D.C. United has a new owner, new stadium pull

Richard Farley

Jul 10, 2012, 5:24 PM EDT

14 Comments

DC United Introduce New Ownership Partners

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D.C. United’s Will Chang has been going it alone since Victor MacFarlane left three years ago. He’s had the run of things in the owner’s suite at RFK Stadium. Today, that suite needs a sign-up sheet, with two new owners added to the company stationary.

At a news conference this morning, Chang and team president Kevin Payne introduced two new members of United’s ownership group. Erick Thohir – Indonesian media mogul who owns a stake in the Philadelphia 76ers – is D.C.’s new majority investor. Jason Levien, also part of the ownership group with the 76ers, is also on board, providing a significant boost to United’s financial muscle.

Of course, nobody knows exactly how much of a boost, but if Thorir is able to move Chang off the majority investor’s title, it’s got to be pretty big – big enough to take direct aim at the elephant in the room.

“In terms of the financial resources with Eric and Jason, we’re so much stronger financially and Jason has a clear mandate from Eric and I to pursue opportunities on that basis,” Chang said, in comments published by MLSSoccer.com. “That we are much stronger financially to be able to find a permanent home for ourselves.”

D.C. United needs a new stadium, or else they’re not going to stay in the District. These days, that means significant investment on the private end with the hope the municipality can provide something (free land, tax breaks … bus passes).

United just didn’t have that punch before, hence their continued occupancy of RFK Stadium, which has slowly garnered the reputation of being the worst venue in the league. Some love its charm, but it’s an anachronistic charm. Its MLS’s foray into hipsterism.

More important: Everybody from Don Garber down to the cabbie who’ll take you from Dulles agree United needs to bounce. Relocation’s been threatened, though with Thohir and Levien on board, that threat should subside.

The leading proposed stadium plan is for Buzzard Point, reasonably close where the Nationals play. The plan’s more concept than blueprint (some of the land owners insist they haven’t even been approached), but the idea has some city council support.

As fans in San Jose will tell you, stadium plans can come and go. D.C.’s had their own share of the game, though ask a fan in Houston or Kansas City about the eventual pay off, they’ll tell you it’s worth the pain.

With their new ownership group in place, United can start the process of ending that pain. Before the team was looking for opportunities. Now, they’ll have the financial power to create their own.

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14 Comments (Feed for Comments)

seanb20124 - Jul 10, 2012 at 5:35 PM

I thought Christian Laettner was the owner of this team?

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- thetomi - Jul 11, 2012 at 7:32 AM
  
  He was an investor for a very short spell that ended in failed attempts at a stadium.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.C._United#Ownership
  boom reference.
  
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- thetomi - Jul 11, 2012 at 7:37 AM
  
  He was an investor for a very short spell that ended in failed attempts at a stadium.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.C._United#Ownership
  
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nickp91 - Jul 10, 2012 at 6:05 PM

New era for dc united

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DJ MC - Jul 10, 2012 at 9:02 PM

Any idea where this leaves the Baltimore plan to lure the United?

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- Richard Farley - Jul 10, 2012 at 9:23 PM
  
  No, but from everything being said today, it sounds like we’ll find out more very soon.
  
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- tomtravis76 - Jul 10, 2012 at 11:48 PM
  
  If they move to Baltimore, its the death of the franchise. Baltimore will not support an MLS team, its more of a big town than a city.
  
  They deserve a new privately financed stadium with those city tax breaks. It needs to be Metro accessible. This then opens up an opportunity to tear down RFK and put the Redskins back in DC.
  
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  - DJ MC - Jul 10, 2012 at 11:59 PM
    
    Um, OK.
    
    First of all, Baltimore is a bigger city than Washington. DC gets the bigger share of the metro area, but “big town”? No. Just no. Quit watching The Wire and actually come to Baltimore.
    
    Second, why would they tear down RFK to replace a football stadium that is only fifteen years old? Especially when the city had to fight to get their baseball park built and can’t get together the money for a new stadium for their popular soccer team?
    
    They could die in Baltimore, but if RFK is such a problem that they feel the need to leave rather than play there they have no future in Washington anyway. If they have to use public money I’ll believe that stadium gets built when I see it.
    
    Of course, I feel the same way about the proposed stadium in Baltimore, so all of this might be moot–other than my request for you to actually come to Baltimore, that is.
  - joeyt360 - Jul 12, 2012 at 6:59 PM
    
    @DJ MC, metro area’s the only thing that matters. There’s not an electrified fence keeping people from going to DC from Alexandria. In fact, supposedly most of United’s fans are from VA.
    
    I like Baltimore. It feels more ‘real’ as a city than DC does. But that said, it’s got half the population, and a third the income, but still has an MLB and an NFL team to compete with. There just doesn’t seem to be much room there for soccer.
    
    “Second, why would they tear down RFK to replace a football stadium that is only fifteen years old?”
    
    It doesn’t have to be rational. Danny wants to keep up with the (Jerry) Joneses, and DC wants to slobber all over a football team out of buyers remorse for not making what would have been a fairly good deal when Jack Kent Cooke was offering it 20 years ago.
ndnut - Jul 11, 2012 at 12:06 AM

Personally, I would hate to see United leave DC. I want to know why RFK can’t be converted into a SSS seeing that nobody else uses it. Playing a season or two at FedEx won’t destroy the team, and I have to believe that the cost would be about equal (cause an east coast big boy can’t make a Dynamo like stadium for 95 mil. Not when RBNY has a 200 mil facility!).

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- wyrm1 - Jul 11, 2012 at 10:57 AM
  
  For a number of reasons the RFK site cannot be used for a soccer stadium. They include the fact that the land is federal and reverts to the Federal govt when RFK stops being a going concern. This could possibly be renegotiated if soccer were a bigger deal, but it is not.
  
  In addition, that land is extremely valuable and almost all DC mayors dream of being the one that “brings the Redskins home” and the only site in the district is the RFK site. In fact, some of the problems United has had in getting a stadium in DC comes from the city’s knowledge that RFK reverts to the federal government if United is not playing there.
  
  I am sure United would be willing to play in a vacant parking lot for year or two if they had a stadium at the end of it, but it almost certainly will not be at the RFK site
  
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tomtravis76 - Jul 11, 2012 at 12:19 AM

Lived in Baltimore for many years. Loyola College grad, never will be Loyola University in my book. Smalltimore is a big town,whats the first question you get asked in Baltimore? Where did you go to Highschool. The Wire does not represent Baltimore. But again, Baltimore will not support an MLS team for the long haul. DC is a melting pot for the world and draws futbol fans. Baltimore is a great city for the Orioles and Ravens. The Blast just keep winning titles and nobody cares, because soccer won’t translate in Baltimore because its too small of a market.

DC is not just the actual city. United draws alot from NoVa and Montgomery County.

RFK is a total dump and will have no use if the United leave. The idea of the Redskins returning to DC is not unheard of in these parts. FedEx is outdated already by new stadium technology and way too big. Don’t you think all of these owners want what Jerry has?

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- jimmycrack91 - Jul 11, 2012 at 11:16 PM
  
  How is Baltimore a small Market ? There are Orioles and Ravens fans covering the whole state of Maryland except for southern counties where its Redskin country. Plus southern PA might as well be Baltimore North, when it comes to sports.
  
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  - joeyt360 - Jul 12, 2012 at 7:01 PM
    
    Which of course makes no sense in soccer. Nobody’s coming in from York, PA or Cumberland, MD to see soccer.

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