Are you guys ready for a laugh?

Go ahead and read this quote from a man named Gerry Evans, who is part of a group representing the Major League Lacrosse franchise the Chesapeake Bayhawks that is looking into building a 25,000 seat stadium in Bowie, MD.

"There's no reason why the stadium couldn't be used for soccer," Evans said. "We haven't had much luck reaching out to D.C. United, but we've tried."

So let me get this straight… There’s a group that wants to build a 25,0000 seat sports complex within 10 miles of D.C., and United isn’t taking their calls? This sounds like a miracle. A sudden turn of events that could quickly change United’s fortunes. And they’re going to ignore it?

Here’s the response from United’s VP of Communications Doug Hicks, who spoke to Ben Giles, the author of the article for the Washington Examiner.

We've not spoken to anyone, either at the Bayhawks or with P.G. County," Hicks said. "That said, our focus right now is on the District of Columbia and Baltimore."

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Cavan Wilk, a member of La Barra Brava and a contributor to Greater Greater Washington, has written quite a bit from the urbanist/development perspective on potential stadium solutions for D.C. United. Now, in a move that would certainly set Martin's Terrapin Heart aflutter, he's proposing a stadium on the University of Maryland campus.

Apparently, Ludwig Field isn't big enough for the mighty soccer Terps, and a soccer stadium is in the campus plan, but the university doesn't have the money to build a stadium. What they do have, though, is land and a location within walking distance of the Metro and (eventually) Purple Line light rail, which is exactly what Kevin Payne & Will Chang are looking for.

The extra little bit of plausibility comes in the guise of the Maryland Stadium Authority, the same group that has studied the economic impact of stadium construction in Westport, Baltimore. Y'see, they could just as easily study and help with the finances and logistics of a stadium in College Park, so if the University is game, then the state just might get on board, too.

So the proposal is simple: UMD provides the land, DCU and the MSA provides the stadium; the school and the team split use of the stadium, and split the revenues. The relationship would potentially look a lot like the one between the Galaxy and Cal State-Dominguez Hills. Everybody wins. (Except Baltimore, but that's really a bonus in my book.)

Go give it a read, then come back and let us know what you think in the comments.

My thoughts? In a perfect world, we'd get a stadium within the DC urban core. In my nightmares, the team leaves the area entirely. This is a lot closer to the former than the latter, and so if the team can't work something out with the District, I certainly won't complain about a stadium at UMD.

Before we get our hopes up, though, this is obviously coming from a fan and writer, not from anybody connected to the team or the university. Still, if Chest's Twitter feed is any indication, we as a fan base need to cling to whatever hope we can.

Decisions like this one happen in the business world everyday. If a project is over budget and continues to lose money, there is going to come a time when the company cuts its losses and redirects its funds elsewhere. That may just be what DC United ultimately decides to do. They might cut their losses in D.C. They might move to Baltimore.

Decisions like this one happen in the sports world all the time too. It couldn't have been an easy conversation for Kevin Payne to have with Jaime Moreno towards the end of last season when the Team President told the Team's Greatest Player Ever that he would prefer that Moreno retire. It won't be an easy conversation for Payne to have with United's fan base either if the current direction continues.

I don't want to read too much into the news of the day, which may just be more political posturing (although Payne specifically says that he's not bluffing). According to Steven Goff of the Washington Post, MLS has begun surveying residents of Baltimore regarding their interest in supporting a local MLS team.

How should we feel about this? Well on one hand, its just a business decision. The United organization has to do what's best for itself at some point eventually, right? On the other hand, this decision can't be made without involving emotion. Its impossible.

You know that project that's over budget? The one where it would make good business sense to cut it? What if the CEO of the company is the one who founded it? What if this project is his true passion, and he's poured his soul into this project for the last 17 years? Not so easy a decision now.

Listen. I've lived in Maryland my whole life. I've supported United for its entire life. I will still support that team if its moves to Baltimore, but I know plenty of you feel differently. We'd all love to see our boys stay in D.C. But it may be time to start thinking about what we'll do if they don't.

As fans, we remain desperate for any bits of information on a potential new D.C. United stadium. Or land acquisition that could lead to a new DC United stadium. Or hints that someone with any small semblance of political power might be talking about a new D.C. United stadium.

Well this article from the Washington Post today references a new potential location that we had not heard before (as first brought to our attention by The AMT). The article identifies a patch of land just blocks from RFK Stadium, south of the Stadium-Armory Metro stop and west of D.C. General Hospital that could be perfect for the soccer team. What's currently in this location?

A jail.

The proposal by D.C. Council Member Tommy Wells involves the erection of a new jail at the Buzzard Point site that is currently owned by Akridge. Wells is proposing for Akridge to swap a piece of Buzzard Point with the City in exchange for the old jail property. If all goes according to plan, United's new stadium could be where the jail currently resides - at 1901 D Street SE.

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The City of Baltimore has completed its feasibility study concerning the possibilty of bringing a professional soccer stadium and, more importantly, a professional soccer team into the City.

Could D.C. United be moving to Baltimore? This is just one small step towards that happening. The question is whether the team actually wants to move. I still believe this is highly unlikely. Although that could just be wishful thinking.

I haven't found a link to the study yet, but I'll post it when I do. It should be here, but it's not.

Instead, all we have to go off is the response from United's President and CEO Kevin Payne:

"We appreciate the diligence with which the Maryland Stadium Authority studied the economic impact of a D.C. United Stadium in Baltimore. The MSA and its staff are all stars. We’re not surprised at the finding that our stadium will drive tens of millions of dollars in new spending each year, attract hundreds of thousands of fans annually, help create hundreds of new jobs and generate millions of dollars of new State and Local tax revenues. We appreciate the interest that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the City of Baltimore have shown in our team and potential stadium, and will continue our conversations as we work toward the best possible long-term home for D.C. United."

