We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
Sheila Dixon, Baltimore mayor
That’s right. Stop rubbing your eyes.
Baltimore’s mayor Sheila Dixon is pushing to bring D.C. United to Baltimore by building a 17,000-20,000 seat stadium in her city. Yesterday, the Baltimore Sun reported that Dixon formally asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to perform an initial study to see “if the stadium could be self- supporting.”
It’s a small step. Not a proposal to the team. Not a development deal. Just an exploration—-and one which D.C. United officials should be eagerly awaiting more details on. After all, what other options do they have? In D.C., a stadium project proposal “lacked a champion.” And in P.G. County, it also failed to take off. RFK, the team’s current arena, sucks for reasons I banged out here (I’m still pissed about my sandwich!).
Maybe, this Baltimore possibility will kick D.C. United believers and officials here into gear. After all, Baltimore is a long way off from generating any kind of real pitch to team leaders. The timing’s not right, regardless of the phase of the process. As one mayoral spokesperson said: “In these economic times, we understand that the city … has bigger priorities in spending its money.”
Nonetheless, it appears Baltimore isn’t lacking for rabid soccer fans, as the Sun reports:
Millard said Dixon’s interest in building a soccer stadium was based, at least in part, on the success of this summer’s exhibition match between AC Milan and Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium, which was held in front of a sold-out crowd of 71,000.