[Baltimore Sun] Two city-owned sites in Baltimore to be considered for potential pro soccer stadium operated by D.C. United

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If Baltimore does add an outdoor pro soccer team, the club might make their home a couple of miles south of downtown.

The state’s Department of Commerce recently requested the Maryland Stadium Authority study two city-owned sites — Carroll Park and Swann Park — for a potential stadium that would hold between 7,500 and 10,000 spectators and host an MLS Next Pro team, a men’s minor league club that would feed to MLS side D.C. United.

There is no guarantee that this study will result in a soccer stadium or a pro team but it demonstrates interest, in the form of dollars, from relevant parties. The study, which will take about a year, costs $450,000, with D.C. United paying half, the Department of Commerce paying $100,000, the City of Baltimore paying $100,000 and the stadium authority chipping in $25,000. The result will be a report that stakeholders, such as the soccer club and government authorities, can use to decide if they’ll invest in a stadium.

The venue might also host a top-flight women’s pro club.

Florida-based Crossroads Consulting filed a December report to the stadium authority analyzing potential stadium sites, stating that a “women’s professional soccer league represents another potential tenant for the proposed multi-use soccer stadium.” D.C. United, who the stadium authority has said would be the “primary operator” of the proposed venue, recently partnered with the USL Super League, a new women’s soccer league set to launch later this year.

A press release last month from the Super League noted that a Washington club is among the eight teams set to begin play in August and that it will “add another exciting chapter to the region.”

The Super League, whose season spans from fall to summer, recently received Division One sanctioning from the U.S. Soccer Federation, meaning it will join the decade-old National Women’s Soccer League atop the country’s pro soccer ladder.

Much remains unknown: by when a potential stadium would be built, who would pay for it and how many millions of dollars it would cost. But the new report would identify a cost estimate for each site and follow up on the December report with a more comprehensive survey of the two sites identified. The earlier report cost $50,000 and was split between D.C. United and the stadium authority.

The new study will more specifically analyze “what’s below your feet,” said Gary McGuigan, Maryland Stadium Authority’s Executive Vice President for Capital Projects, and look into potential environmental, historic or archaeological challenges with the sites. This report would likely be the last before stakeholders either move forward with building a stadium, or don’t.

Carroll Park, located near Pigtown, is currently a golf course and was found to be the most viable of the four sites reviewed by Crossroads. Evaluated with various criteria, it totaled 156 points, more than second-place Reedbird Park (149), which the Department of Commerce did not ask the authority to study.

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With 67 acres, the Carroll Park site is large enough and has several strengths, the report found, despite the potential for it to “feel secluded.” Swann Park,11 acres of athletic fields located near Baltimore Peninsula, totaled 124 points, ranking as the third most viable site, ahead of Retriever Park, UMBC’s soccer stadium.

The study was unanimously approved by the stadium authority board on Tuesday, with one member, William Cole, abstaining because he’d previously worked on similar efforts.

The Baltimore area has long had an indoor soccer team — the Baltimore Blast, who play at Towson University’s SECU Arena — but is one of the largest American cities without a pro outdoor soccer team.

This is not the first time local authorities have studied the feasibility of a soccer stadium. In 2010, the stadium authority analyzed two distinct possibilities: a 25,000-seat stadium (for a hypothetically relocated D.C. United team) in Westport, as well as a 7,000- to 10,000-seat venue south of M&T Bank Stadium for minor league play, but neither venue was built.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, told The Sun in December that Baltimore has proved it is a “sports and entertainment destination.”

“And we’re always looking for ways to expand that,” he said. “So we’re not surprised that our neighbors in D.C. United are looking at Baltimore as part of the expansion of their footprint. We’re very excited about that possibility.”