Reaction to the D.C. United stadium proposal is still pouring in, and the reaction is … mixed? Yeah, I’ll go with “mixed”:
- The Washington Post editorial page calls it “promising,” because, you know, the Washington Post.
- CBSDC, the website for a pile of CBS-owned D.C. radio and TV stations, notes that the required land swaps aren’t yet fully settled, plus there’s no agreement yet on the plan for D.C. to share in windfall profits if the soccer team ever generates any.
- Washington City Paper has a great, um, artisanal map showing just how much of the land for the stadium still needs to be acquired.
- WashPost reporter Marc Fisher actually looks at Buzzard Point, where the stadium would go, and notes that there are lots of reasons why it’s remained undeveloped, which could make it tough for a soccer stadium to create any spinoff development. (If the concept of soccer creating spinoff development on its own hasn’t already been decisively proven a myth. And I was just in Harrison last weekend: The muddy lots are still there, and still muddy, though there was one lonesome backhoe up to something.)
All of which is very useful and interesting, but is more along the lines of “What obstacles remain to this deal?” coverage rather than “Is this a good idea for the District?” The initial back-of-the-envelope numbers don’t look good, but I’d love to see someone local with a bit more research time tackle the calculations. Seriously, don’t make me come in there.
Harrison is just not a great place for the stadium. I think the PATH is pretty good (as a visitor) but my NYC-living friends assure me it’s hell.
In another thread below (Detroit-related I thing) I posted some of the capacity percentages for MLS teams and I probably overlooked one aspect of that that makes this site probably better than, say, Harrison. Some/many of teams with really good attendance numbers have put their MLS stadia in convenient locations. Seattle uses Century Link, which is downtown. BBVA is downtown Houston. Vancouver, right downtown. JeldWenn also seems centrally located (at least eyeballing a map, I don’t know Portland geography).
Localities like Harrison, Bridgeview (Chicago Fire), Frisco (FC Dallas) that are finding their stadium deals to be really, really bad, are also an absolute pain in the ass to get to.
Now, let me be clear: I’m not defending the terms or the DC United deal (as I’m generally opposed to subsidies for rich sports owners). And I’m making no comment about the land-swap deals or what deals might still need to be done. I’m just saying, at least they are being relatively smart to not put this thing out in Vienna or Falls Church or something (and I pulled those names out of my rear as I vaguely remember from the summer I spent in DC that they were stops near the ends of Metro lines). If the city wants any cut of ‘windfall’ profits, they have a much better chance of seeing that happen with a very accessible venue.