So much for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s refusal to provide subsidies for a D.C. United stadium: The mayor told city council members yesterday he was considering spending $150 million of city money on a soccer stadium, using taxes put in place for the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. Providing $40 million worth of city land for the project would raise the total public cost to $190 million, according to the Washington Post. (The D.C. Examiner sets it at $230 million, but it’s not clear where it gets the higher number.)
Fenty said he’d only support a stadium if it were a “public-private partnership,” and a D.C. United spokeswoman said there would be a “significant equity infusion” from the team’s owners. But the total estimated construction cost of the stadium is $200 million, meaning at most D.C. United could be kicking in a quarter of the tab.
The coalition that opposed the Nationals stadium deal has begun circulating a sign-on letter calling on D.C. residents and others to tell the mayor they “oppose using precious public funds to subsidize professional sports, especially at a time when the city is facing tremendous budget restraints,” and noting that “If baseball stadium revenues can be diverted to a soccer stadium, they can be diverted to any purpose,” such as literacy programs, which currently get less than $10 million a year in city funds.
Not that any sports teams deserve significant public subsidies, but if any team in the DC area did deserve it, it would be DC United.