‘DC United at RFK – Now and Forever -5858’
courtesy of ‘Joe Tresh’

There was a time in my life when I might actually have been naive enough to be reassured by this story about the PG County General Assembly committee voting 5-0 to oppose the proposed stadium development. In particular I would have noted the quote “Council member Eric Olson (D-College Park) said he is not convinced that the stadium, slated to cost $180 million to $195 million, will become the economic engine for the county that its backers describe,” given my personal belief that nobody has ever produced a quality study demonstrating a tangible economic return from a publically financed stadium.

I’ve been through this dance enough times by now, however, to know that this is almost certainly just the first step for the local politicians. Once they’ve beat their chest a few times to set up their fiscal responsibility credibility they’ll use this faux reluctance to garner some campaign contributions and trivial consessions from the team managment. Then before you know it everyone’s a booster. Continue reading →