A Modest Proposal Re: DC Cup 2009

[DFW HOYA]

Three things we learned from this year's gme:

1. Georgetown can stay on the same field with Howard.
2. There is a modicum of local interest in the game, and...
3. The MSF cannot host a crowd of this size.

With the aggressive efforts by the city of Washington and business leaders to commit to the Eagle Bank Bowl at RFK, it's not that far a stretch to now get local leaders to make the DC Cup a point of emphasis.

So what will it take to move this game to RFK Stadium? Yes, I know it it won't fill the place, but if it drew even 10,000 that's four times as many paying customers that could squeeze into the MSF. If sponsorship and political efforts can cover the rent, a win-win for both teams, and perhaps even a few extra dollars at the end of the day.


washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/11/rfk-will-be-the-site-of-eaglebank-bowl/

[TBird41]

Sept 11, 2008 12:13:00 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Three things we learned from this year's gme:

1. Georgetown can stay on the same field with Howard.
2. There is a modicum of local interest in the game, and...
3. The MSF cannot host a crowd of this size.

With the aggressive wefforts by the city of Washington and lcoal leaders to commit to the Eagle Bank Bowl at RFK, it's not that far a stretch to get local leaders to make the DC Cup a point of lcoal and corporate emphasis.

So what will it take to move this game to RFK Stadium? I know it it won't fill the place, but if it drew even 10,000 that's four times as many paying customers that could squeeze into the MSF. If sponsorship and political efforts can cover the rent, a win-win for both teams.

washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/11/rfk-will-be-the-site-of-eaglebank-bowl/

What about the new Nats stadium? Is that big enough for a football field? I know they have a Bowl game at PacBell (or whatever the SF Giants stadium is called)

[rosslynhoya]

Yes, Nats Park is big enough for a football field, but it looks like they have opted NOT to be the site of America's newest bowl game, the EagleBank Bowl

washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/11/rfk-will-be-the-site-of-eaglebank-bowl/

Early faves are a Navy-UMCP matchup, assuming the Twerps can become bowl eligible.

[DFW HOYA]

I agree that Nationals Park would be a better setting, but an early September game for GU/Howard might play havoc with the grass field and may not work within the MLB schedule.

[TBird41]

Sept 11, 2008 12:54:53 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

I agree that Nationals Park would be a better setting, but an early September game for GU/Howard might play havoc with the grass field and may not work within the MLB schedule.

Good point. Didn't think about that. And I was asking as much to get the answer on why the new bowl game was RFK, so thanks Rosslyn.

[thebin]

Why do it at the Nat's stadium over RFK? Presumably rent at RFK would be far cheaper and it does have football heritage to boot. Maybe some will rub off. I wonder if DC United/the city have considered a drastically reducded-size RFK that basically is just the bottom deck with some minor refurbishements done. They could have high school games there, Gtown-Howard, soccer, concerts, etc.

[FLHoya]

Sept 11, 2008 13:33:47 GMT -5 thebin said:

I wonder if DC United/the city have considered a drastically reducded-size RFK that basically is just the bottom deck with some minor refurbishements done. They could have high school games there, Gtown-Howard, soccer, concerts, etc.

I have no idea where the negotiations are right now regarding DC United's stadium proposal for Poplar Point (across the Anacostia River from the Nats Stadium), but their ultimate goal is a soccer-specific stadium of their own. If Poplar Point fell through, in the medium-to-long term DCU would move to the 'burbs rather than stay at RFK. I don't imagine the city has any legit plans for RFK if/when DCU leaves except for demolishing it.

Brings up one side question--does DC United have any say in whether RFK would be used for a football game during the MLS season? I presume the ultimate decision is not with the club, but their input would be considered.

I suppose GTown could also...ya know...pay for better and bigger bleachers in the MSF before August 2009. They didn't seem to have a problem constantly changing the bleachers and configuration a few years ago. That hill in the NW corner of the stadium is such a space killer.

[thebin]

My whole point about reducing the size of RFK is that it would be driven primarily by DC United's need for an intimate soccer specific facility- which they could make it into for probably less than starting from scratch. Or maybe not. Just a thought. But in my proposal everything else would have been subject to DC United's whim- assuming they primarily paid for it. Totally hypothetical in all ways of course....

[DFW HOYA]

The whole RFK issue is interesting, and not just for this game.
As noted before, DC wants to keep the RFK/Armory area viable to make a offer in the next decade to Dan Snyder. In exchange for the RFK land, Snyder would build a colossal stadium for the Redskins, where he presumably out-spends his rival Jerry Jones and build a retractable roof complex capable of hosting Super Bowls and Final Fours. FedEx Field is, after all, the house that Cooke built and Snyder wants his own legacy. For its part, DC sees urban revitalization on East Capital, along the lines of what Verizon Center and Nationals Park are bringing.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002496.html

Now where does Georgetown (and Howard) fit in? Neither draws upon the passion of the area's football fans; both play among I-AA's most spartan facilities. The combination of a game a year at, for argument's sake RFK, but in any large facility in the area offers exposure, possible gate revenues, and recruiting opportunities that Greene or the MSF don't offer. I think the possibility is worth a look before 2009.

