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April 10, 2009
Garber threatens D.C. United move
MLS commissioner Don Garber upped the ante on the "look at other jurisdictions" talk for D.C. United yesterday, indicating that the team could move out of the D.C. area entirely unless it gets a new stadium deal. Garber told Washington Post soccer writer Steven Goff:
"Why we don't seem to be able to get a deal done is incredibly frustrating and it could be that, if something can't be resolved, we will move the team. ... We are getting close to the point where we can't continue to go on operating the team at RFK, a facility that didn't work for Major League Baseball, does not work for D.C. United. We have to develop a plan to get United in a partnership with a public entity in the region sometime soon or we will have to very seriously think about alternative locations."
This is, of course, one of the roles of sports league commissioners: levying move threats so that team owners don't have to. (D.C. United execs, you'll note, pointedly wouldn't comment on Garber's remarks.) So is it serious, or is it Bettmanesque? D.C. United would certainly lose a lot by relocating: Even in a "substandard" stadium (Garber's term), they ranked third in the league in attendance last year, and are the league's sixth-most-valuable franchise, according to Forbes estimates. That'd be tough to match in another market, especially as MLS has aggressively placed expansion teams in most other soccer hotbeds the last few years.
For now, then, probably best to consider this an intended bulletin-board quote for the locker room of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Jerry Reinsdorf would no doubt approve.
DC United is not leaving the area. Would be suicide. But they could move around in Maryland, Virginia, etc....
Posted by nyrmetros on April 10, 2009 10:15 PM
Its amazing how worked up people can get over such things. The loss of DC United would mean exactly what?
Abe Pollin probably didn't start out any richer than McFarland or Chang, but somehow managed to build an arena with his own money, and he never complains about "game day revenues." Seems to me that's the rent/buy question in a nutshell.
In the end, no doubt the real issue for the owners will be whether local governments will sell public land at below-market cost, and give them the right to commercially develop it tax free. Mayor Fenty wisely told these carnies to take their act elsewhere.
Posted by GDub on April 11, 2009 02:37 PM
It's nice to know that the rule of law in this country has degenerated to the point to where commissioners of even small, insolvent sports leagues openly defying the Sherman Act no longer has the power to shock. Garber is a goofy looking thug, and that's all there is to it.
Posted by Tom Agnew on April 28, 2009 05:50 PM