Stephen Goff posted an article on the Washington Post laying out the expansion plans of a group in Northern Virginia in the greater DC Area. Would a 2nd team in the area do well in the DC area?
If this happens, it would be interesting to see if they could make it work. The cheapest public tickets at RFK are $30 (correct me if wrong) so there is the opportunity for a low-cost option. The planned baseball stadium called The Dog Yard seems like it will be quite the place. I bet they would build it differently if they knew they would have a NASL team playing there as well. The renders don't have the minimum dirt infield as mentioned in the article: And it would make sense to not have the stands curl back in to allow soccer field shoe-horning. But I'm not a multi-sport stadium architect. The yet-to-exist baseball team is already selling gear, so they have one thing in common with an upcoming NASL team.
That concept drawing obviously will change, but the description of the stadium in press reports brags about how the seating will be angled for good baseball sightlines. If they don't change that (and I doubt they will) then it will be a horrible venue for soccer. Couple that with having to share premium weekend dates with the stickball team and I would say this club in just about DOA if they do decide to go forward.
Yeah, I've spoken with some of the people involved in that project. They're very committed to baseball as part of creating an almost Norman Rockwell picture-perfect American family experience, and frankly I can't imagine them compromising on the baseball operations to support a different sport.
The article about soccer mentions artificial turf, minimal dirt (ala sky dome), and hydraulic mound. One would figure the prime baseball experience would include grass and a proper infield like in the picture. Did they always plan on fake grass or are they maybe making sacrifices to get another tenant?
Also, if they are talking "prime baseball experience" why do those seats right at 1st/3rd base angle back towards home plate so sharply? To see a fly ball or home run you'd have to turn around in your seat, that makes no sense. I suppose best case scenario for a shared baseball/soccer venue is what Portland had at then-PGE Park, with the sliding pits and a more or less 90 degree grandstand, running the pitch along one of the baselines. In no way do you want to see what FCTB had at Steinbrenner with a narrow pitch crammed into the outfield with no seats close to the action.
Most ballparks have seats angled towards home plate, as you spend far more time looking that way than looking toward the outfield. And you only have to turn around in your seat if you're in a halo brace, it would seem to me.
I believe the $30 is the ticketmaster price. At the stadium you can still get tickets for 24 & change.
Angled towards home plate, sure, but not that extreme until you get out towards the foul poles. I've never seen a stadium design like that. Looks like it's going to continue around the back of the infield lol.
Huh, I don't know. Good question. (When I talked with the Hounds' office, nothing we discussed was relevant to the kinds of details of stadium architecture you worry about before even breaking ground, so that part of the topic didn't come up. But I did hear a bit about their philosophy for entertainment and game operations, and it did not give me the idea that they were looking to do anything less than perfectly from a baseball perspective if they could possibly avoid it.)
Curious if they will brand themselves as Diplomats 4.0? It has helped having Rowdies 2.0 and Strikers 3.0 (or is it 3.5 I can't keep track) in the league and after the second coming of the Cosmos, surely they won't be able to resist another NASL retread name. Rongen could coach them. He isn't terribly busy ruining any teams these days
I guess the question is, just how well can they do if DC United stays in DC? NASL originally said they weren't going to move into markets that already had MLS. Unless they know something we don't, or are just anticipating such, this could be quite risky.
I don't think DCU being there will be an issue. There are a handful of minor league baseball clubs in the DC area, and the Nationals aren't a problem for them. And obviously this group in Loudon will be fielding yet another minor league ball club, so as long as the soccer team can provide a quality, affordable product similar to what the MiLB clubs offer, they ought to be fine. They won't be stealing any DCU fans, and not a lot of people probably make it into DC for United games from out by Dulles. As for the name, bringing back Dips or Darts would be cool, but using "Potomac" as the locale in the name since the river goes right by Sterling/Loudoun would be cool.
(You know what's interesting? The Virginia Beach Mariners franchise was the most recent registrant of the trademark "Washington Diplomats.")
As many have said here before, minor league soccer is not minor league baseball. What correlaries do we have for a pro minor-league soccer team in an MLS market besides LA Blues and FC New York?