D.C. United is making a pitch to District officials to get in on the enthusiasm over soccer with a public-partnership for improvements, including a new roof at the team’s home, Audi Field, but community members have concerns.
Under the $620 million plan, D.C. would contribute $300 million.
Danita Johnson, president of business operations for D.C. United, told the D.C. Committee of the Whole that soccer has become the “third-largest sport in the U.S. post-World Cup.”
“As of now, we have doubled our sellouts with D.C. United over the past few years,” she said. “A roof lets us have more public, private and community events.”
Council member Charles Allen, who represents residents who live near Audi Field, said that “it’s perfectly reasonable” to create a better fan experience, but still voiced the community’s concerns.
“When residents are concerned about the state of our economy, when we have small businesses and working families that are struggling to pay the bills, it does seem like a lot of taxpayer money for what we may be getting,” Allen said.
Council member Elyssa Silverman was skeptical, citing the District’s current fiscal troubles with a looming shortfall of more than $600 million. She asked why residents should be asked to pay for nearly half of the stadium upgrades.
“When we are struggling to pay for schools, housing, things that impact their lives very directly?” Silverman said.
“For us, when we look at this, we look at the project as a way, over the years, to generate more money back to the District from a long-term perspective,” Johnson responded.
Shira Markoff, director of economic policy at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, was blunt in her assessment.
“D.C. may be dubbed the sports capital, but it could be called the sports-subsidy capital,” Markoff said. “The real question for this hearing shouldn’t be whether we like the teams that play at stadiums, but whether renovations will drive enough net new spending to justify using public money, and research tells us that the answer is no.”
Residents who live near Audi Field cited the geography that characterizes the area. Buzzard Point, the area where Audi Field is located, is a peninsula in the District, and Anna Forgie, a Washington Spirit season ticket-holder, told council members that the stadium has created “traffic problems.”
“A nightmare that will only be exacerbated by expansion, are extensive. Buzzard Point is accessed during events at Audi Field via one road in, 2nd Street, Southwest, and one road out, Half Street, Southwest,” Forgie said.
Johnson said she gets the problem.
“I’m also a resident of that Southwest neighborhood, so I know what it feels like when my family tries to come through for an event or a game as well,” Johnson said. “We’ve had conversations about potentially adding other bus lanes and other things to get people out of our neighborhoods.”
There were also concerns from Allen about the possible “cannibalization” of other D.C. venues, like Nationals Park, Capital One Arena and the future Washington Commanders stadium.
“Have you been able to do any kind of market analysis that looks at the risk of cannibalizing an event from one space to another?” Allen asked Johnson.
In response, Johnson said D.C. United has done that, and has been in talks with other venues, including Monumental Sports, which owns Capital One Arena.
“[There was talk of] even about potentially maybe, you know, putting an MOU in place so that we’re not cannibalizing each other in any capacity,” Johnson said.
Council Chair Phil Mendelson said that the intent is that D.C.’s contribution will be “more than offset by revenues that are produced — that are increased — by improvements to the stadium.”
The hearing ended with Mendelson and other members asking for more information and some changes to the bill.
If the bill is moved forward, any vote would likely not happen until the next council period — in the next year.
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