Feature photo by Town of Raleigh
By Gavin Martin
The city of Raleigh and Wake County are considering funding a massive $2 billion development off of South Saunders Street near downtown Raleigh called Downtown South.
They are asking $390 million in public funds for the development that would include a 15,000-seat soccer stadium, hotels, office towers, and other developments on the site, but is it worth taxpayer money for the soccer stadium?
The people behind the development, developer John Kane and North Carolina Courage owner Steve Malik, believe so. However, Malik’s stadium proposals are chaotic. Another sports organization seems to have a cleaner path to success: Major League Baseball.
In the winter of 2016, Malik had just rebranded the men’s soccer team to North Carolina FC and had brought the North Carolina Courage from Buffalo down to Raleigh. He also announced an intention to move North Carolina FC from the then North American Soccer League to Major League Soccer, and build a 20,000-seat soccer stadium.
In July of 2017, he announced a soccer stadium, proposing it to be on state property on Peace Street, a block west of William Peace University. The stadium proposal looked good; it was completely privately funded. The only thing missing would be government approval.
But there were issues with Malik’s proposal. The state-owned land had 12 buildings on it, and they would have had to be razed, including a tall building called the Archdale building. It would also need approval from the state legislature.
The legislature is, of course, full of state house and state senate members from across the state. Charlotte was another North Carolina city bidding for an MLS team, and representatives from that part of the state would’ve needed to vote on it, and therefore essentially help out Raleigh’s bid.
The Raleigh bid was stronger than Charlotte’s, as the group behind that bid had its stadium proposals denied by that city. Just as importantly for Raleigh’s proposal to move forward, it also needed local government support, and there was none at the time. Then-Mayor Nancy Macfarland was against the proposal, although she later changed her mind and said she needed to know more about it.
In comparison, Raleigh’s MLB bid hasn’t had much resistance. Even without a stadium proposal, there has already been government support despite the fact that a stadium for baseball hasn’t even been proposed yet. Also, Tom Dundon, the man behind Raleigh’s MLB bid, took the time to get government support before more MLB expansion gets started.
At this point, Raleigh is out of the running for MLS. It makes no sense to fund a stadium if the purpose of building the stadium is nonexistent. Tom Dundon is a billionaire and has already addressed his role in the ownership and stated his financing plan for the stadium. Malik did not do that.
The MLB proposal is well organized, and there haven’t been any changes since Dundon proposed. I think it’s time we give up our soccer goals and instead, batter up, and get behind baseball in Raleigh. There haven’t been any changes since Dundon proposed. I believe it’s time for Raleigh to give up their soccer hopes and move towards the push for baseball.