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With New Stadium Secured, DC United Eyes '17 Opening, Opportunities For More Revenue

The DC Council yesterday approved the development of a new soccer-specific stadium for DC United. The 20,000-25,000-seat stadium, to be located in the Buzzard Point neighborhood just a few blocks from Nationals Park, is expected to open for the '17 MLS season. Per the terms of the deal, the city will provide approximately $150M in land and infrastructure in addition to $43M in forgone tax revenue. The team is expected to spend approximately the same amount to build the stadium. DC United has been working toward its own stadium for more than a decade, increasing that effort even further when Jason Levien and Erick Thohir became co-owners in '12 (Ian Thomas, Staff Writer). In DC, O'Connell & DeBonis report the final vote "was matter-of-fact, with the council’s 12 members approving the deal unanimously." The last remaining step for the District to acquire the needed land is to "either negotiate a deal with developer Akridge for property it owns in the stadium’s footprint, or to take it by eminent domain." Akridge "had been pursuing a land swap," but that was an idea the council ultimately "rejected." Levien said, "We’re raring to go. We feel that we can move expeditiously to make this happen" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/18). DC Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser said, "We are making this investment and we all have to work together to make sure we can continue to meet the infrastructure needs of our city" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/17). SI.com's Brian Straus noted the club now "needs to hire an architect." Populous "created the drawings now displayed on United’s website but hasn’t yet signed a deal to design the stadium" (SI.com, 12/17).

SIDE BENEFITS: In DC, Steven Goff writes the new stadium "will deliver the game-day experience that most other MLS venues offer." It also "will provide modern amenities lacking at archaic RFK Stadium, improved sightlines and a proper backdrop for one of the league’s most sophisticated and avid fan bases." Yesterday's vote came "after a decade of false hope and crushing setbacks," and it now "will also bring United up to financial speed with the rest of the league and provide the resources to invest in the type of marquee players previously out of budgetary reach." Levien: "If we have more tools and resources at our disposal, we are certainly going to want to utilize them." With a stadium under its control, DC United "will have the ability to, among other things, sell naming rights and corporate suites, and collect a much larger share of concessions than it does at RFK." DC United General Partner Will Chang expects that the club's BOD will "raise the roster-spending topic at upcoming meetings." Chang cautioned that the club "does not plan to immediately acquire two designated players" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/18). Levien said that in addition to the stadium, the club "has plans for development on three adjoining acres." He said, "We don’t want to have just a stadium in isolation. We’ve had discussions with several folks in the hotel and retail space and gotten some real interest." Though Buzzard Point "seems remote, it is about a mile from the National Mall and the Capitol." Levien said that with only 20 home games on the team’s schedule, owners "were looking forward to holding other events at the stadium, including concerts, college football, lacrosse games and rugby matches" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/17).

WHO'S NEXT? GOAL.com's Ives Galarcep writes with DC United "finally securing funding for a soccer stadium after more than a decade of trying, MLS can now turn its attention to new venues in other cities." This successful venture "leaves the Revolution as the lone remaining MLS original without its own stadium." There "has been growing talk about a stadium closer to downtown Boston, which could help the Revs tap into a soccer fan base that has long been turned off by the difficult commute to Foxborough." Expansion club NYC FC's temporary home venue, Yankee Stadium, is a "decent stopgap, but MLS is fully aware that it can’t be a long-term solution." LAFC "is set to kick off in 2017 and there is already considerable talk about the team’s sizable ownership group pushing for a downtown LA location." A next big step for the Crew "could be the securing of a new stadium closer to downtown Columbus." In terms of current MLS stadiums that are the "most detached from their central cities," the Fire’s Toyota Park "is arguably the furthest away from the beating heart of its market." It "isn’t a stretch to believe" that the Fire "would do very well if located in the city limits" (GOAL.com, 12/18).

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