Post by epjr on May 15, 2009 7:42:52 GMT -6
MLS commissioner Don Garber upped the ante on the "look at other jurisdictions" talk for D.C. United yesterday, indicating that the team could move out of the D.C. area entirely unless it gets a new stadium deal. Garber told Washington Post soccer writer Steven Goff:
"Why we don't seem to be able to get a deal done is incredibly frustrating and it could be that, if something can't be resolved, we will move the team. ... We are getting close to the point where we can't continue to go on operating the team at RFK, a facility that didn't work for Major League Baseball, does not work for D.C. United. We have to develop a plan to get United in a partnership with a public entity in the region sometime soon or we will have to very seriously think about alternative locations."
This is, of course, one of the roles of sports league commissioners: levying move threats so that team owners don't have to. (D.C. United execs, you'll note, pointedly wouldn't comment on Garber's remarks.) So is it serious, or is it Bettmanesque? D.C. United would certainly lose a lot by relocating: Even in a "substandard" stadium (Garber's term), they ranked third in the league in attendance last year, and are the league's sixth-most-valuable franchise, according to Forbes estimates. That'd be tough to match in another market, especially as MLS has aggressively placed expansion teams in most other soccer hotbeds the last few years.
For now, then, probably best to consider this an intended bulletin-board quote for the locker room of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Jerry Reinsdorf would no doubt approve
"Why we don't seem to be able to get a deal done is incredibly frustrating and it could be that, if something can't be resolved, we will move the team. ... We are getting close to the point where we can't continue to go on operating the team at RFK, a facility that didn't work for Major League Baseball, does not work for D.C. United. We have to develop a plan to get United in a partnership with a public entity in the region sometime soon or we will have to very seriously think about alternative locations."
This is, of course, one of the roles of sports league commissioners: levying move threats so that team owners don't have to. (D.C. United execs, you'll note, pointedly wouldn't comment on Garber's remarks.) So is it serious, or is it Bettmanesque? D.C. United would certainly lose a lot by relocating: Even in a "substandard" stadium (Garber's term), they ranked third in the league in attendance last year, and are the league's sixth-most-valuable franchise, according to Forbes estimates. That'd be tough to match in another market, especially as MLS has aggressively placed expansion teams in most other soccer hotbeds the last few years.
For now, then, probably best to consider this an intended bulletin-board quote for the locker room of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Jerry Reinsdorf would no doubt approve
