It's an exciting day for D.C. United. Head Coach Ben Olsen and the Club have agreed to a multi-year contract extension. During the busy day, we caught up with Managing General Partner Jason Levien to talk about his faith in Olsen and Kasper, the 2014 season and the latest word on the potential stadium.
Last year, D.C. United had the worst record in Major League Soccer. What gave you the faith in the technical staff to turn it around this year?
Jason Levien: I have a strong belief having worked with Ben [Olsen] and Dave [Kasper] for a couple of years that they were the right people to lead the organization on the soccer operations side. I think they work well together. I think that Ben has great leadership qualities, he had them as a player, and I think he has them as a coach. He even kept the locker room together last year during tremendous adversity. He led us to win a U.S. Open Cup in a year that was disastrous in the league. More than that, he just kept the players and team focused.
I felt like he needed more talent, he needed an influx of talent and that was something we were relying heavily on Dave and Ben to strategize over. We spent quite a bit of time, the three of us over the off-season, coming up with a plan that they generated, and I listened and tried to add value. I had a strong belief in their abilities that they would turn this around.
You had faith all along, but if we were sitting here at the end of the season last year, would you say that being first in the Eastern Conference by this time next year would be realistic?
JL: There were a lot of people calling for people’s heads late last year, and I think we sat back and said let’s take a long term view of how we’re going to grow this organization to where it’s been in the past, which is a dominant force in MLS. Did we see it happening this quickly? Not with any certainty, but we felt like we were on the right path, that we were adding the right kind of players, the right types of people, the right mix of veterans and youth that were going to build success long term. That’s what we are really focused on. We love that we are positioned in first place in the Eastern Conference right now, but we want this to be something we can sustain and continue to grow from.
Saying that, as you look to the future, who or what type of player do you look for to build this organization around and be a franchise player?
JL: I think they come in different shapes and sizes. I think Bill Hamid and the growth he’s shone as a Homegrown player who has just continued to develop and gotten more mature. He’s such a tremendous asset for us, he’s certainly one of those players.
Fabian Espindola, the fight, the toughness, the competitive nature he has is tremendous as more of a veteran player. Chris Pontius and his determination to come back from these injuries; he added real value against Chicago the other night. He’s the type of player we want in this club.
And I don’t want to leave out Luis Silva, who has been unbelievable for us in different roles this year. He hit some adversity early in his career. I think he hit a wall where some people were questioning how good he can be, and I think he delivered in spades this year on his potential.
We think we’re building with different character, skill and leadership sets. Certainly figuring out how they mesh well and having the right chemistry is important.
As an owner, what have your emotions and thoughts been this year watching this team take off?
JL: Oh, it’s been a lot of fun. They say in sports there’s winning and there’s misery, and last year there was a lot of misery.
Overall, It has been such an exciting year to see this group gel, to see even where we came from the beginning of the year. We lost our first few games, and there were some nervous people in this building and around the League for us and our supporters, but we’ve come a long way. We have a lot of faith in this group; we certainly have a lot of faith in what Ben can do leading the team. It’s been a joy to watch.
It has been an exciting year, and part of that is the stadium buzz. You announced to a stadium full of fans that you were dropping the word “cautiously” from “cautiously optimistic.” What changed?
JL: The more time we’ve spent with the players involved—the members of the D.C. council, the members of the Mayor’s office who’ve really shown leadership on this, the private land holders, the folks at Akridge—with that time, we recognized that people are committed to making this happen, that it’s good for the District, that its good for D.C. United and that our fans are going to be really happy with it. It’s going to help everybody. As I’ve spent more time with those folks, we recognize that ‘Hey, this is going to happen.’ The impediments that are in the way of it happening are being reduced.
What are the major factors that will be addressed at the Open House on 9/30?
JL: I think we want to answer peoples’ questions. Whether it is folks in Ward Six who are interested in what’s going to happen in their neighborhood, whether it be people around the District who are worried about the land swap, or if it’s our fans who are worried about where their seats are going to be. We want to bring everybody together and answer all the different kinds of questions about how it’s going to be a big positive for the city.
Rewinding a bit, since we signed the term sheet last year, what are the steps that got us here and what’s next?
JL: I think those steps are a commitment, focus and a resiliency to this process. Certainly there are bumps along the way and obstacles on that path, and our ability to stay focused on the right outcome for the District, the right outcome for our fans is what we’ve done. We feel like we’ve made a lot of progress, and we can’t wait to get across that finish line.
Certainly the big step now is getting the D.C. council, who has really shown leadership on this issue now, to hold more hearings if they want to and then to vote. We feel like we have the votes and we have the support of the D.C. council. Certainly, they’re making sure that this deal works and they’re being very thorough about that process. I think they’re behind us, and everyone wants to see a stadium for D.C. United.
Remaining D.C. United Regular Season match schedule and tickets available here.
