D.C. United Moving To Baltimore Inches Closer To Reality

Southern MD native, yeah, I’ll support United in Baltimore, but im not happy about it.

I guess I’d still consider myself a United fan if they moved, but I’d be pretty furious. And I wouldn’t drive an hour for any games or go out of my way to watch any on TV.

If I were Don Garber, I would be making hundreds of phone calls a day to investors who could help fund a stadium in the DC area somewhere. I would be frantically working around the clock, doing anything I could so that the star franchise of the league’s history (No Don, it’s not those MLS Cup chokers from LA!) could stay in their home town. DC is the rock of the league and have some of the best fans in the league – certainly two of the very greatest supporters groups – and if they go, every single fanbase in MLS except for maybe the Cascadians will be questioning… will we be next?

I love this league, I’ve put 16 years of my life into following my team and the rest of the teams around them and it had jolly well better not come down to that.

Probably won’t support the team, or more specifically won’t spend much money at their new home. Moreover, I’ll be slowly cutting the cord on anything DC related I’m involved with (read: Caps tickets). Considering the survey comes out on a day where the Mayor’s in Tampa looking at NFL training facilities as part of evaluating to bring the Redskins back into the City without (seemingly) even returning the Front Office’s calls, I might as well do the only thing I can really do, and this seems like the only option at this point.

But let me clarify. I will surely attend fewer matches. And probably won’t purchase any merchandise (I’d much rather keep wearing my D.C. United shirts and scarves). And if the Baltimore team’s games aren’t carried by CSN-Washington (or any other network that I get in the DC area), my support would quickly fade.

I’ve lived and worked in both Baltimore and DC, so I can emotionally support a team in either town — and I have. I was rooting for the Bays long before MLS was a gleam in anyone’s eyes. Now I live in far Western Maryland and pose no real threat of attending matches in either town. I guess that makes me a neutral on where DCU plays. All I want is to see good futball on satellite TV. I watch every DCU match that reaches my TV, but I must admit that I am a far bigger and more knowledgeable fan of the Premiership than I am of MLS.

Fans who want DCU to remain somewhere in metro DC can only hope that the MLS survey is only a feint to spur the local politicos and maybe some potential investors into getting off the dime on a new stadium. From my perch, I see it as serious. I focuses on Westport, not some generic spot in the Baltimore area or even some location midway between both cities. Whichever, it seems clear that crunch time has arrived for the franchise.

DCU and MLS would clearly rather keep United in DC. They’re stymied by local politics.

Local politicians don’t care about anything that doesn’t have local support. They’re not going to go out on a limb in a weak economy for a few thousand hardcore DCU fans. Our history, passion, tradition, etc. means nothing to them.

Most people in the DC/MD/VA area don’t even know the team exists, and it’s way too easy to paint a stadium as wasted tax dollars instead of a community investment.

Rather than imagining what Kevin Payne or Don Garber should do to keep United in DC, shouldn’t we be reaching out to the community and bringing a message to the local politicians?

The “Keep United in DC” rally a few years ago was great, but too little/too long ago in political terms. It seems another rally is in order — preferably one that includes DC businesses, soccer moms and school kids — and a clear message to politicians that this could impact their career. A rally/petition that includes residents and business leaders from the Buzzard Point area saying “we want DCU here” could go a long way.

I’m not from DC, so I have no local ties like most of you. Growing up in NC, United was always my “local” team. As such, I’ve supported them since I found out there was such a team by reading the back of a cereal box in 1995 (true story). I did live in DC for two years, but was too stupid and immature to go to as many games as I should have. I will regret that till my dying day. Despite my occasional stupidity, I have always supported the team, and always will. United till I die!