Yeah, that's barely even newsworthy.

All Payne is doing at this point is acknowledging that the study is complete, and listing the key points that would benefit Baltimore, or any other jurisdiction for that matter.

We talked back in January about how the possibility of D.C. United moving to Baltimore could be tied to the Washington Redskins' plans, and could also be tied to the potential stadium locations for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Well at least we have one less thing to worry about now. Unless United wants to move to Qatar.

But there is good news, and it's totally unrelated to the Baltimore feasibility study.

The economy is back!

At least in D.C. it is. Construction bidding is up, money is moving, and projects are actually starting. I don't have research to prove it, but I know this anecdotally from my real job. United may have just waited out the recession. And the Baltimore study is coming at a perfect time for the organization to not only use it as leverage against the District, but also encourage investors and developers that they should act quickly and get in on this potential new revenue stream.

Update: Thanks to Mark McClure for getting a copy of the report. It can be viewed here.

Craig Stouffer from the Washington Examiner wrote a must-read article today on his conversations with Kevin Payne regarding a soccer stadium in DC or Baltimore.  The impression that Payne is giving is that this is now an even contest between the two cities.

Wow.

If the US is awarded either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup on December 2, 2009, the USSF will begin to narrow down the list of cities that will host matches from 18 to 12.  It's expected that Baltimore and DC will not both be included on that final list.  So maybe whichever city shows more of an effort to the USSF will also wind up with the United franchise as part of the package.  If "effort" will be the deciding factor, I don't have high hopes for DC.  Not at all.  Not with Fenty in charge.

Match Fit USA rattles off another idea about how the Redskins could even play a role in this situation.  If the 'Skins do indeed seek to move back into the District, a new stadium for DC United could share some land with the Redskins, and it could all be done before 2022.

So is this real news?  Or just more zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

DC United wants you to take a survey on the latest potential stadium locations.

Living in Southern Maryland, both the Dulles area and Rockville area will be terrible locations for me, which is a big step down since the previously proposed PG County site adjacent to the Morgan Blvd Metro stop would have been walking distance from my office. But neither of these new locations will keep me from going to games. So go take the survey and tell the team that a longer drive wouldn't keep you away either.

Dulles is closer than St. Louis!

See you all at the match tomorrow night.

When the news about new developments at Poplar Point started coming out earlier this week, I honestly wanted to stay out of it and just keep this blog related to soccer on-the-field only. I swear! But there's been so much confusion by fans in the Insider community that I can no longer resist jumping in to try to clear some things up.

First of all, it's completely ludicrous for fans to write this off automatically as a bad deal for United. The deal has a lot of potential, regardless of who actually winds up owning the stadium. Even if United has to lease the stadium from the District or from Clark Realty, it can still be profitable for the team.

Here's an analogy for you… Just like we trusted the front office on dealing with the foreign transfer market this offeason, because it's what they're best at; now we need to trust United's Ownership on dealing with real estate, because that is what THEY are best at. Victor MacFarlane and Will Chang didn't make all of their money by accepting poor deals that don't benefit their organizations. They know a good deal when they see one. If this is a good deal, they will take it. If it is not, it's off to continue the search in Maryland.

What's nice is that we now have some decent bargaining power since we've been looking in Prince Georges. Now that DC knows that we have some options, that we're no longer at their mercy, things will get done. And if a deal is worked out to build a stadium at Poplar Point, there is certainly no reason to assume that the team will be treated as poorly as they have been treated at RFK. Fenty has said that United will have to contribute a portion of the funding to get the stadium built. Well I have no doubt that the cost of rent and the percentage of shared revenue from tickets, concessions, and parking will be a part of MacFarlane's negotiations with the District. Again, if they can't work out something that's profitable, United will just go somewhere else.

Whether a stadium is built in Maryland or in DC, I don't see how we could possibly be playing in it before the start of the 2011 season, and more likely 2012. Regardless of location… First there will be environmental feasibility studies. Then we have the design stages. Has anyone even hired an Architect yet? If we're building in Maryland, then the team will probably have to hire an Architect and GC themselves. If it's Poplar Point, then I'm sure the team will have some input into the design, but probably not total control. Then construction will take no less than 18 months. There's also something to be said for the fact that Clark Construction will surely be the general contractor if Poplar Point is the location. With the Nats stadium behind them, we know that Clark has the talent to deliver a stadium on time. You could do a lot worse than Clark Construction, and there's no guarantee they will be utilized as the GC if we build in Maryland.

What I find strange is the media's reporting of the story as a whole. The major story here is not explicitly a soccer story. The major story is that Clark Realty won a competitive bid for Poplar Point for $2.5 Billion. That's a huge story for the area south of the Anacostia River, and will be great for the community whether a soccer stadium is there or not. We also know that the DC Government will contribute $250-$350 Million in infrastructure costs related to the new complex as a whole, not just the stadium (let's just call it $300M for now). That amount of money will also be spent whether or not a soccer stadium is included. What remains under discussion is the $190 Million that the City might be contributing to build the stadium. That is the only money that would be additional if the stadium deal is approved. If you add all of that together, the $190M for the stadium is only 6.35% of the total cost of Poplar Point. So why has the media spent so much coverage on the stadium when it's less than 10% of the new project? Well I guess because that's what people are most interested in. But for DC residents who do not understand the deal, it looks like the City is spending around $490M for a soccer stadium after just spending $611M for a baseball stadium. That makes it look like a bad deal, but it's just not true.

In the end, we have to manage our expectations, but keep in mind that Ownership will do whatever is best for the team. This doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but……. I trust the Owners. I trust the Owners...