The DC United organization is now running a survey program, an obvious attempt to properly gauge the fan base as it continues it search for a stadium deal in the Washington metropolitan region.
You can view (or take if you're a DC Metro resident) the survey here.
What strikes me as most interesting about the survey are the location options for the respondent. The District, Lower Montgomery County, and the Dulles Corridor are the choices; this immediately indicates that Fairfax County is not a possibility, and while DC area residents might have concluded as much through familiarity with the situation, it might not have been as obvious to outside observers. Here's a quick review of the map I used to illustrate possible locations for the stadium back in April:
Locations 3 and 4 are the ones in focus here; with the District only a remote possibility, it will more than likely come down to Montgomery County (4) or Loudoun County (3, and location of the "Dulles Corridor"). Loudoun as a candidate has gotten some run in recent weeks, with Ashburn, VA mentioned specifically.
Neither option is preferable for a team that draws a majority of its fans from the more urban areas of the city and Arlington County. I assume the survey is simply a mechanism to determine which location is least distasteful to United's loyal fan base; while I would still expect those fans to attend matches in good numbers, it's impossible to know that actual impact a move out of RFK might have.
The survey goes on with questions that will create an average fan profile for the team. While efforts like these are necessary and part of the modern marketing environment, I suspect it may be less effective for United than almost any other team in the league. The club's fans span such a broad range of backgrounds, income levels, etc. that it's bound to be a hodge-podge of information more than an effective marketing tool.
The team is also offering an incentive for completing the survey: an opportunity to purchase pre-sale tickets for the DC United-Real Madrid friendly to be played at FedEx Field on August 9th.