I may not be tied to where United plays, but I seriously hope the team stays put. I know how tough it can be to lose a hometown team. Growing up in Charlotte as a big basketball fan, I remember how much it sucked when the Hornets left town. I was gutted, and didn’t watch the NBA for near 6 years. I grew up watching the Hornets. I owned a boat load of merchandise, and had been to see many a game in the Charlotte Coliseum, including playoff games I’ll never forget. And when not at the Coliseum, I would hardly miss a game on TV or radio. When a team that you put your heart and soul (not to mention your money) into leaves like that, it really feels like a divorce. I know that will be the experience of many fans in DC if United left town. It’d be a shame to do that to one of the best fan bases in all of MLS.

Like Martin, I grew up in Anne Arundel, but I never felt very close to Baltimore until I was an adult. My parents are from Bladensburg, my dad worked in DC for most of my youth, I went to Maryland, and I have no family in Baltimore. For me, the path from the burbs to the city has always been 50 West, not the BW Parkway or 97 North.

That’s not to say I have a problem with Baltimore; I spend much more of my time there these days, as most of my friends live there. They’re both great cities, but Baltimore will always be runner-up to DC in my mind.

On whether I’d support the team: I’d still be there, and still be committed. However, my relationship with the team would change, because the team itself would be different. A team, no matter how much these things are driven by profits in modern times, is still at least partially defined by its fans and its location. A team in Baltimore will be a fundamentally different entity from DC United.

I would equate having to support Baltimore United to having a new relationship after having your heart broken the first time. It could be forever like a marriage, but that level of recklessly throwing yourself into supporting the team no matter what happens won’t be so easy. I don’t know if I could ever feel the highs and lows with the same intensity if the team moves. Maybe one day that wound would heal, but I can’t sit here and guarantee it.

DMV IX touched on the culture of the club, and that is the most crucial thing for me when it comes to this subject. The culture of Baltimore United (I would sincerely hope they have the good sense to rename the team, because it will be as different culturally as the Dynamo are from the Earthquakes) would be markedly different from the beautiful thing we have in the stands and in our history. That doesn’t automatically mean “worse;” it just means different. These are two very different cities, and that will come through in the culture of the team if it is moved.

A Baltimore team’s fanbase would be significantly less diverse, and it would almost certainly be smaller numbers-wise. No matter how much my Maryland shoulder-chip says I should despise Virginia, the fact is that 50-55% of United’s fans are from VA. Sure there are people in Baltimore that are not fans now that would become ardent supporters, but not nearly enough to replace the losses forced by geography alone. How many Virginia fans would still make it out? What about people living in the District? Or even MD residents inside the Beltway? My extremely rough math leaves the team potentially losing 60-70% of its fans. Take it from someone who is in Baltimore frequently and has a soccer fan Spidey-sense: Those numbers will not be fully replaced.

That fact is probably a huge factor in favor of keeping the team in the DC metro area. MLS and United will figure out fairly quickly that they will not be able to replicate the numbers they have in DC, while also noting that the DC metro area means wealthier fans and wealthier sponsors. Moving a team away from a city that for so long was the model in terms of passionate support would also be a black eye on a league that is image-conscious. This isn’t moving San Jose or shutting down Miami and Tampa; this would easily be the most significant move/fold in MLS history.

What if United moved to, say, St Louis? Then would you still support the team? My guess is there would be quite a few more “no’s”.

I know I would have a much harder time supporting the team, even though I have no true local ties to DC. I didn’t grow up in the beltway area, but I still consider DC my second home, having visited the city many, many times growing up and having lived there for a short spell. Moving the team away from the beltway would make it a different scenario all together. I still very much identify with that part of the country (NC/VA/MD), even though I now live in the midwest.

I was in Miami when the Fusion folded before the 2002 season. If I get screwed again, I may try to catch a game or two, but my interest in MLS will probably dwindle to almost nothing. I discovered Arsenal in 2002, and I’ll probably just follow EPL more closely. To me, this would be a 2nd time MLS has screwed me…

If you live in DC and want to keep the team here, please send e-mail to the mayor’s office and whoever you councilperson is. If you’re not sure how to contact them, you can go here to look it up by Ward.