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Baltimore harboring hopes of capturing United?
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 05:43 PM by writered21
Tags baltimore, crab cakes, dc united, mls, stadium
Today, the Baltimore Business Journal reported that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to study the possibility of building a stadium for DC United in the city.
Up front, I'll tell you that I don't think such a plan has any chance of ever breaking ground. Baltimore's officials are still beaming over the big attendance for the AC Milan vs. Chelsea friendly in late July, but this is an entirely different ball game. There are so many other major concerns for the city and its people right now that such a project wouldn't seem prudent. And it's not as if this hasn't been tried in Maryland before.
But forget the city side of it for a second. For those reading this who are not familiar with this part of the country, you may think that Baltimore-Washington is one big metro area. And while they aren't far apart, a good 30+ miles separates the cities. Remember how some were yelling about not going to United games had they moved to Prince Georges County, just outside the city, early this year. Not living here, you can't even imagine the traveling hell fans would deal with trying to go from Northern Virginia to Baltimore on a gameday. It's a long trip at best, and given the traffic issues that plague this area, getting there on a weeknight would be absolutely out of the question. There is commuter rail between the cities, but it's night schedule is on the light side and there is no weekend service presently.
New home for United? Seems unlikely.
Then there's another side of it. Baltimore isn't simply just Washington's shiny, happy neighbor. Sports-wise, they may as well be 1,000 miles apart. Baltimore has its own football team again, which people here take crazy pride in. The Orioles have long been a focus of the city in baseball, and bad as they've been this decade, it isn't like they are going anywhere. They still play in a gem of a park and will for the next 30 years, at least.
Could Baltimore support an MLS team by taking DC's team? Sure. The base of sports fans here is strong enough to make it happen, I think.
But that's just it. They'll support their team. Not necessarily DC's team. A few of us do, but not as a massive group. DC United as we know it can't continue to exist if it plays its matches in the city of Baltimore. Some sort of rebranding would be necessary, whether simply becoming Baltimore United, or changing the name entirely to more reflect the city's history or what it's best known for. Though Baltimore United sounds way better than Charm City FC, or the Baltimore HarborHawks.
As a United supporter who attends games, either one or two a year, or as a season-ticket holder ... would you support Baltimore United? Or any other new version of the club playing in a sweet new home with 20,000 seats? If Baltimore ends up being the only option for a new stadium that the club needs, will you make the trip? It's a moot point for me, I live near Baltimore and I'd still go. But then, I'd make the journey if they played in Northern Virginia, too.
In the end, it might be a discussion over nothing, because I'd be really surprised if such a project ever got off the ground. But it's not as if there are many other glowing options right now, either.
Even if it came to pass and United continued on in a new home, even with that home being much closer to where I currently live ... something about it would seem really strange.
Up front, I'll tell you that I don't think such a plan has any chance of ever breaking ground. Baltimore's officials are still beaming over the big attendance for the AC Milan vs. Chelsea friendly in late July, but this is an entirely different ball game. There are so many other major concerns for the city and its people right now that such a project wouldn't seem prudent. And it's not as if this hasn't been tried in Maryland before.
But forget the city side of it for a second. For those reading this who are not familiar with this part of the country, you may think that Baltimore-Washington is one big metro area. And while they aren't far apart, a good 30+ miles separates the cities. Remember how some were yelling about not going to United games had they moved to Prince Georges County, just outside the city, early this year. Not living here, you can't even imagine the traveling hell fans would deal with trying to go from Northern Virginia to Baltimore on a gameday. It's a long trip at best, and given the traffic issues that plague this area, getting there on a weeknight would be absolutely out of the question. There is commuter rail between the cities, but it's night schedule is on the light side and there is no weekend service presently.
New home for United? Seems unlikely.
Then there's another side of it. Baltimore isn't simply just Washington's shiny, happy neighbor. Sports-wise, they may as well be 1,000 miles apart. Baltimore has its own football team again, which people here take crazy pride in. The Orioles have long been a focus of the city in baseball, and bad as they've been this decade, it isn't like they are going anywhere. They still play in a gem of a park and will for the next 30 years, at least.
Could Baltimore support an MLS team by taking DC's team? Sure. The base of sports fans here is strong enough to make it happen, I think.
But that's just it. They'll support their team. Not necessarily DC's team. A few of us do, but not as a massive group. DC United as we know it can't continue to exist if it plays its matches in the city of Baltimore. Some sort of rebranding would be necessary, whether simply becoming Baltimore United, or changing the name entirely to more reflect the city's history or what it's best known for. Though Baltimore United sounds way better than Charm City FC, or the Baltimore HarborHawks.
