Re: D.C. United Discussion Thread
Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 4:35 pm
D.C. UNITED vs PHILADELPHIA UNION
RFK STADIUM, Washington, D.C.
May 30, 2015 (WEEK 13, MLS Game #128)
7 p.m. ET (MLS LIVE)
Can D.C. continue their dominance of the East?
Sports is our Business
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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is making a last-minute bid to persuade D.C. United to build its new stadium in Loudoun County, and the team’s ownership — despite having spent more than two years negotiating a deal for a D.C. stadium — appears to be listening.
In the past three weeks, team officials have toured sites in Loudoun County, lunched with a Loudoun supervisor in New York and hosted a meeting with Virginia economic development officials at the team’s offices at RFK Stadium.
Officials with the commonwealth and Loudoun County believe they can deliver a stadium more quickly and less expensively than the District, which late last year approved a package for a stadium in Southwest of up to $150 million in land and infrastructure plus an additional $43 million in forgone tax revenue.
The District’s deal, though passed by the D.C. Council with the support of Muriel E. Bowser before she left to become mayor, has not been completely finalized. Since coming into office in January, Bowser administration officials have been negotiating the details of a development contract with the team.
In late May, the D.C. Council quickly passed additional legislation giving the mayor leeway in adding protections for the District. The team did not protest, but there have been some disagreements behind the scenes.
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were meant to be private, the team has chaffed at being asked to help foot possible cost overruns or provide protections in the event the District acquires the needed land but for some reason the team fails to build the stadium.
A final agreement has been reached between D.C. United and the District of Columbia government that clears the way for a new soccer stadium in the nation’s capital, the team and mayor Muriel Bowser announced Monday.
The signed agreement includes improved financial protections for the District, clarifies the size and timeline of the stadium and strengthens community engagement, according to a D.C. United release. It also contains a no relocation clause and “robust community benefits for District residents.”
The Bowser administration will now submit legislation to the Council of the District of Columbia for final review.
“Thanks to the hard work of the District government and D.C. United staff, a world-class soccer stadium will call Buzzard Point home – for good,” Bowser said in a statement. “This agreement will add vibrancy to a neighborhood on the banks of the Anacostia River and generate jobs for District residents as my administration creates pathways to the middle class. With this agreement, Washington, DC, remains the sports capital, and Washingtonians stand together to declare: Vamos United!”
Induveca wrote:Why can we not talk about other sports yet this thread lives?
When MLS original rivals Columbus Crew SC and D.C. United meet for the third time this season on Decision Day, it will be a massive contest in the final Eastern Conference lineup for the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Both clubs can finish anywhere from second to fifth in the East – meaning they can go anywhere from a first-round bye to traveling for a Knockout Round match at midweek. United have the upper hand, sitting in second place in the decision following their 4-0 win against the Chicago Fire last weekend at RFK Stadium. But Crew SC can claim the second position with a victory, coming off a 2-0 victory at Toronto FC last weekend.