DC United 2009 A-to-Z: Unwanted United?

April 8, 6:39 PMWashington Soccer ExaminerEd Morgans

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Around the region, DC United fans are somewhat probably shaking their heads, wondering why nobody wants their team in their area. United have won four MLS Cups, plenty of other trophies, are active in the community, and have a loyal, passionate fan base.

Yet, there's no stadium on the horizon for United, while teams around Major League Soccer have either already gotten theirs, or in the case of rival New York, and soon-to-be-rival Philadelphia, will be playing in their new friendly confines soon. It's fair to feel a little unwanted.

But, one day after the Prince George's County Council beat DC United at the near post and then slammed the door on their stadium hopes in the area, the predictable story has come out regarding other jurisdictions that might be interested in approaching the project.

And no, those other jurisdictions aren't St. Louis and Ottawa - not yet anyway.

Specifically, the linked article above from the Washington Business Journal discusses the potential of sites in Montgomery County and Frederick County - both in Maryland - as being homes for United in the future. Montgomery County already has the SoccerPlex near Germantown, with many fields for youth soccer and one central field for larger events that will be the main home this season for the Washington Freedom of the new Women's Professional Soccer league. But it's not up to the level necessary to house an MLS team, the main stadium has a capacity of just 5,200, there is no Metro accessibility to the site, and on a weeknight, the site is very difficult to get to from northern Virginia due to traffic. United has played some US Open Cup matches there in the past, but those typically draw far lower crowds than league matches do. In a sense, it's a shame the SoccerPlex wasn't built more with a top-flight soccer club in mind, but it is what it is.

The article discusses other possible sites in the county that perhaps would offer Metro access - which would seem to be a must for United no matter where they go. That makes the case of Frederick County a curious one. Frederick is well off the map with regard to Metro and while there is MARC access (the local transit railroad line in Maryland for those not familiar with the area), the current schedules don't suit United for weeknight games - and the line doesn't currently run at all on weekends. If Germantown is difficult to get to, Frederick is darn near impossible. The city lies about 15 miles or so north of the SoccerPlex complex, and is probably 35-40 miles from DC, while also being a solid 45 miles (at least) west of Baltimore. In other words, while it's a decent little town, it's certainly not a population center and not what would seem to be a preferred target for an MLS team.

However.

United are at the point now where beggars can't be choosers. Credit to Montgomery and Frederick counties for at least talking about it and opening a door - if ever so little - to a future home for the club. I know that Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia were mentioned in the article, as well, but that's really a long shot, in my humble opinion (I lived in both at different times in the past). Baseball and the NFL have gone down that road in the past with no success. The only way a Virginia plan works to me would be if a complex similar to the Maryland SoccerPlex is built, with United Stadium as a center point. It has to have community value or Virginia won't do it, and even then, you'd have to find people who want it in their community - and that's going to be difficult.

Beyond all of this, however, United's ownership needs to look at itself. Simply paying rent for 25-30 years or so in order to pay roughly 25% of the cost of the stadium off is not going to get it done. There has to be something more in it for the eventual home county, and there has to be less of a risk for that county and state where the team ends up. No one is trying to take on any additional risk these days - there's already too much floating around due to the economic conditions.

That probably means that United doesn't want to risk ponying up more than what was laid out in the PG deal, either, and I understand that - but they are going to have to find a middle ground somewhere to make any deal happen, be it in Montgomery County, the city of Frederick, or some other site like Annapolis or Baltimore.

AROUND THE WEB:

* The DCenters has a rational look at where things stand at the moment.

* MLSNet has a piece on United goalkeeper Louis Crayton (remember, they have a game Saturday!) coming off a shutout in his season debut vs. Houston last Saturday. The shutout was already Crayton's fifth of his short MLS career.

* Dan Steinberg of the Post has a Bog piece about Bryan Namoff - Unleashed!

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