporary homes for the team, should they have to move out of RFK. But that wasn’t stopping Goff from dropping a juicy bit of scuttlebutt:

The University of Maryland athletic department has a substantial operating deficit. Have you spoken to them about playing at Byrd Stadium?

“I’m not going to get into who we have or haven’t talked to.”

[Sources tell the Insider that Maryland is aware of United’s situation and that “very informal and very preliminary” conversations have taken place. United wouldn’t move permanently into a university stadium but would explore a temporary option with a more favorable lease than RFK’s until a facility of its own is built.]

United moving from RFK to Byrd Stadium is an interesting idea. The stadium wouldn’t really be an upgrade from a ambient point of view — Byrd, like RFK, is designed, above all else, to pack a ton of people into one place. But the University, which has some serious issues with its athletic budget, would probably be happy to take in the extra cash that a temporary lease to United would provide.

Of course, there would be some potential conflicts when fall rolls around and United and Maryland football are both playing on Saturdays, though that could certainly be worked around. On the whole, if the choice was between losing the team to Baltimore and having to travel up to College Park for matches, local fans would certainly take the latter.

Then again, all this talk about Byrd is still just short-term thinking — the team still needs a new home somewhere. “[R]ight now we’re trying to understand where the best stadium opportunity is for us — which locale is able to commit to us first,” Payne told Goff, which certainly sounds like the team is, at minimum, seriously considering the overtures put forth by Baltimore officials last December. Payne also admitted that the team is also looking to attract new investors who are “not all 100 percent local” — so it’d probably behoove those in power with an interest in keeping United around to get cracking.