We will be there

In the past DC lost the Redskins, Capitals, and Bullets to Maryland….DC United was given away. I hope the Mayor and Council learn from this pathetic blunder but I don’t expect they will.

United’s continued success will be the best revenge, I plan to be a part of it.

While I understand that adding a couple of miles to your gameday drive is going to make things more difficult, I think your letter is a gross overreaction.

Every time a team in this league breaks ground for a new SSS, I feel the MLS Family getting stronger, and stronger. I’m so happy for you guys. I really hope this becomes reality for your organization, and you guys, the loyal supporters of the team that set the standard for championship football.

The league has come a long, long way. Look at what has happened since Columbus opened Crew Stadium! Look at the Home Depot Center, Pizza Hut Park, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park BMO Field, and the recently opened Rio Tinto which could very well be the most gorgeous football facility in North America. We’ve got Red Bull Arena slated to open up most likely in 2010 along with Chester Stadium for Philadelphia….my gosh is this really happening?!?

And now it’s time for the DC United Eagles to build a home, and hopefully KC….and Houston….and San Jose…and Seattle will follow suit. We’ll all have a place to call home. MLS is here to stay..it will always be there. As this league moves into the next decade it will align itself with the rest of the football playing world, and we’ll all cheer together.

So always cherish the memories you have of yesteryear….but always…always look forward to tomorrow, and what will be…when you sit down in your new stadium for the first time…you’ll know you’re home!

I wish the DC United organization all the best in ’09……

Scott -

At your request, I am writing to confirm our extensive discussions yesterday about our extreme disappointment in Mr. Payne’s reported comments.

I have been a DC United season ticket holder since almost literally Day One of the franchise, as I played for Bruce Arena at U.Va. in college and rushed to buy tickets as soon as they were available. My friends and family have been almost fanatical supporters, missing only a handful of home games over the years, and traveling to watch United play across the country, including to all of our titles and many playoff games. In additional to the four front row seats I have always shared with my pal Jim, I have purchased hundreds of additional seats over the years to bring family, friends and neighbors to see DC play. I proudly display team-signed soccer balls from every year’s team in my home. It would be difficult to imagine a more loyal fan.

I’ve remained loyal despite some very questionable coaching and player acquisition decisions, not to mention bad play and heartbreaking seasons, as I have always been convinced that management, as represented by Mr. Payne, had the best interests of the team and the Community at heart. When the team asked us to pay for our season’s tickets early to “guarantee our seats at the new stadium” a few years ago, I called you first and renewed immediately. I have even given the team the benefit of the doubt, even when negotiations between the new owners and the City seemed to founder not over stadium issues, but rather whether the new owners, who are real estate developers, would get not just a stadium but an entire riverside to develop.

Given these circumstances, you must understand my extreme disappointment and frustration with the comments of Mr. Payne as reported in the Washington Post yesterday. I will set aside my, and many other fans, very understandable concern about a stadium far from the homes of the vast majority of fans, in an area of town with rising crime levels and an almost guaranteed nightmare from a traffic perspective, since my concern was not so much the substance of the announcement as the apparently cavalier attitude towards the fan base. While you have done an admirable job of defending the team’s decision to actively pursue a home in PG County, the fact remains that it is difficult for the average fan to believe that there are “no other choices.” As an attorney and CPA who has done my fair share of negotiations of this exact sort, I understand that there are myriad concerns that weigh on such a complex decision. I am not certain, however, that the average fan will believe those concerns had more to do with the teams needs than the new owner’s real estate development interests. As a more pragmatic and business savvy fan, I just wonder how we got to a point where we had no other choices.

If the announcement of the apparent “fait accompli” in PG County had been the only item reported, I doubt I would even have called, but what I believed was a gratuitous comment at the end of the article really set me off. As I explained, Steven Goff has seemed a competent, fair and reasonable reporter of DC United’s fortunes over the years, so it seems unlikely he had an ax to grind on this issue. As a result, I was made furious by Mr. Payne’s comment, in essence, that since DC fan’s were so loyal, the team had little to fear from a decision to locate in an area that a vast majority of fans did not want. How can management so callously take for granted the loyalty of the most passionate and dedicated soccer fans in this country? That comment seemed to make clear what we have feared for some time – that our concerns are not appropriately considered because we will always support our team. While the most hated owner in sports, Dan Snyder, can show that sort of callous disregard for fans, I do not believe that DC United’s management can afford such an attitude.

As I also explained, my discussions with Mr. Payne and other members of management over the years suggest that this comment was out of character. Nevertheless, it has angered me and a large number of fans I have spoken to. The time has come for the team to get in front of this issue and to get the full story out to the people who really matter – the people who pay the bills – this team’s fans. A full and honest explanation of exactly how we got to this point is necessary. An apology to the fan’s for this apparent disregard of our feelings is also absolutely necessary. So is the new stadium, such as the ones I’ve visited in Columbus and LA and Frisco, and if that has to be in PG County, so be it. DC will lose a lot of fans in the stands if that must be – it may even lose me on a regular basis – but it should not have to lose its fans because management no longer appears to value our loyalty.

Sincerely,
Stephen Easley