The Best Alternatives of Mice and Men

Of course, a major story over the weekend is the stadium situation. David Nakamura in The Post:

Negotiations to build a soccer stadium for D.C. United in Southeast Washington have collapsed, leading District officials to pursue other options for the site and team officials to threaten to move the franchise out of the city, government sources said yesterday.

Which is a bit overdramatic, considering:

A soccer stadium still could be part of the mix but is not a top priority, the sources said.

And this report from the Express:

But the deal isn't dead yet and talks will continue this week, WTOP reports. The city may seek alternative proposals on how to redevelop Poplar Point, part of a larger stretch of waterfront parkland that is set for transfer to local control from the federal government this fall.

Regardless, let's try and put this in perspective. First, the city should look at other alternatives. Failure to do so would be a breach of the public trust. So I'm not about to get all bothered by the city wanting to take a look at other options. Really, I'm not. Yes, I know some people feel "betrayed" because the city "invited" United to look at Poplar Point, but a deal for the city must make sense. And let's look at this report a bit more closely:

...the negotiations stalled over the financial terms. Although United offered to pay for the $150 million stadium, it asked for about $200 million in city subsidies, including roads, tax incentives and the right to develop additional land, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were private.

Okay, now let's consider this. Two-hundred million dollars is, not to be flip about it, a lot of money. I'm very curious to see what the details of that number are. The question is whether that's the real cost or not. To put it another way, any other development proposal is going to require infrastructure improvements in roads and sewers. How much is that? I'm sure the other proposals may try and obtain tax incentives. How much will they cost? In short, it's possible that other proposals may have the same concepts, but the values will change. It doesn't seem unreasonable that other proposals may call for $100M or $150M in similar arrangements. Which would make the marginal cost to the city of the stadium between $100M and $50M. That's still a lot of money, and United would have to put forward a case that the reduced risk or increased benefits of the United stadium plan is worth it.

To me, that seems like a negotiation. The city can, and should, and must examine its alternatives. DC United can, and should, and must examine its alternatives as well. What's amusing in the verbage here is the idea of "threatening to move out of the city," which is silly. We know that, long-term, United can not be profitable with 20-30K crowds in a 60K stadium where they do not control other lines of revenue. This is not the NFL, or MLB, where owners are rich and act poor. We know that while MLS isn't hemorrhaging cash anymore, it's not a profitable venture by a long-shot. United must be profitable, and if that means moving the team, then that's what it takes. Survival overrides the desire to see the stadium in the city in that case.

Am I mad at the city for this? No, I'm not. I want a soccer stadium, but I can't in good conscience ask for the city to take a deal where they get fleeced. At the same time, I don't think that's the deal being advances (but I'd have to see the details of that $200M number to be sure.)

Everyone, the city and D.C. United, should look at their alternatives. Only then can both sides understand what a equitable negotiated solution should look like. This is how it goes.

PS: This kind of shit does not help matters (HT: Capital Punishment) While I am truly glad to see baseball back in DC, it has to be recognized that the baseball deal between MLB and Williams has poisoned the air. This sort of thing from the new baseball ownership doesn't help the situation. It is frusturating. Very frusturating. That being said, I still like Manny Acta.