Baltimore Stadium Feasibility Study Doesn’t Tell Us Much We Didn’t Already Know

Baltimore recently did a Feasibility Study (downloadable PDF), basically weighing the possibilities of building a stadium for a Division 2 team or a MLS team. Although it looked at DC United and now essentially defunct Crystal Palace, the basics would probably apply to any soccer team that chose to call Baltimore home. Black and Red United ttook another look and isn’t exactly sounding alarm bells.

The major takeaway of this thing is really that Washington DC is a better place for a MLS team than Baltimore. While the aim of the study was to assess what a stadium could do for the city, it’s impossible to miss the degree to which the nation’s capital is a better home for MLS’s most storied franchise.

Washington DC’s metro area and media markets are about twice as large as Baltimore’s; its per capita income is about $10,000 more; and has better demographics in most of the key areas. If anything, this feasibility study really illustrates how important it is for DC United to figure out a way to not move very far away.

It should be noted that the study does paint a relatively rosy picture for any potential tenant for a Baltimore soccer stadium. Either way, the city is considering downtown sites that could work. They’ll need to find a team, of course, but it does seem to be a market that has some potential.