I do not think DC United has control over the stadium, but it's a matter of negotiations with MLS to keep a week open for such an event, if the city wants to push for it.

[showcase]

The Lerners would never allow a football game at the National's park. Their relations with the city are already acrimonious, and I believe getting worse.

[jgalt]

I remember hearing the Mayor on the radio earlier in the summer talking about that Poplar Point project. To me it seemed like he was all for an approx 18k seat soccer stadium to be part of the complex, and that the only hurdle was raising the money (as the city has taken on so much for the Nats stadium they are looking for mostly private funding). I dont know how any of that is going.

As for RFK that whole thing about building a new stadium in its place that is bigger than the new Cowboys stadium is intriguing and i had never heard it before. I dont think it will happen because Fedex is still so new(ish) and Jerry Jones has a much better reputation in his city than Snyder which has helped him do pretty much what he wants (now that is how i precieve it, but i dont follow Dallas municipal news very often). Also that new cowboys stadium is just going to be the bees knees and that Gigantic screen is nuts- i cant see any stadium topping it for at least 10 years after it opens.

That has nothing to with gtown though. I think that this years game was successful, but i would go jumping for RFK yet. A rivalry has to develop; students have to really get involved; the community really needs to start caring. Once people are clamoring for the 6000 tickets that a game at howard can provide (and less for MSF), then the demand is there i can see looking into procuring a larger arena. The problem is that the only larger arena available seems to be RFK (or a similar size) which may prove to be too expensive to rent. One cannot rent only say 12k seats at RFK, its kinda of an all or nothing thing (i may be wrong i have no first hand knowledge). So if you are renting all 40k seats and only selling 12k or less then its not worth being in the larger stadium.

I think this situation needs time before this talk can really happen, Id like you all to remember the old thread that was recently brought to the top about the 2005 season and people wanting to play D1-A schools and moving all home games to RFK (or something else crazy like that).

[thebin]

I agree it would be better to jam the MSF than have an almost entirely empty RFK. Yeah 10-15k in RFK would be worth it, but something tells me if Howard students and Gtown students both have to travel to get there, we'd probably be looking at 5-8K tops. Hell we'd be better off having it at Howard every year until this baby is out of the incubator. Maybe now that Gtown students know we can win this game and presuming no hurricane, we might be able to load up 10 busses next year for such a game. Howard could have accomodated another 1000 easy. Or let's get our rear in gear and rent/buy a bigger and nicer grandstand for the MSF or load up the end zones with some smaller ones and get it up to 6K capacity, which really should be quite possible on the cheap.

[hoyahopeful]

Sept 12, 2008 7:23:47 GMT -5 thebin said:

I agree it would be better to jam the MSF than have an almost entirely empty RFK. Yeah 10-15k in RFK would be worth it, but something tells me if Howard students and Gtown students both have to travel to get there, we'd probably be looking at 5-8K tops. Hell we'd be better off having it at Howard every year until this baby is out of the incubator.

I agree with this completely. The MSF cannot possibly handle this game even with the attendance from last week. While sitting at Greene stadium on Sunday I sadly found myself imagining how embarrassing it will be next year for the Howard fans to see the Georgetown facilities. Keep it at Howard until somebody does something about the Georgetown "stadium".

As for RFK or anyplace else, both teams need to be successful and the attendance will increase. Until then this game needs to stay on campus. Time will tell, but based on what I saw I would not expect more than six wins between the two of these squads this season and one was guaranteed last Sunday. Two quality teams will draw in DC and then RFK can enter the discussion.

[thebin]

A co-worker who went to Howard tried to warn me recently that Howard's stadium was small and crappy and the game really should be at Gtown. He was flabergasted when I told him Greene stadium was almost three times the size of our "stadium."

[jgalt]

There are only two reasons to not have it at Howard until the MSF is better than a middle school field: Money and Home-field advantage. The money situation is easy to work out because if it is agreed to keep the game at Howard the money could be treated like if it were a neutral site, so each team would get a share with Howard probably getting slightly more for facility upkeep and such. The home field advantage is easy too: Gtown doesnt have one here so why should it matter playing away one extra game? I am guessing that there were just as many gtown fans at the howard game as there would have been if it had been at gtown (maybe a little less, but i wasnt at the game). but considering every team that comes to gtown brings way more fans with it than gtown has, the team should be used to it. Of course that changes as the team gets better, but still howard is so close that at some point you could see a split of 50/50 gtown/howard fans at howard.

[FewFAC]

Having this game at Howard does settle some money issues. However, for a real rivalry to develop in a series that Gtown should have every interest in maintaining, we'll have to host at some point, which fives our fans an opportunity to get excited at some point. The facilities may suck, but consecutive wins might spur movement towards better facilities.

[juanjohnhoya]

Every time I go to RFK for a DC United game these days, I keep looking over to the Armory and envision a 27K-seat soccer stadium there, which could consequently be used for a smaller bowl game (easier to sell out) or even an annual GU-Howard game. Of course, the soccer purists would raise hell about the gridiron lines spoiling the beauty of the pitch and all that.