I don't have a subscription to The Athletic, but apparently Kevin Durant tried to buy a minority share in DC United a couple of times. At the very least it may have raised the profile of the team. I couldn't read why he was denied.
The first time, talks stalled because Durant and his team decided to pursue other opportunities (2012). The second time, it's because Durant wanted to pay less than market value for the equity share he was looking to attain due to perceived extra value he felt his image would bring to the team (2018).
https://www.soccerwire.com/news/u-s...re-camp-ahead-of-nations-league-group-finale/ This is a dead horse... but Matt Turner??? over Hamid?! Congrats to Arriola of course.
You're talking about an imbecile who still thinks Zardes and Trapp are national team grade players and fancies Trapp as worthy of the armband. At this point, I've just about given up on the USMNT. Club > country
I've almost given up too... Berhalter seems to have little to no idea how to pick a player pool, or how to understand the current limitations of US players. You coach the players you have, not the players you wish you had...
Six teams made money last year: Atlanta, LA Galaxy, Seattle, Portland, DC and KC.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) November 4, 2019
The Skins made a much bigger profit ... $110M ... and I'd guess we're one of the ones just barely getting by based on the rest of that list of 6.
In January, Atlanta sold star midfielder Miguel Almirón to the Premier League’s Newcastle United for an MLS-record $27 million transfer fee. No other team has ever received even half that amount for a player. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Atlanta fleeced NUFC. And no other team will transfer a player for that amount for the next ten years based on Miggy’s (lack of) production. Thx, Jay!
DC United were one of a small handful (6 or 7 teams) who turned a profit in 2018, according to Forbes. Forbes also values the team at $330 million, putting it in the top half of MLS.
Plus the SUM money. I think in 2017 the number was $4.3M according to Pablo Mauer and this article has $125M in profits going to 24 teams which is $5.1M per for 2018. That puts all but a couple of big spenders TFC & NYC and a couple of poorly run teams, MTL & Chicago fairly close to break even. Most wealthy people can use a tax writeoff. I wonder how and when the $150M each from Cincy & Nashville gets split up, plus $200M for St Louis and Sacramento. Wasn't an expansion fee paid when the whole thing between Columbus and Austin was settled out? That's like $850 million dollars injected into the league and its owners over a 4 yr period between 2018-2022 on top of SUM and any operating profits.
As noted, these Forbes rankings don't include what comes from SUM, which is, at best, an educated guess.
And, TBH, Birnbaum might actually be the best American on the team. He's a rock, and barely gets a mention.
He known for his distribution, even if he was a better defender this year than he was 3 years ago when he was in Klinsmann's January camp. #BothBerhaltersOut
I'm happy when he steps on a soccer field the least amount of times possible so selfishly I am cool with him being left off US rosters. When he's trying too hard or trying to impress, he throws his tender head into the dumbest places. The US defensive scheme apparently relies on central defenders being out of position and having to hurry back and throw themselves into dangerous positions. Or it's just a coincidence that so many do, hard to tell sometimes. He really cut down on his times he was laying there on the field while his head bled or he was holding his skull - which made me very happy in 2019 - both for him and his health - and more importantly, for me as a fan
For what its worth a Washington Post snapshot of a DC team popularity poll: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/11/21/washington-favorite-team-nationals-redskins-poll/
As pointed out on twitter (by Christopher Dodds), DCU increased 500% since the 2010 version of the poll
Haha, true. But interesting that that increase happened the further away dcu is from on field success. I thought the Caps would have a higher #. I'm proud to be a supporter of the 2 least popular teams in DC! DCU and Wizards forever!
Yeah, I figure the Mystics and even Natinals #s are inflated because they JUST WON championships, 2-3 years removed from one would be a more accurate measure - but you obviously can't time a survey that way
But we couldn't afford nice things back then because #RFKlosses. As if obvious unrealized capital gains weren't a thing.