Leesburg Soccer Stadium to Add Restrooms for $2 Million
Segra Field, the 5,000-seat home stadium of Loudoun United FC in Leesburg, Virginia, will have restrooms for the 2020 United Soccer League (USL) season. The sanitary improvement of the sports complex will cost $2 million.
At a December 3rd meeting, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $10 million funding to cover the cost overruns of the Leesburg, VA project. Of that, the soccer club and its co-tenants will be responsible for $2 million and the remaining $8 million will be collected with county debt issuance. Aside from the public bathrooms, the money will also help add locker rooms, extra parking and a new training facility.
The vote tally at the meeting was a strong seven against one but there were more than a single board member who expressed concerns about the project’s profitability.
Supervisor Ron Meyer, R-Broad Run, said despite certain reservations he still wanted to support the measure out of trust for the their team’s performance.
“We do believe in Loudoun United and we do believe it will be successful, and I think that is why we all bought into this deal,” he said. “But I think it is something the next board really needs to watch to make sure we are getting our money’s worth.”
At Least 21 Games in 2020
Loudoun United FC is the direct second division affiliate of Major League Soccer club D.C. United. After 34 matches, it ranked 12th out of 18 clubs with 39 points in Eastern Conference of the 2019 USL Championship. It started playing home games at Segra Field mid-season due to zoning issues.
The development cost for the project has more than doubled from an initial estimate of $22 million in 2018 to over $45 million today. D.C. United also spent more than $20 million to acquire the land for the 40,000-square-feet complex in Philip A. Bolen Park.
To compensate for the unanticipated increase in costs by creating nearly an additional $1 million in marketing and exposure value per annum, the two clubs have signed a 10-year “strategic partnership agreement.”
The project has gained further strength when greater Washington’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team Washington Spirit agreed in November to play four of its 2020 games and co-locate its headquarters with D.C. United and Loudoun United at Segra Field.
The stadium will therefore host at least 21 USL and NWSL games in total this coming season from spring to fall. Fans can already become a season member to watch all 17 home games of Loudoun’s first professional soccer team at Segra Field for as low as $10 per game. All the membership benefits are available online. Washington Spirit, on the other hand, will issue a future notice when the 2020 tickets go on sale.