April 08, 2009

P.G. County kills United talks

That didn't last long: Less than two months after D.C. United announced plans to build a 24,000-seat, $190 million soccer stadium in suburban Prince George's County, Maryland, the county council shot down that idea, voting unanimously to oppose a state feasibility study of the stadium plan. The team's demand for county money looks to have been the sticking point: "We're not interested under the terms that they came to us with," said councilmember Eric Olson. "If they were to pay all of it or a substantial amount, we could have another discussion, but it was clear that this was not what we could find acceptable."

A D.C. United spokesperson responded to the news by saying, "We will continue conversations with other jurisdictions regarding a future home for D.C. United." Where that might be is anyone's guess; the Washington Business Journal speculates that Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Virginia might be interested, or possibly Montgomery County, where the Washington Freedom of Women's Professional Soccer play, if the league hasn't folded yet.