As a United supporter who attends games, either one or two a year, or as a season-ticket holder ... would you support Baltimore United? Or any other new version of the club playing in a sweet new home with 20,000 seats? If Baltimore ends up being the only option for a new stadium that the club needs, will you make the trip? It's a moot point for me, I live near Baltimore and I'd still go. But then, I'd make the journey if they played in Northern Virginia, too.
In the end, it might be a discussion over nothing, because I'd be really surprised if such a project ever got off the ground. But it's not as if there are many other glowing options right now, either.
Even if it came to pass and United continued on in a new home, even with that home being much closer to where I currently live ... something about it would seem really strange.
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I was thinking the same thing: Baltimore or Richmond. Or somewhere in between: BWI, Fredericksburgh, etc. I definitely agree re-branding will be needed if it's too far from downtown DC. For example, Chesapeake United or Virginia United or Maryland United or whatever.
I think DCU will sit in RFK for another 5 to 10 years until some nearby county decides they really love soccer and want a stadium there. Because the fan support and attendance are solid, and the rent's probably cheap, they're not losing so much money that it would make sense for MLS to abandon that market for, say, someplace like Saint Louis. If it were a smaller market like Kansas City, maybe MLS would pack up and move. But not DC.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 06:10 PM by woodlands 
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In addition to the problem you mention (they wouldn't come out for 'DC United', so there'd have to be a rebrand), Baltimore might support an MLS team at break-even level, but they wouldn't support it well. It would just be fighting for 'mid-table' in the attendance league I would think.Quote:Could Baltimore support an MLS team by taking DC's team? Sure. The base of Sports here is strong enough to make it happen, I think.
Don't mean to slag off Ballmer too much, because there are good sports fans there, but it isn't a very big town, isn't a very wealthy town, and it's especially not big or wealthy for a town with two ML teams already.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 07:17 PM by Stan Collins
Updated 06 Oct 2009 at 07:29 PM by Aaron Stollar (Just cleaned up some cut and paste issues.) -
Very interesting article, but I wanted to ask something that may not have to do with it; you wrote "There is commuter rail between the cities, but it's night schedule is on the light side". Isn't "it's" supposed to be a contraction for "it is"? Shouldn't it be "its"? I ask because I keep spotting mistakes (I think it's a mistake) like this one everywhere, unless the mistake is mine, which could very well be, since english is not my first language.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 10:12 PM by Theopisa
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Chesapeake United sounds excellent. I think that even if the team doesn't move from DC they should consider how broadening the name may entice more fans to make the trip.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 10:14 PM by alky13
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I guess it should be its, but I have no way to edit these posts. I'm just glad to see we are developing such a fine stable of copy editors.
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 10:41 PM by writered21
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Not a chance.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 11:43 PM by Q*bert Jones III
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I don't think any such name change would rally enough fans to make up for those who would be angered by the move.Quote:Originally Posted by alky13
Chesapeake United sounds excellent. I think that even if the team doesn't move from DC they should consider how broadening the name may entice more fans to make the trip.
The name "DC" United is very important to a lot of people. There are reasons why people bring DC flags to games and have the DC flag on their clothing during games. Any move away from DC, even to a close suburb with public transportation access, is going to bother some people - and it's not for me to judge whether that's right or wrong.
For me personally, I'll try to go to games wherever they are in the region. I've never lived in DC, so that name isn't quite as important to me. But to me, the club is DC United, and I understand why people take that so seriously.
Now if the team moves to St. Louis, Montreal, Fort Lauderdale or Ottawa ... all bets are off and MLS is dead to me.Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 11:56 PM by writered21
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I would support a Baltimore team.
I would also hate to see DC United die (which would definitely happen if they moved to B'more). For us DC fans living around or north of B'more that can't stomach the trip to RFK more than a few times a year, a local team sounds like a great idea. It would probably do at least as well as Columbus or KC or Dallas.Posted 07 Oct 2009 at 12:05 AM by T Nitty
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I only ever take the metro to United games. Quite a few DC United fans do as well, and many of them don't have much choice in the matter (if you get my drift).
I'd attend MD United games or NoVA United games, but Baltimore is a bit of a stretch.Not that I have a problem with B'more mind you, I catch a concert there every now and then, but it is definitely a sometimes thing.Posted 07 Oct 2009 at 12:24 AM by mpkelty
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To invoke Johnny Slash, "Baltimore and D.C. - totally, different head, totally."
They might as well pull an AEG and move to St. Louis.
I used to live in Bal'mer, so I think it would be cool to have a team there, but that is not a solution to "saving D.C. United." It would be great if both cities had a team. With Philly and RBNJ, that would be a corridor to rival the Northwest Revival (SJ to Vancouver).Posted 07 Oct 2009 at 12:32 AM by Mateofelipe
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