The project will be put off for the time being.
It is wait until next year for the backers of a plan to bring minor league and women’s soccer to Baltimore in terms of getting funding for a stadium-village project. The Maryland legislature turned down a proposal that would have used $217 million in state bonds to fund the stadium at the Carroll Park Golf Course in southwest Baltimore. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Major League Soccer’s Washington-based D.C. United franchise CEO Jason Levien wanted to build a facility that would have housed a United Soccer League women’s team, a minor league MLS Next Pro men’s team, and a youth academy. Baltimore is about 40 miles north of Washington, D. C. “When we introduced the legislation, the purpose was not to get it funded,” said Senator Antonio Hayes, who sponsored the bill. “The purpose was to keep the conversation going.”
Baltimore does not have either an MLS or a USL men’s league team. Baltimore and Washington should be considered the same market as Baltimore’s southern suburbs and Washington’s northern suburbs overlap. The D. C. United franchise draws customers from that area. “One of the reasons we love the Carroll Park site is the campus feel,” Levien said. “It’s over 80 acres, so we’re going to put an academy, a 40,000-square-foot building that’s going to have classrooms, a weight room, locker rooms, a cafeteria, all of that on the site. Now that we’ve got the legislation introduced. We’ve got the mayor on board. We’ve got Carmelo Anthony, who wants to be a sports team and owner with us and a partner in Baltimore. We think the stars have aligned for us to make this really happen.” But the stars did not align. There are people in the neighborhood who wanted no part of the project. Maryland doesn’t have the money for the project. But there is always next year.
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